Research
(Brussels) In the European Union, “innovation is gaining more ground than Japan and the United States”, Sweden “is still leader in innovation”, and Latvia “has the most dynamic innovative output”. These are some of the conclusions drawn by the European Commission that is publishing three documents today: the yearly Assessment Framework for European Innovation, the regional Assessment Framework for European Innovation, and the Innobarometer, which illustrates recent innovation trends and attitudes for companies in the EU, Switzerland and the USA. The EU Commission’s documents find that Sweden is still leader in innovation among the member states, followed by Denmark, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands. In addition, the EU’s leaders by innovation area are: Sweden (human resources and quality of academic research), Finland (conditions of the financial framework), Germany (private investments in innovation), Belgium (networks and cooperation in innovation) and Ireland (innovation in small- and medium-sized enterprises). The countries in which innovation is “expanding faster” are Latvia, Malta, Lithuania, the Netherlands and the UK. Regional innovative centres are also located in moderately innovative countries: Piedmont and Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Italy, País Vasco in Spain, and Bratislavský kraj in the Slovak Republic.
