LAS VEGAS—If you’re hearing faint chants of “USA” coming from the west that may be due to the fact that the U.S. was identified by the Consumer Technology Association as one of the 13 most innovated countries in the world. The results were announced during CTA’s keynote address at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. Joining the U.S. in the scoring is Finland, the U.K., Australia, Sweden, Singapore, Netherlands, Canada, Portugal, Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark and New Zealand.
The scoring was based on objective criteria that is based on a “uniquely American perspective,” according to Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CTA, to determine which countries have the best policies in place to allow innovators to create and introduce new technologies.
“Innovation is both the heart and the product of the American Dream,” said Shapiro. “Today, more countries than ever see a similar dream within reach and are positioned to realize the benefits of innovation—through both their own nation’s success and the collective progress of the world.”
Here is some of the criteria, ranked by grade:
· Most diverse countries: Australia, Canada, Singapore and Sweden
· Countries with the greatest individual and political freedom: Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Portugal
· Countries that have, on average, the fastest and most affordable internet connections: the U.K., Finland, South Korea, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands
· Countries with the most educated work forces: Singapore, Israel, Japan, Canada, the U.K., Germany, Sweden and New Zealand
· Countries with the most innovation-friendly tax systems: Singapore, China, Panama, Chile, Ireland and Canada
· Countries with the greatest R&D spending as a percentage of GDP: Israel, South Korea, Japan, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany and the U.S.
· Countries with the highest level of entrepreneurial activity: Australia, the U.K., New Zealand, the U.S., Singapore, Ireland and Sweden
· Countries most fully enabling people and companies to test and deploy drone technologies: Australia, Finland, Portugal, Singapore and Sweden
· Countries that allow ridesharing to operate most freely: Finland, Panama, Peru, Poland, Rwanda, South Africa and Mexico
· Countries with the best federal frameworks for short-term home rentals: Chile, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal and South Africa
· Countries that allow people and companies to test and deploy self-driving vehicles most widely: Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S.
· Countries with the cleanest water and air: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S.
In this first edition, CTA considered a range of indicators to determine the final roster of countries. The scorecard evaluated countries that fit two guidelines: the government must be able to influence public policy and publicly available, verifiable and independent third-party data must exist and can be compared with different nations. CTA intends to expand the scope of the scorecard in future editions.
See the full results here.
