Switzerland among the most
innovative countries
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Switzerland continues to be among the world's most innovative countries. According to the 2007
report of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS), Switzerland ranks 2nd behind Sweden followed by
Finland, Israel, Denmark, and Japan.
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Switzerland performs especially well in the category "Business research and development expenditures".
These expenditures in GDP percentage are among the highest in Europe. Together both public and business
spending on research and development (R&D), Switzerland is also among the best within Europe. In addition,
Switzerland figures among those European countries investing the most in future technologies. Expenditures
on R&D are considered a highly important growth factor within a knowledge-based economy.
Switzerland also leads in the number of patent applications (per million population) filed with the
European Patent Office (EPO), in the number of patents granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO). It also leads in the number of triad patents (patents which are filed at the EPO, the Japanese
Patent Office and granted by the USPTO). The total amount of these patents indicates and also stimulates
innovation in Switzerland.
The EIS represents a comparative analysis of innovation performance in Europe, Israel, the United States,
Canada, Australia, and Japan, based on 25 indicators in the categories of "Innovation Drivers",
"Knowledge Creation", "Innovation and Entrepreneurship", "Applications", and "Intellectual Property".
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Text – Greater
Zurich Area
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