India ranks 10th on new Commonwealth innovation index

India was today ranked 10th on a new Commonwealth Innovation Index, topped by the UK, Singapore and Canada.

The index was launched as part of a new Commonwealth Innovation Hub on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) here.

It has been created in partnership with the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and its annual Global Innovation Index (GII).

It is aimed at providing a tool that allows member states, organisations and citizens to benchmark themselves against 53 countries of the Commonwealth, with the new innovation hub offering a dedicated online space for Commonwealth countries to showcase what they have to offer and share with other members.

"Nearly 60 per cent of the Commonwealth population is under 30 with a lot of talent and innovation and with this new digital platform, we now get to pool it and share it," Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said.

"This is part of the reform and renewal process of the organisation, which will take it into a higher energy orbit and into the information age. It makes the Commonwealth even more relevant and fit for its sharing and caring purpose," she said.

The Global Innovation Fund (GIF) will work as the delivery partner to host a new Commonwealth Innovation Fund (CIF), which will use GIF's existing due diligence processes for sourcing, evaluating and investing to generate a high-quality portfolio of enterprises that are aligned with the Commonwealth Secretariat's priorities.

The GIF will manage the fund and its investments, which will be targeted at innovative projects across Commonwealth countries that "save and improve lives".

During the ongoing CHOGM, the CIF will engage with member-countries to gain financial and other support for the fund and India is expected to be among the key countries to collaborate.

"Sectors such as health-care, innovation, digital technology and cyber security will be among the core focus areas during the visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted in reference to his UK visit for CHOGM this week.

The CIF will deploy grant, equity and debt investments to support innovators across the Commonwealth to accelerate the development, testing and scaling up of evidence-based and market-tested innovations.

The target size of the new fund, with financial commitments from member-countries, is expected to be 25 million pounds of initial funds to prove the new model.