Introduction

Innovation in todays world makes as much relevance as other burning issues. Innovation can
provide us with solutions for urgent and necessary development challenges like reducing
hunger, eradicating diseases known or unknown and access to drinking water among others.
Substantial research efforts along with international cooperation are forming the basis of
innovation becoming the part and parcel of every economys strategy. Especially, when we
talk about developing economies, it is even more evident the role innovation has played in
their growth dynamics. Developing economies can learn a lot from the developed economies
in the way they have been able to make innovation as a central part of their system and enable
growth. Developing nations have slowly realised it is not just the high technology products
that come under the decree of innovation. They have realized the need to increase innovation
capacity early in the development process so as to create a learning process that will help in
leveraging upon the advancements in future.
When we talk about developing nations, India is the first nation to come to our mind. India
lacks in a plethora of aspects in the world. Be it quality education, health facilities,
infrastructure and now innovation. India is not a familiar name when it comes to innovation.
The western and the European nations have dominated the area of innovation with a catching
up exercise being carried out by the likes of China, Japan, Singapore etc.
Sweden is known for its innovation friendliness. It is this factor that has helped Sweden in
surging ahead of many other countries by evolving themselves technologically and using that
to get through many issues.
Comparison between Sweden and India
In terms of innovation, a lot can be compared between these two nations. According to the
World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness report of 2013-14, Sweden is placed at 6
th

based on the innovation factor while India is placed at 41
st
. Even though India is slowly
coming up in innovation, the most striking difference is the number of PCT patents or
applications filed per million populations which for Sweden is 302 and for India is 1.4.


India Sweden
Prasenjit Debnath
Roll No 1301082 Sec B
IE&P Assignment Global Competitive Index (Innovation)

This is a huge difference considering the population of India, its vastness and the scope
available. It would be unjust to say that the number reflects a wrong image given Indias huge
population. The number patents applications filed by Indians in 2010-11 were around 6000
which is 0.30% of total patent applications filed across the world. But, this sometimes works
against Indias favour too. With the vast size, it becomes even more difficult to control and
improve the environment of innovation.
There are a many reasons why India lacks behind Sweden in innovation. Here are a few:
Infrastructure India has a below par infrastructure that can sustain and encourage
innovation. This basic underlying problem is one of the most pressing reasons that
India lacks behind Sweden in innovation.
Inefficient government bureaucracy India has been plagued by inefficient
governments over the years. This has taken its toll on the innovation environment of
the country. India has been known for its conducive environment for innovation, but
due to such reasons it has not been able to improve on this. Swedish government not
only commits to innovation, it also provides them with a platform to execute their
ideas and innovate.
Education System While India ranks very high on the quality of education
imparted as compared to other nations, it has not been able to leverage that in the field
of innovation. India has shown hardly any progress in innovation and lag behind in
the same. One important flaw in the education system is the lack of encouragement
given to innovation from the grassroot level. Sweden on the other hand provides such
facilities right from the grassroot level and have been reaping the benefits of the same.
Corruption Corruption is prevalent everywhere. It can be less in magnitude, but
yes, it exists. In India, corruption has played an important role in its stunted growth in
many factors. In innovation too, corruption has caused damages which cant be
measured in true terms. One such example is the funds allotted to the cause of
innovation which doesnt get used in the actual cause. This has resulted in innovation
not receiving proper funding for it to prosper. Sweden however has lesser magnitude
of corruption which has helped its cause in innovation.
Apart from these, Sweden considers innovation on top of their business agenda and is a
strategic priority for Swedish business. Various types of innovation are expected to drive the
performance of Swedish businesses in the future:
The improvement of existing products or services (mentioned by 88%, a result higher
than the global average).
The development of entirely new products (mentioned in second position by 65% of
Swedish respondents).
The development of eco-friendly and sustainable processes, services and tools
(mentioned in third position by 62% of respondents, which is much higher than the
global average)



From the above, India can definitely take some clues to how to make innovation as the centre
of its growth strategy. With other countries adopting the same, it becomes even more
imperative for India to adopt the path of innovation in every aspects of its development to
ensure that it becomes a develop superpower.

References
1. http://files.publicaffairs.geblogs.com/
2. WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2012-14
3. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-12-25/news/35999212_1_higher-
education-third-largest-economy-president-pranab-mukherjee
Innovation driving future business in Sweden