These are the world's most innovative countries. The US isn't even in the top 5.

[90DayFinancier 910]

• Germany has been named the most innovative country in the world, according to Bloomberg's latest Innovation Index.
• It only just beat South Korea, which has ranked first for six years.
• The US only came in ninth, while Singapore jumped from sixth place last year to third in 2020.
• Germany's top score comes as a surprise given its economy has been struggling in recent months.

https://www.businessinsider.com/these-are-the-10-most-innovative-countries-bloomberg-says-2020-1

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2019/article_0008.html

Global Innovation Index 2019: India Makes Major Gains as Switzerland, Sweden, U.S., Netherlands, U.K. Top Ranking; Trade Protectionism Poses Risks for Future Innovation

 

 

 

Looks like the US is still doing fantastic. Go USA! 😎

 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

  Germany first seems OK. I'm not sure about S. Korea. They have a few major players (ie. Samsung, Hyundai) who are known for pushing the limit for "borrowing" ideas, but they also come up with a lot of their own. The USA in 9th seems about right, give or take a couple of spots.

 

  In aggregate, The USA has had difficulty making the top 10 on these lists for about 10 years now. Part of that might be education. Part of it is just pure economics.  Innovation varies inversely with risk tolerance. I think we have seen a lot less risk tolerance in the US recently. Not in every area but in many. Pharmaceuticals are a well known example. Rather than investing in R+D for new drugs (which can be profitable, but also risky), they are investing in lobbying, extending patents, changing regulations and areas of that nature so they can extend the profit margin time of existing drugs. 

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

S. Korea as #1 makes sense.  Leading the world in broadband, TVs on their cellphones, cell phones that almost never lose signal, even underground, electronic door locks long before here...  completely rebuilding their country after being devastated during their last war, the Japanese nearly stealing every tree, etc.  They have done very well for themselves.

[90DayFinancier 910]

3 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

  Germany first seems OK. I'm not sure about S. Korea. They have a few major players (ie. Samsung, Hyundai) who are known for pushing the limit for "borrowing" ideas, but they also come up with a lot of their own. The USA in 9th seems about right, give or take a couple of spots.

 

  In aggregate, The USA has had difficulty making the top 10 on these lists for about 10 years now. Part of that might be education. Part of it is just pure economics.  Innovation varies inversely with risk tolerance. I think we have seen a lot less risk tolerance in the US recently. Not in every area but in many. Pharmaceuticals are a well known example. Rather than investing in R+D for new drugs (which can be profitable, but also risky), they are investing in lobbying, extending patents, changing regulations and areas of that nature so they can extend the profit margin time of existing drugs. 

One of the major struggles is in the board room. If you go back 30 years you will see engineers, scientists and innovators on boards. 

 

Today you see MBAs running the direction of the company which fits with your risk tolerance comment above.

 

You are also seeing a growing gap in technical education with a handful of well trained individuals and a growing base of folks who are only equipped for routine service work. 

 

 

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

5 minutes ago, ALFKAD said:

S. Korea as #1 makes sense.  Leading the world in broadband, TVs on their cellphones, cell phones that almost never lose signal, even underground, electronic door locks long before here...  completely rebuilding their country after being devastated during their last war, the Japanese nearly stealing every tree, etc.  They have done very well for themselves.

Can't help but look at the Koreans and Japanese with admiration for their technological prowess.

[Dashinka 23,241]

45 minutes ago, Burnt Reynolds said:

Can't help but look at the Koreans and Japanese with admiration for their technological prowess.

Can’t speak for Japan, but I have seen it in the ROK first hand.

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

8 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

Can’t speak for Japan, but I have seen it in the ROK first hand.

Dealt with both in SF, especially tech startups that were commonly funded by their respective goverments. Also worked for a Korean company.

 

A lot of good minds, very hierarchical, but not well known for high-involvement environments. Didn't appreciate my enthusiasm and challenging nature at first, but did when it saved them lots of money making critical mistakes.

Edited January 26, 2020 by Burnt Reynolds

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,315]

52 minutes ago, Burnt Reynolds said:

Dealt with both in SF, especially tech startups that were commonly funded by their respective goverments. Also worked for a Korean company.

 

A lot of good minds, very hierarchical, but not well known for high-involvement environments. Didn't appreciate my enthusiasm and challenging nature at first, but did when it saved them lots of money making critical mistakes.

I read a report about why Korean Air use to have a troubling safety record. Its seems that the co pilot  or others may notice the senior pilot may be getting in trouble, but would not say anything because of the strict hierarchical nature of their society. Until it was too late 

[Dashinka 23,241]

16 hours ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

I read a report about why Korean Air use to have a troubling safety record. Its seems that the co pilot  or others may notice the senior pilot may be getting in trouble, but would not say anything because of the strict hierarchical nature of their society. Until it was too late 

There was an episode of Air Disasters that covered this exactly.  It was about a Korean Air cargo plane that crashed in the UK where the pilot, co-pilot and navigator all died.  The investigation delved into the hierarchical mentality at Korean Air at that time. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Cargo_Flight_8509