INSEAD, in collaboration with Cornell University and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), published the 16^th edition of the “Global Innovation Index 2023 – Innovation in the Face of Uncertainty” report. The report highlighted that it tracks investment trends amid the uncertainty caused by the slow economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, high interest rates and geopolitical conflict. In details, the report mentioned that investments in innovation portrayed mixed results in 2022, with scientific publications, R&D, venture capital (VC) deals & patents continuing to increase to new heights while growth rates in innovation investment were less than those witnessed in the year 2021, the value of VC investment dropped, and international patent filings deteriorated in 2022. From another perspective, the report revealed that technology adoption is improving, especially in fields such as information technology, health, and energy, yet the socioeconomic impact remains feeble for the second consecutive year mainly due to the short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2023 Global Innovation Index (GII) comprises data collected from 132 economies and is composed of two sub-indices: the Innovation Input Sub-Index and the Innovation Output Sub-Index. In details, the overall score is the average score of the innovation input & output sub-indices, which ranges between 0 and 100. The Innovation Input Sub-Index is composed of five pillars (Institutions, Human Capital and Research, Infrastructure, Market Sophistication, and Business Sophistication), while the Innovation Output Sub-Index comprises two pillars (Knowledge and Technology Outputs and Creative Outputs). On a global level, Switzerland came in the 1^st position in the GII 2023 with a score of 67.60, followed by Sweden (score: 64.20), the United States (score: 63.50), the United Kingdom (score: 62.40), and Singapore (score: 61.50), among others. On a regional basis, the UAE came first in the GII 2023 rankings of Arab countries with a score of 43.20 (global rank: 32), followed by Saudi Arabia (score: 34.50; global rank: 48), Qatar (score: 33.40; global rank: 50), and Kuwait (score: 29.90; global rank: 64), only to name a few.

As far as Lebanon is concerned, the latter attained a score of 23.20 in the GII 2023, placing it in the 11^th position among its Arab peers and 92^nd position globally. Furthermore, Lebanon came in the 15^th place among 37 lower middle income countries included in the report. In detail, Lebanon ranked 86^th globally in the Input Innovation Sub-Index and 95^th in the Output Innovation Sub-Index. On the Input Sub-Index front, Lebanon ranked 125^th in the world in the “Institutions” pillar (score: 29.60), 72^nd in the “Human Capital & Research” pillar (score: 29.90), 96^th in the “Infrastructure” pillar (score: 29.30), 46^th in the “Market Sophistication” pillar (score: 39.60), and 76^th in the “Business Sophistication” pillar (score: 25.70). With respect to the Output Sub-Index, Lebanon positioned 86^th in the “Knowledge & Technology Outputs” pillar (score: 17.30) and 96^th in the “Creative Outputs” pillar (score: 13.80).