Malta has been rated among the worst performers in innovation within the EU but it is making good progress, according to a report out yesterday.
The European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) for 2008, published in Brussels, places Malta in the category of countries that are "catching up", the last of four categories in the scoreboard with a well below average performance. Its rate of improvement, however, is above average.
The report says that Malta's relative strengths are in the availability of finance for innovation projects and the support by the government for innovation activities.
"Economic effects, meaning the capture of economic success of innovation in employment, exports and sales due to innovation activities, are also a success."
The main shortcomings lie in the private sector, according to the report. Malta's business community lags far behind when it comes to innovation and investing money in research and development.
"Malta's main weaknesses are primarily due to the low number of firms that have introduced innovations onto the market or within their organisations, covering technological and non-technical innovations."
Another weakness highlighted by the report is the lack of availability of highly-skilled or educated people.
The EIS scoreboard places Malta alongside Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria in the "catching-up" category, with scores significantly below the EU average.
Cyprus, which became an EU member with Malta in 2004, has managed to move a step ahead and is classified in the "moderate innovators" category.
The other two classifications, "innovation followers" and "innovation leaders" include the best performers among the 27 member states, with Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark and the UK topping the list.
The EIS, which has been compiled since 2001 as part of the EU's innovation policy, provides an annual assessment of innovation performance in the EU calculated on the basis of 29 indicators covering seven dimensions of innovation, from human resources to finance and intellectual property rights.
On a general level, the report shows that although the EU is making substantial progress it is still considered to be inferior to the US and Japan although the gap is narrowing.
EU Enterprise Commissioner Günter Verheugen said when presenting the 2008 report that in a time of crisis it is not the moment to take a break in research investment and innovation.
"These investments are vital if Europe wants to emerge stronger from the economic crisis and if it wants to address the challenges of climate change and globalisation."