New Delhi, Sep 16 (KNN) Aiming to strengthen the eco-system of innovation in the country, and thereby further improve India’s ranking in Global Innovation Index (GII), the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion has decided to set up a Task Force on Innovation.

Innovation is widely recognized as a central driver of economic growth and development. The Global Innovation Index (GII) aims to capture the multi-dimensional facets of innovation. India’s ranking in GII-2016 jumped 15 places to 66th position, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry today said in a release.

GII 2016 was recently launched in which India has retained the top rank in Information and Communication Technology Service Export for more than last three years. India is the top-ranked economy in Central and Southern Asia, and shows particular strengths in tertiary education and R&D, including global R&D intensive firms, the quality of its universities and scientific publications.

India also over-performs in innovation relative to its GDP. India ranks second on innovation quality amongst middle-income economies. As per the report, “India is a good example of how policy is improving the innovation environment”. India moved up across all indicators within the Knowledge Absorption sub-pillar. It has also exhibited a solid performance in the GII model’s newly incorporated research talent in business enterprise, where it ranks 31st.

Recognizing India’s potential to reach great heights in innovation, the Commerce & Industry Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman had directed the setting up of a Task Force which would take forward innovation in India.

The Task Force will assess India’s position as an innovative country and suggest measures to enhance the innovation eco-system in India and thus improve India’s ranking in the GII.

In this regard, DIPP and CIPAM has invited ideas and suggestions from the public.

The Task Force may also hold discussions with some of these contributors.

The Team comprises of Government officials and experts from private organisations - Naushad Forbes  (Co- Chairman , Forbes Marshall Group; President, CII), Dr. Anil Wali (MD, FITT, IIT Delhi), Gopichand Katragadda (CTO, TATA Sons), Kris Gopalakrishnan (Executive Vice Chairman, Infosys), Dr. Nikolai Dobberstein (Partner, A.T. Kearney Limited), Rajeev Srinivasan (Adjunct Faculty, Innovation IIM-B), Representative from the Department of Science and Technology and the Convenor of the Task Force Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, DIPP.  (With PIB Inputs)