New Delhi, July 11 (KNN) India has improved its rank in the index of the world’s most innovative nation from 60^th position last year to 57^th position this year as per the Global Innovation Index (GII).

Though ranked at 57, India is a top performer in the lower middle income group, where it is ranked at fifth position. It is the most innovative country in its region of central and southern Asia.

In the indicators that capture the quality of innovation inputs and outputs, India is ranked second after China in the lower and upper middle income group combined.

The GII is being developed jointly by Cornell University, the Paris-based business school Insead and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva.

 GII ranks 126 economies based on 80 indicators. It is now in its 11th edition and has become a major input for policymakers on innovation around the world. 

Maintaining its position as the top exporter of IT services, India still lags behind in parameters of ease of doing business, political stability and safety, and female employees with advanced degrees in the workforce. 

Being at the top position as an exporter of IT services, India is far behind in terms of use and access of information and communication technologies within the country is poor. India has been ranked 105th on IT access and 110th on IT use. 

Since 2011, Switzerland has been ranked at the top every year. This year, Netherlands follows at second place and Sweden at third.

The US drops down to sixth from fourth last year. Apart from a rearrangement among themselves, the top 10 nations in GII have not changed. 

Many Asian nations have been steadily improving their ranking over the last five years. This list includes China, India, Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam.