Luxembourg was named a leader in “attractive research systems and registration of intellectual assets” according to the report. ( Photo : Étienne Delorme / archives )

Luxembourg was named a leader in “attractive research systems and registration of intellectual assets” according to the report. ( Photo : Étienne Delorme / archives )

According to the report, Luxembourg was named a leader in “attractive research systems and registration of intellectual assets”, and praised for its innovation-friendly environment. Performance has slowly increased by 1.4% relative to EU performance in 2010.

Topping the list as top innovator was Sweden. The Grand Duchy falls in the category of overall “strong innovator”, just behind Austria in overall rankings and ahead of Ireland, Belgium, and France (other countries considered strong innovators).

Luxinnovation CEO Jean-Paul Schuler weighed in on the ranking. “It shows that the innovation ecosystem, guided by the strategy of our government and in which Luxinnovation, plays its part is moving in the right direction. You can particularly see this in the strategically targeted areas where Luxembourg scores high above the EU such as our innovation-friendly environment which stands strong at 172% performance relative to EU.”

Areas for improvement

Nevertheless, certain weaknesses were also cited, including linkages, where Luxembourg falls “well below the EU average”. Subcategories within linkages include innovative SMEs collaborating with others, public-private co-publications, and private co-funding of public R&D expenditure.

“Of course, the nature of innovation is continuous invention and improvement,” Schuler stated, adding: “Our government, having already recognised the need for Luxembourg SMEs to be competitive and continuously develop competitive advantages for their companies, has recently stepped up its effort to further strengthen research and innovation.” 

Others areas for improvement are finance and support (Finland takes the lead here), as well as sales impacts (where the UK takes the lead).   

The full report is available through the European Commission website.