This map shows the relative performance of Europe’s regions on the Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) 2016. 

In this index, a region’s performance is measured using a combination of three innovation indicators: enablers (tertiary education and R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP); firm activities (EPO patent applications, SMEs innovation/patents and R&D expenditure in the business sector as a percentage of GDP); and outputs (knowledge-intensive activities). Regions are classified into four groups showing different levels of regional innovation performance: innovation leaders (green on the map), strong innovators (blue), moderate innovators (yellow) and modest innovators (red).

The map shows a clear spatial pattern with respect to innovation performance across Europe, with significant north-south, as well as east-west divides. Regions with moderate and modest innovation performances are mostly found in Southern and Eastern European countries. Alternatively, regions with strong innovation performances and innovation leaders are mostly found in Northern and Western European countries. Norway is a notable exception, with only the capital region and one other classified as strong innovators. The highest ranked regions are typically capital regions or regions with second-tier cities. Exceptions do exist, however, for example, the sparsely populated NUTS 2 region of Northern Sweden, consisting of Västerbotten and Norrbotten, which is ranked as an innovation leader.

It should be noted that the map is based on a mixed regional division, with countries such as the U.K. and France being represented with the larger NUTS 1 regions, while the regional level for many other countries consist of the medium-sized NUTS 2 regions. It is possible that the inclusion of large regions for some countries might mask the regional complexity that exists below the NUTS 1 level. Furthermore, the NUTS 2 level which is used for  Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania  equates to the national level for these countries, meaning there is no regional pattern to discern.

Map id: 10192

Read more about this research:

Berekraftige byar og sterke distrikt (Melding till Stortinget: Meld. St. 18 (2016-2017)) 
Regional Innovation Scoreboard

Designer/Cartographer

Linus Rispling

Data source

European Commission & Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and technology (UNU-MERIT)

Published 31 March 2017

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