Various international organizations leverage Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data for reports, analyses, and indices. A prime example is the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which incorporates GEM indicators into its annual Global Innovation Index (GII). This comprehensive report examines the challenges and opportunities shaping the global innovation landscape.
The collaboration between GEM and WIPO began in 2021. WIPO draws on data from the GEM National Expert Survey (NES), administered to 36 experts in each country. The survey provides insights into the Entrepreneurship Framework Conditions (EFCs) that influence national entrepreneurship. Key NES indicators featured in the GII Report include:
- Sufficiency of financing
- Government policies: Support and relevance
- Government policies: Taxes and bureaucracy
- Government programmes
- Cultural and social norms
In the latest GII report, launched last month, Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, Singapore, and the United Kingdom ranked as the world’s most innovative economies. GEM Executive Director Aileen Ionescu-Somers attended the launch event in Geneva.
The GEM NES Country Team Category
To attract new GEM National Teams from primarily developing countries, a new category was created with the help of WIPO – GEM NES Country Teams – that will initially collect NES data only, for the purposes of having available indicators for the GII.
GEM NES Country Teams are not full GEM members and do not engage in the consortium’s full activities (for example, they do not participate in the GEM Global Report). Ultimately, through the establishment of new direct-to-government channels, the ambition is that teams in this category will ultimately become GEM National Teams, participating in the APS data collection also, and contributing to the GEM Global Report. Note that this category option is not available to teams outside of the WIPO partnership.
The latest GII report includes NES data from all full GEM members, along with data collected by the first GEM NES Country Teams from Mauritius, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan. Benefits of forming a GEM NES Country Team include:
- Engaging in a unique partnership between GEM (the world’s leading study of entrepreneurship since 1999) and WIPO.
- Conducting research on the Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions in a country, empowering stakeholders, including policymakers, to use the findings for entrepreneurship growth.
- Accessing operational and technical support from GEM’s Global Team.
- Starting with a small-scale engagement, with the option to expand to full GEM National Team membership, collecting data with both the APS and NES.
We are excited to collaborate with WIPO to advance our shared goals! If you’re interested in learning more, contact us at info@gemconsortium.org.
Note: GEM researcher Niels Bosma authored this article for the Global Innovation Index on the theme of social entrepreneurship.