Illustrative: A researcher takes samples for testing at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, on February 19, 2019. Photo: Hadas Parush/Flash90.

JNS.org – For the first time, Israel has been ranked in the top 10 on the UN World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index.

Israel’s precise place in the 2019 top 10 list has yet to be disclosed—the final results are slated to be unveiled on July 24 at a special event the WIPO will be hosting in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the news via Facebook, where he wrote: “For the first time, the UN is ranking us among the top 10 leading nations on its Global Innovation Index. We’ve made Israel into a rising global power.”

Israel has been climbing the UN index for the past few years. In 2016, it was ranked 21st in innovation. In 2017, it jumped to 17th. In 2018, Israel made it to 11th.

This year’s WIPO event will focus on innovation in the health care field. Israeli Ambassador to India Ron Malka and Esti Sheli, head of the Health Ministry’s Department of Digital Health, will represent Israel.

The Global Innovation Index uses 80 indicators to rank the state of innovation in 129 countries. The indicators examine, among other things, countries’ creative and supportive environment for innovation in terms of education, investment in infrastructure, investment in research, the level of business sophistication and the political climate.

The GII has become a tool used by decision-makers and business people in creating ties between the public and private sectors. The index was developed by the WIPO, Cornell University and INSEAD, one of the world’s leading business schools.