A report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) showed that the Sultanate had advanced 8 spots in the Global Innovation Index (GII) for the year 2021.

This means Oman is now ranked 76th globally.

Oman also jumped 19 spots in innovation outputs as it came first globally in the ratio of science and engineering graduates out of the total number of graduates. The Sultanate also came tenth globally in the Higher Education indicator.

The index also indicated that the Sultanate advanced 19 ranks in the Innovation Output Sub-Index and one rank in the Innovation Input Sub-Index.

These advancements in the ranking reflect the integration achieved by the key players in the national innovation system.

Furthermore, Oman achieved advanced ranks globally in a number of sub-indicators, including standing first globally in the ratio of science and engineering graduates out of the total graduates, the tenth globally in the Higher Education indicator, and 13th globally in the indicator of Government Expenditure on School Students.

It also ranked 13th on the Economy and Investment indicator. The Sultanate ranked 18th globally in the net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) indicator.

In the digital applications production indicator, it ranked 23 globally. The Sultanate also came in the 24th place in the government e-services indicator.

Dr. Sharifa Hammoud Al Harthy, Director General of Research at the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MoHERI), and Director of the National Innovation Strategy (NIS), pointed out that the positive factors that contributed to the progress of the Sultanate include the response and cooperation among the relevant institutions, as well as the rise of the creativity outputs-related initiatives, such as the digital applications launched by Omani youth, which had a positive impact in overcoming the challenges faced by society.

It is worth noting that the GII provides a comprehensive vision and detailed metrics of the performance of innovation around the world across its various fields.

It is based on two main sub-indexes, namely the Innovation Input Sub-Index and the Innovation Output Sub-Index. The Innovation Input Sub-Index measures the factors of the national economy that include innovative activities and is based on five areas; institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, and business sophistication.

While the Innovation Output Sub-Index measures the real evidence of innovation results, which in turn is divided into two areas; namely technological and knowledge outputs, and creative outputs.