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Innovation is the key to economic success. The Indicator reveals where we stand in the competition with the most innovative nations.

Innovation is the key to economic success. The 2009 Innovation Indicator reveals where we stand in the competition with the most innovative nations and which deficits we will have to resolve.

• Of the seventeen leading industrial nations investigated under the survey, Germany only ranked 9th after ranking 8th last year
• Companies' non-competitive financing situation big deficit
• The educational system still the main focus
• Progress: More women are studying MINT subjects

In Germany entrepreneurs and founders have greater difficulty finding funding for innovative projects than in almost any other country. The international financial and economic crisis could aggravate this situation further and thus also severely impede Germany's innovative capacity in an upswing. This is the conclusion reached by the "2009 Innovation Indicator Germany" which the Deutsche Telekom Stiftung and the Federation of German Industries (BDI) presented in Berlin. Financing conditions and the educational system are two of the German innovation system's greatest weaknesses. Of the seventeen worldwide leading industrial nations, Germany ranked only 9th in 2009 and thus dropped one place with almost the same score as last year. The USA is the front-runner - despite all the problems there. Switzerland ranks second. Last year's winner Sweden dropped to 3rd place. Ireland, Spain and Italy were the countries least prepared for the international innovation competition.

The "Innovation Indicator Germany" is appearing for the fifth time. As in previous years, the Deutsche Telekom Stiftung and the BDI commissioned the Deutsche Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW) to draw up the survey. The economists not only focus on companies' innovative capacity but also the political framework and the social climate for innovation in the seventeen leading industrial nations. Based on the results and within the context of current economic, political and social issues, the DIW has for the first time developed fields of action for policy-makers and business to complement the study. In view of the difficult financing situation, the experts thus propose to provide enhanced support for companies in future to help them fund innovation via a mix of own funding, outside funding and state funding. "The crisis has increased the need for action in this areas. We therefore hope that the new federal government will rapidly introduce a R&D tax credit as is the case in almost all innovative industrial nations", said BDI President Dr. Hans-Peter Keitel.

Further results and charts from the 2009 Innovation Indicator Germany can be found here.