Not to crowd the ‘bad/depressing news’ queue, but a recent report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, or ITIF, puts the US 6th in innovation and competitiveness - behind Singapore, Sweden and South Korea. 15th in higher education attainment. 8th in advanced degree education - behind France, Spain and Russia. 5th in corporate investment into research and development (R&D) - behind German and South Korea; making it 17th in percent change over last seven years. And the worst news of the study: the US made the least progress in innovation/competition over the last decade of any of the 40 countries in the report.

Per the NYTimes, after the Rand Corporation said that innovation was not in danger in terms of science and technology, the ITIF study takes a much harder line.

Some countries, including Singapore, Taiwan, Finland and China, are pursuing policies that are explicitly designed to spur innovation. These policies typically try to nurture a broader “ecology of innovation,” which often includes education, training, intellectual property protection and immigration.

With Obama pushing for an “innovation economy” to reheat US prosperity, every corporate and scientific-run agency is pushing for monumental change, and dollars. In January, the ITIF published a report of its own using the novel “stim-novation” term, whereby a stimulus amount of $20B in research would create 402k jobs.

Back in 2005, the National Academies, the leading science advisory group published its own study, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” which showed a need for the US to step up its innovation as other countries were doing. Per Inc. magazine, the US’s trailing innovation is being rewarded by a more intellectual Presidency:

“The role of academia in the political debate is once again back in vogue,” said Thomas D. Kuczmarski, an innovation consultant and professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. “We no longer have a government that’s run by ideology. It’s run by intellect these days.”

The proof will be in the competitive change - can we innovate ourselves out of a recession, and maintain our worldly position of leadership?

With Singapore noted as the most innovatively competitive nation in ITIF’s study, it’s important to look abroad to gain perspective and insight on other challengers - and challenges - to innovation.

Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat.