The latest INSEAD Global Innovation Index (2018, Energizing the World with Innovation) ranks Australia 20 overall, up from 23 last year - showing that Australia has seen little improvement on these global measures.
The rankings, which are published annually, showed Australia ranked 11 in terms of innovation input and 31 in innovation output, but when these figures are converted to innovation efficiency ratio, Australia dives to the same place as last year, 76 out of 122 countries assessed.
This stark measure has been quoted for years as a demonstration that, while Australian remains brilliant at coming up with ideas, it is poor at translating them into locally produced products.
This sentiment was echoed in other measures.
Australia was in the top 10 on education, ranking third, seventh on tertiary education, and 14 on R&D, but ranked poorly on innovation linkages (52), knowledge absorption (46) and knowledge diffusion (92). Once again, this suggests we have the know-how but are not translating it into outcomes very well.
The full index can be found online.