Bangladesh ahead of Pakistan in innovation index
Out of 228 countries, Bangladesh was ranked 162nd in the index
Bangladesh has managed to stay ahead of Pakistan and Afghanistan among the South Asian countries in promoting innovative technology, according to the Draper Innovation Index (DII) launched by the Draper Hero Institute.
Out of 228 countries, Bangladesh ranked 162nd on the index, while Pakistan and Afghanistan was ranked 172nd and 205th respectively.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh ranked 152nd in the emerging opportunities category.
The report launched on 25 March labelled Nepal as the best country to launch a technology startup in South Asia. Nepal (106th) is followed by the Maldives (114th), India (122nd), Bhutan (127th), Sri Lanka (132nd) in the ranking.
Bangladesh performed best in the regulatory and venture capital momentum indicators. The regulatory indicator shows the regulatory environment in the country.
The venture capital momentum indicator measures how fast the potential startups attract investments in a particular country. Rich investors tend to invest in the potential startups with a long-term growth perspective. This capital is referred to as venture capital.
Bangladesh scored 57 in the regulatory indicator and 67.8 in the venture capital momentum indicator.
However, the country received no score on crypto friendliness indicator. The illegality of bitcoin is one of the key reasons behind that. India and Pakistan are the only countries in South Asia that have legalised bitcoin.
The Draper Hero Institute is a nonprofit research organisation founded by legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist and entrepreneur Timothy C Draper. This institute this year has launched the innovation index which ranked countries world-wide depending on their conduciveness towards innovation.
"The DII aggregates a variety of metrics and indicators – from regulatory environment to cryptocurrency friendliness to venture capital momentum – in order to assess each nation's ability to support startup creation and success," said the institute.
The grades achieved from different indicators are distilled into mainly two broad categories which include emerging opportunities, trust and transparency in local governments. The overall rank is made based on the average of these two broad categories' rank.
Global situation
The United States is ranked as the world leader in the innovative index. The country tops in both emerging opportunity and government quality categories.
Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom are the other countries in the top five.
Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Venezuela, Eritrea, Chad are the lowest performers in the index.
