The composite indicators used in assessing innovation at national level

The purpose of present paper is to present some recent developments in constructing composite innovation (or even, science and technology S&T) indicators on a national level. Measuring innovation at the national level is crucial in developing appropriate long term strategies for economic growth, because it is widely believed technological innovation is one of the main drivers of sustained economic-social welfare, if not the single most important driver of economic growth. Our purpose is to present a mapping exercise of metrics – based on composite indicators - found in the STI literature, pointing out those used in practice, with a view to corresponding values in the case of Romania. It has become standard practice to combine several indicators for science, technology, and innovation to form composite numbers. Composite indicators are increasingly being used to make cross-national comparisons of country performance in specified areas such as competitiveness, globalisation, innovation, etc.