On 1 February 2013, Bloomberg published the list of 50 most innovative countries (Bloomberg Innovation Index). In the rating, countries were ranked on a scale of 0 to 100% on seven factors. The factors and their weightings are presented below:

1. R&D intensity (20%): Research and development as a percentage of gross domestic product;

2. Productivity (20%): GDP per employed person, per hour worked;

3. High-tech density (20%): High-tech public companies — such as aerospace and defense, biotechnology, hardware, software, semiconductors, Internet software & services and renewable energy companies — as a percentage of publicly listed companies;

4. Researcher concentration (20%): R&D researchers per one million people;

5. Manufacturing capability (10%): Manufacturing value-added as a percentage of GDP; products with high R&D intensity (aerospace, computers pharmaceuticals, scientific instruments and electrical machinery) as a percentage of total manufactured exports;

6. Tertiary efficiency (5%): Enrollment ratio in all subjects for post-secondary students; tertiary graduation ratio of students who majored in science, engineering, manufacturing and construction; annual new graduates and total tertiary-degree holders as percentages of labor force;

7. Patent activity (5%): Resident patent filings per million population and per $1 million R&D spent.

This year, the first places in the rating are occupied by United States, South Korea, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Japan, Singapore, Austria, Denmark and France. Russia is on the 14th place, Czech Republic — 23, Poland — 30, Ukraine — 42. Our Baltic neighbors — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — have taken 31, 33 and 44 seats respectively.

As for the Republic of Belarus, it is ranked the 49th. On the one hand, one can consider the entry in the top 50 most innovative countries to be a success. On the other hand, comparing to the last year, Belarus has worsened its position in the Bloomberg ranking as much as 29 points, down from the 20^th position to the 49^th. This is explained by changes in the methodology of the ranking and, in particular, changing of weights. Last year, the weightings of the indicators were as follows: 1) R&D intensity - 20%, 2) Productivity — 10%, and 3) High-tech density — 10%, and 4) Researcher concentration - 20%, and 5) Manufacturing capability — 20%, 6) Tertiary efficiency — 10%, and 7) Patent activity — 10%. Thus, the weight of the most successful for Belarus indicators (Manufacturing capability, Tertiary efficiency, Patent activity) in 2012 was 40% of the index while this year it falls to 20%. Moreover, on such indicators as "High-tech density" and "Researcher concentration", a total of 40% of the rating, the data for Belarus are missing.

In general, Belarus has a fairly high innovative potential, e.g. in the manufacturing capability we took 2^nd place in the overall ranking, in terms of tertiary efficiency – 5^th, the patent activity – 5^th. Thus, improving the position of the Republic of Belarus in the Bloomberg Innovative Index should be carried out in two directions. Firstly, we need to focus on improving our performance indicators for failure ratings (R&D intensity, productivity). Secondly, we need to strengthen cooperation with international organizations and provide them with the information needed to calculate such indicators as researcher concentration and concentration of high-tech research, for which today Belarus gets 0 points, thus losing 40% of its rating.