If they can get a handle on pollution, they'll see a big boost.  

Guess their efforts are paying off!

A lot of it is about government spending, government regulation, and personal freedoms.  Qatar spends a lots (and not on the military), moderate regulation is offset by the lack of taxes, and personal freedom are modest to low (dragging down the overall ranking).Of course, what the index does not distinguish is how much of this is a result of the foreign-born populations' activities vs. those of the locals.  It would be hard to do, but it is something to consider.

So bad for the Philippines. It's position in the GII declined each year. 91st - 2011, 76th - 2010 and 63rd - 2009. And its Public expenditure on education per pupil is at a very low level which has score at 8.21 (% of GDP per capita) 2007. I think there is problem on the recent administration because the economy is in stagnant state. 

If it's a 'per capita' thing, Qatar would be somewhere around the top in the list for obvious reasons.

whilst the report shows its GII position is at 34th. the above data you provided was the GII 2009.  

I was looking at the overall index ..

http://www.globalinnovationindex.org/gii/main/fullreport/index.html

By the way.. As they say, "It's all abouyt the way you tell 'em".. The following headline is from UAE.. (what would you think if you saw this headline)

UAE, Qatar top GCC states on Insead's Innovation Index

http://www.emirates247.com/2.273/uae-economy/uae-qatar-top-gcc-states-on-insead-s-innovation-index-2009-02-10-1.92185

Rankings aside, what exactly did qatar innovate? Anyone care to list qatarian innovations here?

Pushkin--Estonia is a lovely place, as is the Baltic generally.

   Estonia is called tiger of baltic ,skilled peolpe,good infrastruktura, beatiful women,good economy,no public debt,nice food and good beer !

Here's the full report Brit:http://www.globalinnovationindex.org/gii/The top ten for 2011 were:Switzerland Sweden Singapore Hong Kong (SAR), China Finland, Denmark United States of America Canada Netherlands United KingdomWhile there is plenty of movement within the top 20 year-to-year, rarely does a new country break into the top 20.  Qatar was 35th last year, although interestingly higher at 24 the year before.The report measures a variety of factors--new technologies, sustainability, public expenditure on education, press freedom, market sophistication, etc.  This link shows the criteria, which is extensive, and you can look at a breakdown of the scoreshttp://www.globalinnovationindex.org/gii/main/analysis/headtoheadint.cfmFor example, Qatar scored well on political stability, GDP growth rate, new businesses, taxes, and pupil-teacher ration; it score poorly not surprisingly on personal freedoms, legal rights, export of services, production of scientific journal articles, public expenditure per pupil (a product of expats paying for private education for children), carbon footprint.I did a comparison between Qatar and Iceland, which was quite interesting.I found it fascinating because the report is extremely credible and gives an interesting breakdown of any nation, showing strengths and weaknesses.

Well done Qatar, but the report is rather confusing.. How come Estonia ranks above Qatar ?