India ranked 36th in Frontier Technology Readiness Index
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India ranked 36th in Frontier Technology Readiness Index

Context:

India ranked 36th out of 170 countries in 2024 on the Readiness for Frontier Technologies Index, according to the 2025 Technology and Innovation Report.

About the Technology and Innovation Report 

  • It was released by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
  • It provides a useful measure in assessing national preparedness to use, adopt, and adapt frontier technologies.
  • The 2025 edition of the Technology and Innovation Report, entitled: Inclusive artificial intelligence for development, aims to guide policymakers through the complex AI landscape and support them in designing science, technology, and innovation policies that foster inclusive and equitable technological progress.

Key Findings

India ranked 36th in the 2024 Readiness for Frontier Technologies index, improving from 48th in 2022.

The ‘Readiness for Frontier Technologies’ index combines indicators for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) deployment, skills, research and development (R&D) activity, industrial capacity, and access to finance.

  • India ranks 99th for ICT, 113th for skills, 3rd for R&D, 10th for industrial capacity, and 70th for finance.

The United States has the most GitHub developers, followed by India and China.

  • India has around 13 million developers, making it one of the largest pools of AI talent globally. 
  • Along with Brazil, India is also a major contributor to Generative AI (GenAI) projects on GitHub, reflecting the country’s growing influence in AI development.

The United States leads global private investment in AI, with USD 67 billion in 2023 (70% of global AI investment). 

  • China and India rank second and tenth, respectively, with USD 7.8 billion and USD 1.4 billion in AI investment.

Countries like India, Bhutan, Morocco, Moldova, and Timor-Leste have improved their positions in human capital due to better education and an increase in high-skilled employment in their working populations.

Brazil, China, India, and the Philippines are notable examples of developing countries that are excelling in technology readiness. 

  • These countries are performing better than expected, given their lower per capita GDP.

Germany leads in wind energy, India in nanotechnology, Japan in electric vehicles, and South Korea in 5G technology.

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