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Maria Markidou Georgiadou: Cyprus has improved its innovation performance by 17.6% since 2018 – outpacing the EU average

Cyprus may have dipped on the 2025 European Innovation Scoreboard leading to it being deemed a “moderate innovator”, however, according to Maria Markidou Georgiadou, Managing Director at Cyprus Seeds, it’s important to not lose sight of the bigger picture: that Cyprus’ innovation performance has improved by 17.6% since 2018 outpacing the EU average.

The 2025 European Innovation Scoreboard recently ranked Cyprus as a “moderate innovator” following a 14.6% dip from its 2024 score.

“This decline has been triggered by a number of factors, including high number of tech imports (products and services) from outside Europe, low R&D expenditure in the business sector and low venture capital expenditures,” Markidou Georgiadou posted on LinkedIn.

She went on to single out two of the factors which resonate with Cyprus Seeds and represent persistent challenges that the organisation has been facing from the start:

  • Small number of filings for international patents reflect the ongoing struggle to commercialise research from Cyprus’ universities, Centres of Excellence and research institutions.
  • Venture capital and, generally, funding in Cyprus for commercialising research, remains limited, posing hurdles for growth by early-stage spinoffs.

“These are some of the challenges Cyprus Seeds works to overcome daily in its mission to transform research into real-world impact,” she said. But, she added, “let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture”:

  • Cyprus has improved its innovation performance by 17.6% since 2018—outpacing the EU average
  • Public-private co-publications are on the rise, a sign of deepening collaboration between academia and industry
  • Cyprus continues to shine in international scientific collaboration, ranking among Europe’s best.

She concluded her post saying: “This year’s ranking in the European Innovation Scoreboard makes Cyprus Seeds’ role in bridging research and market even more essential to the Cypriot innovation ecosystem.”

 

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