CAMBRIDGE, U.K.—Canada has placed fifth on the first ever International Design Scoreboard; Initial indicators of international design capabilities. The report measures the design capability of 12 countries based on a number of factors including: public investment in design, total number of design graduates, number of World Intellectual Patent Office design and trademark registrations, number of design firms in each country, and levels of employment in the design sector.

Each nation’s capability was considered in both absolute and relative terms. The “relative” indicators (e.g. number of design graduates per million population) show the relative intensity of design capabilities within a nation. The “absolute” indicators (e.g. total number of design graduates) show the overall scale of the design capability within each country.

Canada ranked fifth in both absolute and relative measures: "A large and well-established design services sector, with high design employment relative to the overall population. Average number of WIPO designs and trademark registrations, with low relative numbers of registrations," says the report.

The Scoreboard was produced by a consortium of British universities led by the University of Cambridge. It was supported by the U.K.'s Design Council and funded by a research grant of more than £300,000 from the joint Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council program, Designing for the 21st Century.

According to Dr. James Moultrie, a lecturer on design management and innovation at the University of Cambridge, the Scoreboard only focused on 12 nations because it was “impossible” to gather sufficient information for other countries. Also, the research looks solely at design consultancy services without taking in-house design into account.

Over the next two years, Moultrie hopes to produce another Scoreboard that will provide more accurate and up-to-date information. The ultimate aim, he says, is for the implementation of consistent international design ratings. Contact: www.designscoreboard.org.uk; www.designweek.co.uk