Romania ranks only 79th out of 127 countries in the 2015 edition of the KPMG Change Readiness Index.

The index places Romania third to last in Europe, ahead of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Ukraine, but way behind the Czech Republic (28th), Hungary (29th), and Poland (32nd). Romania also ranks lower on change readiness than its poorer southern neighbors Bulgaria (47th), Serbia (48th), and Macedonia (49th).

Change readiness indicates the capability of a country – its government, private and public enterprises, people and wider civil society – to anticipate, prepare for, manage and respond to a wide range of change drivers, proactively cultivating the resulting opportunities, and mitigating potential negative impacts, according to the study’s authors.

The idea of a Change Readiness Index (CRI) was first raised at the 2010 World Economic Forum in Davos, immediately following the Haiti earthquake. The CRI boasts to be the only index to explicitly measure change readiness. It includes data that primarily measures ‘inputs’ – such as investment into infrastructure or supportive policy environments – rather than ‘outputs’ such as GDP or productivity.

Singapore ranks first on change readiness, followed by Switzerland and Hong Kong. The African countries Burundi, Guinea and Chad are last.

The full report is available here.

Global Innovation Index report places Romania 6th from bottom in Europe

editor@romania-insider.com