This work analyzes innovation and its close relationship with productivity, poverty reduction and sustainable development and its sense of change in the search for solutions that contribute to improving reality. The article identifies the trends and weaknesses of the innovation indicators, as well as the development and evolution of university innovation in Peru. Innovation indicators from the competitiveness rankings presented by WIPO, Ricyt, Sunedu, Indecopi, Concytec, World Bank, Private Competitiveness Council, among other entities that evaluate national, regional, and global actions, were analyzed. As results indicate, some indicators of research, innovation, and quality in education had shown an irregular behavior. On the other hand, indicators such as the number of patents granted to Peruvian universities or investment in research have grown steadily in recent years. It ends with a proposal that recommends considering the evolution of Peru’s innovation indicators, in order to develop policies that promote a true culture of innovation.