msc engineering policy and management of technology innovation and technology transfer

Msc Engineering Policy and Management of Technology

Innovation and Technology Transfer

Lecture 7 - Innovation Measurement

Giorgio Sirilli “Old and new paradigms in the measurement of R&D”, 1998 “Science ans Technology Indicators, The state of the Art and

prospects for the future”, 1997

by Rodrigo Rodrigues

TOPICS

1) Introduction - Nature of Indicators

2) Science and Technology Indicators

3) Prospects for future developments

4) Case Study – Measurement of R&D

Introduction - Nature of Indicators

Science and Technology (S&T) Indicators

Definition: series of data that can answer several questions about S&T

enterprise, like assess a qualitative performance of S&T tool to

science policy at a national level

Goal: give a picture of the state of S&T and anticipate the consequences of

scientific advances and technological change

Introduction - Nature of Indicators

Indicators can be divided into 2 groups:

1st group-indicators for which a statistical methodology has been developed

- data are collected

- and analysed by a standardised methodology

2nd group-indicators for which methodology are still in a development stage

- no possibility of comparison across countries and over time

S&T Indicators – 1st group

Research and development (R&D)

- Expenditures and personnel for R&D - 1st indicators and the majors

- OECD in 1963 adopted the Frascati Manual

- main features:

. data are reliable

. data are comparable over time and across countries

. not clear if R&D covers information technology related with innovative

activities like software

. etc


Patent statistics

- the most widely available indicator of output of technological activities

- more detailed in terms of technology and cover longer periods than data on

R&D

- patents reveal inventive activities extending outside the research labs

- OECD in 1994 adopted the Patent Manual

- problems:

. patenting an invention vary from country to country

. the “quality” and “value” of patents varies greatly


Surveys of technological innovation

- one of the main development factors in our society acquisition of tools

and control it is a priority in S&T policy

- data gathering follows two approaches:

. identify the most significant innovations and then send questionnaires to

the firms that have introduced them (individual innovations)

. submit questionnaires to the firms that have introduced innovations

during a given period of time (innovating firms)

- data show that R&D represents only a limited part of the innovation

expenditures


Surveys of technological innovation - CIS

- OECD revised the Oslo Manual in 1996 – inclusion of services

- and one of the most important survey is the Community Innovation Survey (CIS),

which was designed to address two main sets of issues:

. general structure of innovation processes

. comparison between European countries

- Some aspects from the CIS1:

. no possible comparison between countries with the data collected

. obtain the main factors that influence the innovation behaviour of firms


The technological balance of payments (TBP)

- flow of funds for transactions concerning industrial property rights – indicator of

technology transfer across countries

- OECD in 1990 adopted Manual for the collection and publication of TBP data

- main features

. indicator of the diffusion of technology or competitiveness

. the range covered by the technological balances is not uniform

. international comparability of the TBP indicator is also limited

. etc


Analysis of international trade in high-technology products

- problem is to distinguish the high, medium and low technology products

- “high-tech”: when ratio between R&D expenses and turnover or value added is

above a certain threshold

- limitations:

. research intensity and technological intensity not equivalent concepts

. statistical data not uniform

. the choice of threshold values is arbitrary

. technological intensity can vary greatly within one group of products


Bibliometrics

- based on the number of publications, citations and co-citations

- main problems

. propensity to publish and cite varies with disciplines

. citations may be critical rather than positive (but always knowledge)

. probability of being cited varies with the sector

. number of citations not follow a linear rate in course of time

. papers only one output of lab-based activity


Human resources

- key factor for the production and distribution of knowledge

- OECD in 1994 adopted the Canberra Manual

- limitation of the Manual:

. only covers individuals with higher-level skills

. data not comparable (different national systems of education)

- example of data bases: social security

S&T Indicators – 2nd group

Indicators based on information of technical journals

- analysis of information about innovations reported in technical and trade

journals

- in the journal: brief desription of the new product ou service and the address and

phone number of the firm

- advantages:

. in principle all sectors of the economy are covered

- limitations

. only refers products or services, not processes

. not internationally comparable


Intangible investment

- costs of intangible products that become available in the period under review

and that remain in use for more than one year

- core components are:

. R&D

. education and training;

. software and marketing

- not internationally comparable because of heterogeneity in definitions and data

collection procedures


Surveys of manufacturing technologies

- innovation and the application on new technologies have moved into the centre

of firm strategies

- use of surveys to measure:

. objectives and barriers to the introduction of the technologies

. their diffusion and the impact of their introduction in the firm

. public policies toward the adoption of the technologies

- but surveys are still uncoordinated, without a harmonisation of concepts and

procedures


Indicators in the field of information and communication

technologies

- information technology is changing the very nature of work and society

- building indicators in this area is quite necessary

- the major problems identified by statisticians refer to:

. the very definition of information and communication technologies

. the classification of sectors and activities ti be surveyed

. the products and services to be covered


Measurement of organisational change in enterprises

- the changes in the organisation of firms and in the institutional context

determine the effectiveness and impact of the adoption of new technologies

- this changes can be in:

. the strategy or the structure

. the work-place organisation or the human resource management

- goal is to obtain measurement for qualitative phenomena like organisation and

strategy, and their linkage with performance and structure variables


Technology foresight

- the main objective is to identify potentially important technologies early enough

to facilitate their development and utilisation

- the methodology used for the technology foresight must involved a large number

of experts to acquire the necessary information and an adequate variety of options

- limitations:

. procedure is very expensive

. different mix of methodologies has been used in various countries

. foresight may lead firms to not considered some interesting

technologies


Public attitudes and public understanding of S&T

- allow to add a social dimension to the S&T process

- typical question is:

What is the citizens´view about scientific developments, scientific programmes or

current problems requiring research efforts ?

Prospects for future developments

develop theories to explain the working of complex systems, but also amenable

to statistical measurement

OECD is expected to continue to act as a stimulus and “clearing house” for the

activities of the member countries

weight of the databases constructed using information collected for

administrative purposes (patents, scientific publications, etc) will likely to be

greater than that of ad hoc surveys (R&D, innovations, etc)

Prospects for future developments

methodologies developed within OECD countries become standard, so data

may be compared across almost all countries of the world

one challenge for those who are in charge of providing indicators is linked to

the timing of indicators building

S&T indicators are in a period of rapid evolution, so that will allow us to

understand better the complex phenomena of knowledge creation and distribution

Case Study – Measurement of R&D

ITALY: 1985 and 1992

- R&D survey carried by national statistical agencies

- Innovation surveys carried by ISTAT – Italian National Statistical

Institute – and occurred in the 1980s and early 1990s:

. the collection of innovation data on the basis of the

methodology set out in the Oslo Manual

. the studies on the knowledge-based economy



From the collection of innovation data we conclude that the

number of R&D-performing firms is higher than that emerging from

the R&D surveys.

R&D survey Innovation survey

R&D-performing firms(number)

1985 793 2 557

1992 748 4 229



The reasons for different results are linked to the fact that the same phenomena is

measured from two different angles, so the highest value obtained in the

innovation survey can be result of:

- small and discontinuous R&D activities are included

- the statistical universe is more dynamic due to the discontinuous character of

innovation in firms

- the definition of R&D is interpreted in an innovation context



From the studies on the generation and distribution knowledge

we conclude that the concept of full-time equivalent for measuring

the quantity and quality of work done by professionals engaged in

R&D is less and less tenable.

The cause is that some of the professional personnel devote their time to various

activities, including research, teaching, consulting and administration.

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