SOURCES OF IDEAS AND INFORMATION FOR INNOVATION

Innovation-active businesses were asked to indicate where they had sourced ideas and information for innovation. Businesses could select more than one source and a ranking of importance was not required.

Sources of ideas or information for innovation(a), by employment size, 2008 - 09
	0-4 persons	5-19 persons	20-199 persons	200 or more persons	Total
	%	%	%	%	%
Within the business or related company	57.4	61.7	69.8	82.6	60.7
Clients, customers or buyers	38.9	39.5	39.0	39.8	39.2
Suppliers	32.2	27.2	31.5	23.1	30.2
Competitors and other businesses from the same industry	29.9	29.9	33.6	36.0	30.4
Consultants	12.7	20.1	27.3	46.1	17.5
Universities or other higher education institutions	2.9	2.2	2.2	6.4	2.6
Government agencies	3.8	4.6	3.6	8.3	4.1
Private non-profit research institutions	0.9	1.1	1.1	3.5	1.0
Commercial laboratories/research and development enterprises	1.4	2.0	0.5	3.3	1.5
Websites, journals, research papers, publications	28.1	29.3	22.6	17.3	27.8
Professional conferences, seminars, meetings, trade shows	19.3	23.5	25.1	23.9	21.6
Industry associations	15.4	19.7	24.7	20.2	18.1
(a) Proportions are of innovation-active businesses in each employment size category.

For innovation-active businesses, the most frequently reported source of ideas and information was from within the business or related company (61%), followed by clients, customers or buyers (39%).

The proportion of businesses sourcing ideas and information for the development of innovation from within the business or related company increased with each successive employment size range, from 57% of businesses with 0-4 persons employed to 83% of businesses with 200 or more persons employed. Similarly, the use of consultants increased from 13% of businesses with 0-4 persons employed to 46% of businesses with 200 or more persons employed.

Across all industries, the most frequently reported source of ideas or information for innovation was from within the business or related company. This ranged from 48% of businesses in the Health care and social assistance industry, to 71% of businesses in the Information media and telecommunications industry.

The use of universities or other higher education institutions, government agencies, private non-profit research institutions and commercial laboratories/research and development enterprises were among the lowest reported sources of ideas and information for innovation across most industries. The Health care and social assistance industry was an exception with 17% of businesses reporting sourcing ideas from government agencies.

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