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 report more than one source.

Overall, innovation-active businesses most commonly sourced their ideas and information for the development of innovation from within the business or related company (61%). The proportion of businesses that reported this as a source of ideas or information for innovation increased with each successive employment range, from 57% of businesses with 0-4 persons employed to 76% of businesses with 200 or more persons employed.

Sources of ideas or information for innovation, by employment size(a)(b), 2014-15
	0-4 persons	5-19 persons	20-199 persons	200 or more persons	Total
	%	%	%	%	%
Within the business or related company	56.8	62.5	74.5	75.6	61.1
Clients, customers or buyers	38.3	40.1	34.8	34.6	38.6
Suppliers	20.3	25.6	14.4	22.6	21.8
Competitors and other businesses from the same industry	25.6	30.8	27.6	32.2	27.9
Consultants	12.5	17.3	20.7	35.7	15.4
Universities or other higher education institutions	3.4	2.9	1.7	3.3	3.0
Government agencies	2.1	2.9	4.5	6.6	2.7
Private non-profit research institutions	1.3	2.7	1.0	1.6	1.8
Commercial laboratories/research and development enterprises	1.3	0.6	1.1	2.2	1.0
Websites, journals, research papers, publications	25.2	25.6	19.4	15.5	24.7
Professional conferences, seminars, meetings, trade shows	18.0	19.9	21.8	27.1	19.2
Industry associations	13.8	17.3	16.7	19.6	15.5
(a) Proportions are of innovation-active businesses in each output category.
(b) Businesses that were innovation-active were asked for the sources of ideas or information for innovation. Businesses could identify more than one source.

The proportion of innovation-active business with 200 or more persons employed that sourced their ideas and information for innovation from consultants (36%) was three times that of those with 0-4 persons employed (12%).

By industry, Manufacturing had the highest proportion of innovation-active businesses that sourced ideas or information for innovation from within the business or related company (78%) and clients, customer or buyers (46%). Consultants were most commonly used as a source of ideas by innovation-active businesses in the Mining industry (34%), while the Information media and telecommunications industry had the highest proportion of innovation-active businesses that sourced ideas or information from competitors and other businesses from the same industry (39%).

Further data relating to sources of ideas and information for innovation can be accessed via the Downloads tab.