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INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS - SUMMARY


ABOUT INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS STATISTICS

The development or introduction of new or significantly improved goods, services, processes or methods is generally considered to be innovation. As innovation is often seen as a continuous process and aspects can be intangible, it can be difficult to measure. An international framework, the 'Oslo Manual: Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data', has been developed jointly by Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to assist in measuring the process of innovation. This manual, updated in 2005, forms the basis of concepts and definitions used to measure the incidence of innovation by the Business Characteristics Survey (BCS). The BCS collects information about the broad types and status of innovation undertaken by Australian business in a 12 month reference period. For more detail about these concepts and definitions, please refer to the Explanatory Notes and the Glossary.


KEY MEASURES OF INNOVATION

The Business Characteristics Survey (BCS) covers four broad types of innovation (goods or services, operational processes, organisational/managerial processes and marketing methods) across three innovation statuses (introduced, still in development and abandoned). These are combined to group businesses into two categories of innovation: innovating businesses (includes businesses that introduced at least one type of innovation during the reference period) and innovation-active businesses (includes businesses that undertook any innovative activity irrespective of whether the innovation was introduced, still in development or abandoned).


INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS - SUMMARY

Summary of innovative activity in Australian business(a), key indicators, 2010-11 to 2012-13
			2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
Estimated number of businesses		'000	764	776	770
Businesses that introduced any new or significantly improved(b):
	goods or services	%	17.3	20.4	20.0
	operational processes	%	16.4	19.1	16.9
	organisational/managerial processes	%	18.9	23.0	20.2
	marketing methods	%	16.8	19.9	18.8
Businesses that introduced innovation (innovating businesses)		%	33.3	41.3	36.6
Businesses with innovative activity that was(b):
	still in development(c)	%	19.6	24.9	22.8
	abandoned	%	5.7	6.9	5.9
Businesses with any innovative activity (innovation-active businesses)		%	39.1	46.6	42.2
(a) Proportions are of all businesses in each output category.
(b) Businesses may be counted in more than one category.
(c) As at the end of the reference period.

Summary of innovative activity in Australian business, by employment size(a), 2012-13
			0-4 persons	5-19 persons	20-199 persons	200 or more persons	Total
Estimated number of businesses(b)		'000	466	243	58	4	770
Businesses that introduced innovation (innovating businesses)		%	28.9	45.8	58.3	66.8	36.6
Businesses with innovative activity that was(c):
	still in development(d)	%	18.3	27.8	35.6	51.4	22.8
	abandoned	%	5.3	6.9	6.3	4.4	5.9
Businesses with any innovative activity (innovation-active businesses)		%	34.7	51.0	63.4	74.3	42.2
(a) Proportions are of all businesses in each output category.
(b) Business counts are provided for contextual information only, and the total may not sum to the total of the components due to rounding. Refer to Explanatory Notes 19 and 20.
(c) Businesses may be counted in more than one category.
(d) As at the end of the reference period 30 June 2013.