8101.0 - Innovation and Technology Update, 2008  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/07/2008   
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4 INNOVATION STATISTICS

4.1 RECENTLY RELEASED INNOVATION STATISTICS
4.2 SOME USEFUL RELEASES ON INNOVATION STATISTICS BY OTHER AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN COLLABORATION WITH ABS
4.3 ABS INNOVATION TECHNICAL REFERENCE GROUP (TRG)
4.4 SOME USEFUL NON-ABS WEBSITES ON INNOVATION STATISTICS


4.1 INNOVATION STATISTICS

The collection of information about Innovation in Australian business is now part of the Integrated Business Characteristics Strategy (IBCS). The implementation of the IBCS represents a significant expansion in the range of information available about innovation in business. In comparison to the previous stand-alone collection, the scope of the new survey is broader and includes micro business and some additional industry divisions. There is additional information related to marketing method innovation and the status of innovation has been broadened from purely implemented or introduced innovation to now include innovation still in development and abandoned innovative activity.

Innovation statistics are now available annually and, while the collection of detailed information about business practices related to innovation continue to be available biennially, business characteristics data are collected every year and are available cross-classified by innovator status (ie. for innovating businesses, non-innovating businesses and all business).

Summary indicators of Innovation in Australian business are now available annually, the latest issue of this release is Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business, 2006-07 (cat. no. 8166.0), released on 26 June 2008.

The next release of Innovation in Australian Business (cat. no. 8158.0), in respect of the 2006-07 reference year, will be on 22 August 2008 and will include detailed information about business practices related to innovation. This release will be a combination of web based information and data cubes. While the introduction of the IBCS has had an impact on the comparability of the new range of innovation statistics with those previously published by the ABS, the contents will be similar in range to that contained in the previous issue of this catalogue.

The release Selected Characteristics of Australian Businesses, 2005-06 (cat. no. 8167.0) includes a range of general business characteristics which have been cross classified by innovator status. The next release of this publication is due in late September 2008.

4.2 SOME USEFUL RELEASES ON INNOVATION STATISTICS BY OTHER AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN COLLABORATION WITH ABS

4.2.1 PATTERNS OF INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING 2003 ( DEPARTMENT OF INNOVATION, INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESEARCH - DIISR, FORMERLY DITR)


Synopsis

This research paper presents an analysis of innovation in Australian manufacturing for the 2001-2003 reference period using micro-level data from the ABS’s 2003 Innovation Survey.

Some of the main results from the publication:

  • In 2001-03, businesses in the manufacturing sector were, on average, more likely to report introducing an innovation compared with businesses in the non-manufacturing sectors.
  • The Petroleum, Coal, Chemical & Associated Products and the Machinery & Equipment industries were consistently ranked in the top three manufacturing industries by percentage of innovating businesses, as well as by the percentage of businesses implementing the three classes of innovation (ie goods/services, operational process and organisational process innovation) in 2001-2003.
  • Based on the analyses, it was identified that manufacturing businesses generally have a higher propensity to implement each of the three classes of innovations than non-manufacturing businesses as a whole.
Link: Patterns of innovation in Australian Manufacturing 2003.

4.2.2 ASPECTS OF SKILLS SHORTAGES AND INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES (DIISR)


Synopsis

This research paper investigates the incidence of skills shortages that were reported to have hampered innovation in innovating businesses in Australia using micro-data from the ABS 2003 Innovation Survey. It investigates the association between such skills shortages and other key business characteristics such as size, ownership, industry, location, age, and type of skill generally sought.

According to the analyses, smaller innovating businesses were more likely to experience skills shortages which hampered innovation (SSHI) than those affecting larger businesses. In addition, domestically owned businesses were identified as being more likely to experience skills shortages hampering innovation than those businesses with a degree of foreign ownership.

The proportion of ‘frontier’ innovating businesses – i.e. those with new to the world innovations – that experience SSHI was less than those exhibiting lower degrees of novelty of innovation. Innovating businesses that engaged in both product and process innovation were more likely to experience SSHI, reflecting the greater depth and diversity of skill required to conduct both types of innovation.

Innovating businesses that sought out skills in the ‘other’ (likely to be mostly trades) ‘engineering’ and ‘product management’ skill categories were more likely to experience SSHI. While a relatively high proportion of businesses seeking ‘information technology’ skills reported experiencing SSHI, the econometric analysis, which provides a better indication of the association between SSHI and a given skill category (independent of the influence of other variates in the model) indicated very little association between SSHI and the ‘information technology’ skill category. Link: Aspects of Skills Shortages and Innovation in Australian Businesses.

4.2.3 COLLABORATION AND OTHER FACTORS INFLUENCING INNOVATION IN AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES (DIISR)


Synopsis

This research paper presents the results of an econometric investigation into innovation novelty, collaboration and related characteristics in Australian businesses using micro-data from the ABS 2003 Innovation Survey.

Many innovations, especially those of a more complex nature, seem commonly to take place in conjunction with collaboration. The range of skills and knowledge required to successfully carry out innovation often means that an innovating business may be forced to seek complementary skills to those already held in-house. Such a business may seek external skills and experience in one or more of various areas including R & D, systems modification, specialist manufacturing, or branding and marketing.

It could also be expected that collaboration might be more common and more important to 'frontier' or 'creative' innovation (products or processes that are 'new to the world') than 'adaptive' innovation (modification of goods and services or processes already introduced elsewhere but which are 'new to Australia' or 'new to the industry' but not 'new to the world') and purely 'adoptive' innovation (adopting the manufacturing/sale of goods and or services, or the introduction of processes which are 'new to the businesses' in question but which have already been introduced elsewhere).
Link: Collaboration and Other factors Influencing Innovation Novelty in Australian Businesses.

4.3 ABS INNOVATION TECHNICAL REFERENCE GROUP (TRG)

The Innovation Technical Reference Group, set up to provide advice to the ABS on innovation data collection issues, met in the ABS on 11 April 2008. Members from the following key stakeholder organisations participated in the meeting: Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR), CSIRO, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), Productivity Commission, and the Ministry of Treasury.

Key items discussed in the meeting included:
  • the Australian Innovation System Review;
  • overview of the development process for the 2007-08 Business Characteristics Survey;
  • overview of Commonwealth, State and Territory Advisory Council on Innovation developments and Victorian government directions for innovation;
  • discussion of major projects at the Australian Innovation Research Centre;
  • the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council Innovation Project & other initiatives; and
  • an overview of DIISR’s Innovation Analysis Section.

The next Innovation TRG is scheduled for early September 2008.

4.4 SOME USEFUL NON-ABS WEBSITES ON INNOVATION STATISTICS

Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR)
http://www.Industry.gov.au

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)
http://www.deewr.gov.au

Productivity Commission (PC)
http://www.pc.gov.au

Backing Australia's ability website
http://backingaus.innovation.gov.au

Biotechnology Australia
http://www.biotechnology.gov.au