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
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