Measuring Science, Technology and
Innovation (STI): Definitions from a
statistical perspective
CARIBBEAN REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION (STI) INDICATORS
St George’s, Grenada
1-3 February 2011
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A multitude of concepts
Some examples:
 Knowledge-based economy
 National innovation system
 Science, technology, Research and development,
and innovation
 High-tech – low tech
 Brain drain
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FRAMEWORKS
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S&T: a linear model?
The model
Indicators
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From model to indicators
Inputs (R&D
expenditure, Human
Resources)
• R&D survey
• R&D personnel
• R&D Expenditure
Black Box (innovation)
Output (patents,
publications, high-tech
products)
• Innovation
statistics (NEW!)
• Administrative data
(patents)
• Publications databases
• High-tech data (trade)
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A systems approach
Innovation is dynamic and complex:
 Many actors, many linkages
 Feedback and feed-forward loops
 innovation is non-linear
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Standardisation of indicators
YOU ARE HERE
Standards
INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
Consensus
REGIONAL LEVEL
NATIONAL LEVEL
INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL
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UNESCO methodologies and frameworks
 Recommendation concerning
the International
Standardization of Statistics on
Science and Technology, 1978
 UNESCO Manual for Statistics
on Scientific and Technological
Activities ST-84/WS/12, Paris,
1984
 International Standard
Classification of Education ISCED 1997 (under revision)
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“Frascati family” of OECD Manuals
 Frascati Manual
 Oslo Manual
 Canberra Manual
 Patent Manual
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Other relevant OECD frameworks
 Handbook of Economic Globalisation Indicators
 Guide to Measuring the Information Society
 Framework for Biotechnology Statistics
 Productivity manual
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DEFINITIONS
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STA: Definition
Scientific and Technological Activities (STA)
can be defined as all systematic activities which
are closely concerned with:
generation, advancement,
dissemination, and application
of scientific and technical
knowledge
and applies to:
all fields of science and technology ie. NS and SSH.
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STA coverage
Scientific and technological activities comprise:
 Research and experimental development (R&D)
 Scientific and technical education and training
(STET)
 Scientific and technological services (STS)
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An indicators “framework”
STA
R&D
STET
STS
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Research and Development
 First edition published in
1963!
 Sixth edition published in
2002
 De facto world standard
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R&D: Definition
Research and experimental development (R&D)
comprise
creative work undertaken on a systematic basis
in order to increase the stock of knowledge,
including knowledge of man, culture and society,
and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise
new applications.
Basic criterion: presence of an appreciable
element of novelty and the resolution of scientific
and/or technological uncertainty.
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R&D covers 3 activities
 Basic research
(no particular application or use in view)
 Applied research
(directed primarily towards a specific practical aim
or objective)
 Experimental development
(directed to producing new materials, products or
devices)
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Exclusions
Excluded from R&D
 Education and training
 Scientific and technological services / Other
science and technology activities
 Other industrial activities
 Administration and other supporting activities
 these will come back
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An indicators “framework”
STA
R&D
STET
STS
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STET: Definition
Scientific and technological education and
training at broadly the third level (STET) can be
defined as all activities comprising:
 Specialized non-university higher education
 All university education
 Organized lifelong training for scientists and
engineers
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Limits between R&D and teaching and
training
 Research and teaching very closely linked in
higher education
 Results of research feed into teaching, and
information and experience gained in teaching can
often result in an input to research
 Difficult to define where education and training of
staff and students end and R&D activities begin,
and vice versa
 Elements of novelty distinguish R&D from routine
teaching and other work-related activities
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Borderline between R&D and education and
training at ISCED level 6
Education and
training at level 6
Teachers
Postgraduate
students
R&D
Other activities
1. Teaching students 3. Supervision of R&D
at level 6.
projects required for
student qualification at
level 6
5. Teaching at
levels lower than
level 6
2. Training students
at level 6 in R&D
methodology,
laboratory work, etc.
4. Supervision of other
R&D projects and
performance of own
R&D projects
6. Other activities
1. Course work for
formal qualification.
2. Performing and
writing up independent
studies (R&D projects)
required for formal
qualification
4. Teaching at
levels lower than
level 6
3. Any other R&D
activities
5. Other activities
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STS: Definition
Scientific and technological services (STS) can
be defined as any activities:
 Concerned with scientific research and
experimental development
 Contributing to the generation,
dissemination and application of scientific
and technical knowledge
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STS: detailed activities
 S&T information and documentation activities provided by
libraries, archives, databanks, etc
 S&T services provided by museums, botanical and
zoological gardens, etc
 Translation and editing of S&T publications
 Collection of data in the field of NSE. eg. meteorological
observations
 Activities related to searching oil and minerals resources
 Collection of data on human, social, economic and cultural
phenomena, by National Statistical Offices
 Testing, standardization, and quality control activities by
National Bureau of Standards
 Extension, advisory services, feasibility studies, etc
 Patents and licenses activities by National Patent
Office.
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Other related scientific and technological
activities
 Scientific and technical information services
 General purpose data collection
 Testing and standardisation
 Feasibility studies
 Specialised health care
 Patent and licence work
 Policy-related studies
 Routine software development
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An indicators “framework”
Admin and
other sup.
activities
STA
R&D
STET
Innovation +
Other
industrial
activities
STS
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Innovation: the Oslo Manual
 Jointly with the EC
 Part of the Frascati family
 Used for CIS and national
innovation surveys
 1st edition 1992
 2nd edition 1997  coverage
expanded to services
 3rd edition 2005  including nontechnological innovation
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Innovation: definition (Oslo Manual 2005)
The implementation of:
Technological innovation
 New or significantly improved product (good or
service); or
 New process; or
Non-technological innovation
 New marketing method; or
 New organisational method.
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Innovation activities
Innovation activities are defined as:
 all steps which actually, or are intended to,
lead to the implementation of innovations.
 some innovation activities are themselves
innovative, others are not novel activities but
are necessary for the implementation of
innovations.
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Examples: product and process innovation
 Food products with new functional characteristics
(margarine that reduces blood cholesterol levels,
yoghurts produced using new types of cultures,
etc.)
 Products with significantly reduced energy
consumption (energy efficient refrigerators, etc.)
 The introduction of smart cards and multipurpose
plastic cards
 A new, self-service bank office
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Examples: marketing and organisational
innovation
 Implementation of a fundamentally new design of bottles
for a body lotion intended to give the product a distinctively
exclusive look
 Implementation of a personalised information system, e.g.
obtained from loyalty cards, to tailor the presentation of
products to the specific needs of individual customers
 First-time introduction of an integrated monitoring system
for firm activities (production, finance, strategy, marketing)
 First-time introduction of quality control standards for
suppliers and subcontractors
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Borderline between R&D and other
industrial activities
Included
Divided
Excluded
• Prototypes
• Pilot plant
• Industrial design and
drawing
• Industrial engineering
and tooling up
• Trial production
• After-sales service &
troubleshooting
• Patent and licence work
• Routine tests
• Data collection
• Public inspection control,
enforcement of standards,
regulations
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Borderline between experimental and
pre-production development
Included:
 To make further technical improvements on the
product or process
Excluded:
 To develop markets, to do pre-production planning
or to get a production or control system working
smoothly
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Problems at the borderline between R&D
administration and indirect supporting
activities
Administration
 Personnel data cover only R&D proper
• Management, administration and clerical activities included only
when these contribute directly to R&D projects and are undertaken
exclusively for R&D
 Expenditure data cover the full cost of R&D, including the
indirect supporting activities which are treated as
overheads
Service or indirect support activities (e.g. transportation, storage,
cleaning, repair, maintenance and security)
 Excluded from personnel data but included in expenditure
data as overhead
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Clinical trials
 Clinical trial phases 1, 2 and 3 included in R&D
 Phase 4 clinical trials excluded from R&D, except
if they bring about a further scientific or
technological advance
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Criteria for distinguishing R&D from related
activities
 Basic criterion: an appreciable element of novelty
and the resolution of scientific and/or technological
uncertainty.
 Supplementary criteria:
- What are the objectives of the project?
- What is new or innovative about this project?
- What staff is working on the project?
- What methods are being used?
- Under what programme is the project funded?
- How general are the findings or results of the project likely to be?
- Does the project fall more naturally into another scientific,
technological or industrial activity?
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Examples: distinguishing R&D and related
activities
 In the field of medicine, routine autopsy on the causes of
death is the practice of medical care and is not R&D;
special investigation of a particular mortality to
establish the side effects of certain cancer treatments is
R&D. Similarly, routine tests such as blood and
bacteriological tests carried out for doctors are not R&D,
whereas a special programme of blood tests in connection
with the introduction of a new drug is R&D.
 The keeping of daily records of temperatures or of
atmospheric pressure is not R&D but the operation of a
weather forecasting service or general data collection. The
investigation of new methods of measuring temperature
is R&D, as are the study and development of new systems
and techniques for interpreting the data.
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Examples: distinguishing R&D and related
activities (cont.)
 R&D activities in the mechanical engineering industry often
have a close connection with design and drawing work. In
small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in this industry,
there is usually no special R&D department, and R&D
problems are mostly dealt with under the general heading
“design and drawing”. If calculations, designs, working
drawings and operating instructions are made for the
setting up and operating of pilot plants and prototypes,
they should be included in R&D. If they are carried out for
the preparation, execution and maintenance of
production standardisation (e.g. jigs, machine tools) or
to promote the sale of products (e.g. offers, leaflets,
catalogues of spare parts), they should be excluded from
R&D.
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Identifying R&D in software development
 Completion must be dependent on a scientific
and/or technological advance
 Aim of the project must be the systematic
resolution of a scientific and/or technological
uncertainty
 In addition to the software that is part of an overall
R&D project, the R&D associated with software as
an end product should also be classified as R&D
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R&D in software
This is not to be counted as R&D:
 Business application software and information system
development using known methods and existing software
tools
 Support for existing systems
 Converting and/or translating computer languages
 Adding user functionality to application programmes
 Debugging of systems
 Adaptation of existing software
 Preparation of user documentation
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Examples of R&D in software
 R&D producing new theorems and algorithms in the field of theoretical
computer science
 Development of information technology at the level of operating
systems, programming languages, data management, communications
software and software development tools
 Development of Internet technology
 Research into methods of designing, developing, deploying or
maintaining software
 Software development that produces advances in generic approaches
for capturing, transmitting, storing, retrieving, manipulating or
displaying information
 Experimental development aimed at filling technology knowledge gaps
as necessary to develop a software programme or system
 R&D on software tools or technologies in specialised areas of
computing (image processing, geographic data presentation, character
recognition, artificial intelligence and other areas)
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Criteria for identifying R&D in
services
 Links with public research laboratories
 The involvement of staff with PhDs, or PhD
students
 The publication of research findings
 The construction of prototypes or pilot plants
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Examples of R&D in banking and insurance
 Mathematical research relating to financial risk analysis
 Development of risk models for credit policy
 Experimental development of new software for home banking
 Development of techniques for investigating consumer behaviour for
the purpose of creating new types of accounts and banking services
 Research to identify new risks or new characteristics of risk that need
to be taken into consideration in insurance contracts
 Research on social phenomena with an impact on new types of
insurance (health, retirement, etc.), such as on insurance cover for
non-smoker
 R&D related to electronic banking and insurance, Internet-related
services and e-commerce applications
 R&D related to new or significantly improved financial services (new
concepts for accounts, loans, insurance and saving instruments)
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Examples of R&D in other service activities
 Analysis of the effects of economic and social
change on consumption and leisure activities
 Development of new methods for measuring
consumer expectations and preferences
 Development of new survey methods and
instruments
 Development of tracking and tracing procedures
(logistics)
 Research into new travel and holiday concepts
 Launch of prototype and pilot stores
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Summary
Admin and
other sup.
activities
STA
R&D
STET
Innovation +
Other
industrial
activities
STS
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REFERENCES
Can be found in the supporting document
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Abbreviations
Some abbreviations
STI
Science, technology and innovation
S&T
Science and technology
STA
Science and technology activities
STS
Science and technology services
STET Scientific and technological education and training at
broadly the third level
R&D
Research and (experimental) development
HRST Human resources for science and technology
ICT
Information and communication technology
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Manuals (1)
Frascati Manual:
http://213.253.134.43/oecd/pdfs/browseit/9202081E.PDF (E)
http://213.253.134.43/oecd/pdfs/browseit/9202082E.PDF (F)
Oslo Manual:
http://213.253.134.43/oecd/pdfs/browseit/9205111E.PDF (E)
http://213.253.134.43/oecd/pdfs/browseit/9205112E.PDF (F)
Canberra Manual:
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/34/0/2096025.pdf (E)
Patent Statistics Manual:
http://browse.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/pdfs/browseit/9209021E.PDF (E)
http://browse.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/pdfs/browseit/9209022E.PDF (F)
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Manuals (2)
OECD Guide to Measuring the Information Society:
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/25/52/43281062.pdf (E)
Biotechnology framework:
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/5/48/34935605.pdf (E)
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/16/6/35878269.pdf (F)
Handbook on Economic Globalisation Indicators:
http://browse.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/pdfs/browseit/9205061E.PDF (E)
http://browse.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/pdfs/browseit/9205062E.PDF (F)
Measuring Productivity:
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/59/29/2352458.pdf (E)
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Thank you!
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r.pathirage@uis.unesco.org
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