Box 2.

Innovation Indicators used by EU

The EU developed an indicator system to measure innovation performance based on three main types of
indicators and 8 innovation dimensions. The three types, Enablers, Firm activities and outputs concerns
innovation drivers of the external environment, innovation efforts of firms and the final outcomes of the
innovation process respectively.
The sources of data for the indicators calculations acquired by the following agencies and organizations:
Eurostat , Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market , United Nations Comtrade database, Eurostat
Community Innovation Survey (CIS), OECD, CWTS Journal Indicators (Thomson Reuters), Science-Metrix
(Scopus).

Types of Innovation Indicators used by EU
Enablers Firm Activities Outputs
Innovation Dimensions
Human
resources
Open,
excellent &
attractive
research
systems
Finance and
support
Firm
investments

Linkages &
entrepreneu
rship


Intellectual
Assets

Innovators Economic
effects

New
doctorate
graduates
International
scientific co-
publications
R&D
expenditure
in the
public
sector
R&D
expenditure
in the
business
sector
SMEs
innovating
in-house
PCT patent
applications

SMEs
introducing
product or
process
innovations

Employment
in
knowledge-
intensive
activities
Population
completed
tertiary
education
Scientific
publications
among top
10% most
cited
Venture
capital
investments

Non-R&D
innovation
expenditure

Innovative
SMEs
collaborating
with others

PCT patent
applications
in societal
challenges

SMEs
introducing
marketing/o
rganisational
innovations
Contribution
MHT
product
exports to
trade
balance
Youth with
upper
secondary
level
education
Non-EU
doctorate
students
Public-
private co-
publications

Community
trademarks

Fast-growing
innovative
firms

Knowledge-
intensive
services
exports

Community
designs
Sales of new
to market
and new to
firm
innovations
License and
patent
revenues
from abroad


Building on data extracted by those 25 indicators this table is produced for the EU innovation scoreboard 2014
measuring the average performance of member states. Setting as 0 the lowest possible performance and 1 the
highest the member states categorized in four performance groups. Innovation leaders: Innovation
performance>120%; Innovation followers: 90%<innovation performance<120%; Moderate Innovators: 50%<innovation
performance<90%; Modest innovators: Innovation performance <50%; 100%= EU average.
Figure: EU Member states' innovation performance