Preliminary results of the South African innovation survey, 2005

Abstract

Innovation surveys indicate the extent of innovative activity in the business sector and provide information on various other measures such as different sources of information for innovation and collaborative partnerships in innovation activities. The Innovation Survey in South Africa was the first official innovation survey undertaken in the country and was based on a random stratified sample of enterprises provided by Statistics South Africa from the official business register. The results of the survey are directly comparable with the latest round of the EU Community Innovation Survey (CIS4). The results show that 52% of South African enterprises had innovation activities between 2002 and 2004. This rate compares favourably with countries such as Sweden, the U.K. and Portugal, in which 50%, 43% and 41% of enterprises are innovative, respectively. Germany has the highest incidence of innovation enterprises (65%) and Demark, Ireland and Austria have the same rates as South Africa (52%). About 45% of South African enterprises with innovation activities considered the most important outcome to be improved quality of goods and services.