Author: CeSTII

The Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) is a statistical and policy research unit located within the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). CeSTII is the leader in the field of national surveys that underpin benchmarking, planning and reporting on R&D and innovation in South Africa. We adapt best practice international methodologies for measurement of science, technology and innovation (STI) indicators, within a framework of innovation for inclusive development.
The meaning of innovation

FAQ | SA Agricultural Business Innovation Survey, 2016-2018

*Fieldwork for SA Agricultural Business Innovation Survey 2016 – 2018 ended on 30 September 2019. 

AgriculturalBISLogo_V2

*You can also download these FAQ

What is the purpose of the Agricultural Business Innovation Survey?

Commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology, and performed by the Human Sciences Research Council, the Agricultural Business Innovation Survey aims to deliver an internationally comparable report on innovation activities in South African agriculture, including farming, forestry and fisheries. Survey results will play a vital role in policymaking for technology, innovation, and economic development.

Why has my company been selected to participate in this round of the Survey?

Statistics South Africa has drawn a random sample of 1,690 agricultural firms from the business register in line with its agreement on official national statistics with the Department of Science and Technology—and your firm was selected. The sample consists of a variety of businesses, ranging from very small to very large firms that operate in agricultural sub-sectors. Sub-sectors covered by the survey include: agriculture (crops, wineries, livestock and poultry), forestry, and fisheries.

What will my business gain from participating in the Survey?

A source of business intelligence, the Survey’s results can be used to benchmark your company’s innovation activities against other agricultural firms in your sector, both nationally and internationally. An added benefit of participation is the opportunity it presents for an internal review of potential business development areas that might not otherwise be explored. The results of previous South African innovation surveys are available online
(http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/departments/cestii/latest-results).

Will my company’s participation contribute to a national perspective on innovation in South Africa?

National business innovation surveys provide an essential source of data for evidence-informed policymaking towards increased inclusive economic growth and competitiveness. This is the first time South Africa will measure innovation in agricultural enterprises, filling an important gap.

Is there someone on the Survey’s team that can communicate in my mother tongue?

Our research assistants are ready to deal with the questions, comments or concerns of Survey respondents. Should you need to speak to one of the research assistants in your mother tongue, they will gladly assist you in South Africa’s official national languages.

I would prefer to print out the completed questionnaire and
return it via post. How can I do that?

Should you wish to submit your survey response via the postal services, please notify one of our research assistants, who will dispatch a questionnaire
and business reply envelope to your physical address, which you can use to return your questionnaire to us. Alternatively, please send your questionnaire to:
Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators
Human Sciences Research Council
Agricultural Business Innovation Survey 2016 – 2018
PO Box 15200
Vlaeberg
8018

I would prefer to complete the questionnaire electronically. How can I do that?

The Survey questionnaire is available to be completed and submitted online, as well as via an Adobe Acrobat form that you can save and email to us. The online tool allows respondents to save progress and return later using a ‘Return Code’, which will be automatically issued to you when you save. Should you have any problems submitting your firm’s response to the survey, please contact innovation@hsrc.ac.za.

How will my company’s data be managed?

Questionnaires are stored in secure rooms and captured data is stored on secure servers at the Human Sciences Research Council premises in Pretoria and Cape Town, South Africa. All staff who work on the survey have signed strict agreements on the confidentiality of the data. Your company’s details and firm-level data will not be shared with any third party.

What are the different types of innovation the Survey measures?

The South African Agricultural Business Innovation Survey recognises four types of innovation in firms: 1. Product innovation (including both goods and/or services); 2. Process innovation; 3. Organisational innovation; 4. Marketing innovation. This section of the FAQ provides detailed explanations and examples of each, as well as examples of what would not be considered an innovation in each category.

What makes a product or business activity an “innovation”?

Most people picture an invention new to the world when they think of innovation. In fact, two criteria are important in defining an innovation: 1. Does the product or activity represent significant change or improvement? AND/OR 2. Is the activity or product new to the firm? If the change meets either or both of these criteria, it can be considered an innovation. While a given change could be an innovation for one firm, the same change may not be an innovation for another firm. In answering the Agricultural Business Innovation Survey, each firm has to decide for itself whether a particular change is new to the firm and/or whether the product, process or service has significantly improved.

When does an innovation belong to an enterprise?

  1. If an enterprise has internally developed and implemented its own significant changes.
  2. If the enterprise has significantly improved or modified its existing products, processes, services, methods or delivery processes, either by internal development or by introducing a new idea from external sources.
  3. If an enterprise has implemented a new or significantly improved change, which may have originated elsewhere, such as the head office or a subsidiary company, another company, sector or country.

What is a product innovation?

Product innovation relates to both goods and services. When a good or service is introduced to the firm and is new to that firm OR shows significant improvement with respect to the capabilities or planned uses, then the change represents a product innovation. A product innovation may include significant changes in technical specifications, components and materials, incorporated software, user experience, or other functional characteristics of the good or service.

Examples of product innovations that relate to goods and services in the agricultural sector

GOODS

  • Customised business software (e.g. farm management software)
  • Inclusion of eco-friendly products in product ranges
  • Automated harvesters
  • New wood, furniture or paper varieties
  • New wine blends
  • Drought-resistant seeds
  • Products with enhanced shelf-life
  • Bio-energy or bio-fuels

SERVICES

  • Customised business software (e.g. farm management software)
  • Inclusion of eco-friendly products in product ranges
  • Automated harvesters
  • New wood, furniture or paper varieties
  • New wine blends
  • Drought-resistant seeds
  • Products with enhanced shelf-life
  • Bio-energy or bio-fuels

What is NOT considered a product innovation?

  • Design changes that do not alter the function or technical characteristics of a good
    or service.
  • Routine upgrades, or minor changes or improvements.
  • Customisation for a single client that does not include significantly different attributes compared to products made for other clients.

What is a process innovation?

A process innovation relates to improvements in production methods, delivery methods or distribution methods. For these process improvements to be considered innovations, they must be new to the firm OR significantly improved. These significant changes include those that relate to specific techniques, equipment and/or software, changes that are intended to improve the quality, efficiency or flexibility of a production or supply activity or logistics, or changes that reduce environmental or safety hazards.

Examples of process innovations by sector

  • Predictive data analytics
  • Introduction of software to identify optimal farming practices (e.g. smart irrigation)
  • New or improved software or routines for purchasing, accounting or maintenance systems
  • Robotics and sensors
  • Vertical farming, Micro farming, hydroponics
  • Automated packaging
  • Computerised equipment for quality control of production
  • Mapping by drone
  • Smart boreholes
  • Installation of automated trucks and drill rigs
  • Radio Frequency Identity Tags

What is NOT considered a process innovation?

An increase in production or service capabilities through the addition of manufacturing or logistical systems that are similar to those already in use.

What is an organisational innovation?

An organisational innovation is intended to significantly improve the firm’s innovative capacity or performance characteristics. This can encompass significant changes in workplace organisation, business practices or external relations implemented in the firm.

Examples of organisational innovations

  • A reduction in the number of management levels to create greater flexibility in decision-making.
  • Integrated monitoring system for firm activities (e.g. production, finance, strategy or marketing).
  • The introduction of an organisational division to support new product development in a specific area.

What is NOT considered an organisational innovation?

  • Changes in management strategy not linked to significant organisational change.
  • Introduction of new technology that has limited benefits or is restricted to a small division of the firm.

What is a marketing innovation?

The implementation of a significant change in sales and marketing methods would qualify as marketing innovation. “Significant” would include improved product appearance and packaging that is intended to increase product appeal and/or consumer awareness.

Examples of marketing innovation

  • Bundling existing goods or services in new ways to appeal to market segments

What is NOT considered a marketing innovation?

  • Routine or seasonal changes.
    Minor updates in the appearance of packaging.
    Advertising, unless based on the use of new media or a new advertising technique.
Impacts of innovation, Innovation indicators

Call for Participation | Innovation Data UserX Design Hackathon

The Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) and the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) are pleased to invite participation in an innovation data hackathon taking place from 11-13 September 2018.

Express interest now. Registrations close Friday 31 August 2018.

The event will be hosted as part of the 2018 South African Innovation Summit at the Cape Town Stadium.

Our focus? Developing brand new experiences for users of business innovation survey data within the National Science, Technology and Innovation Information Portal (NSTIIP).

“By working in new and creative ways with user communities such as firms, policy makers, media houses, and researchers, this effort represents a significant opportunity for CeSTII to widen participation in and deepen knowledge of the country’s innovation data, which is vital to a more innovative South Africa,” says CeSTII director, Dr Glenda Kruss.

Join a hackathon team, or join the audience

There are limited spaces for individuals to join a multidisciplinary hackathon team of six people per team, and to take part in a facilitated process including a technical briefing, hands-on team mentorship by experts, and a final pitch and judge session.

“NACI will incorporate the inputs from the multidisciplinary teams that are participating at this hackathon event to improve the user experiences of the NSTIIP and also for its upscaling,” says Dr Petrus Letaba, the NSTIIP’s project manager.

Download 2-page hackathon challenge and programme pdf

But there is also an option for interested parties to join the hackathon audience as ‘critical friends’.

“We know that businesses, industry associations, government policymakers, research institutions and the media all have a stake in a strong national innovation dataset,” says hackathon lead facilitator, Dr Pieter Van Heyningen.

“So we are also looking for a strong cohort of people from these groups to help us guide the teams, either as active mentors or as part of our hackathon audience for the opening and closing sessions.”

Says Van Heyningen: “This hackathon is in fact a rare chance for researchers, innovation managers, journalists, creatives, and web developers from diverse sectoral backgrounds, working in a fully catered for space, to rapidly expand their networks and collaboration capacities, while making innovation data work better for the user groups that need it most.”

Hackathon contacts

For more information or if you have questions, write to:

  • Gerard Ralphs, Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators, Human Sciences Research Council gralphs[at]hsrc.ac.za, 021 466 8000
  • Dr Petrus Letaba, National Advisory Council on Innovation, petrus.letaba[at]dst.gov.za
  • Dr Pieter Van Heyningen, SustNet, pieter@sustnet.com
Impacts of innovation

Analysis | How South Africa’s services sector can help tackle poverty and inequality

About two thirds of South Africa’s GDP now consists of contributions from the services sector, which ranges from banks and insurance companies to tourism, hospitality and personal services. This means that policymakers, industry leaders, lobbyists and small business owners should all be concerned about the sector’s potential to fix the biggest challenges facing the South African economy – poverty and inequality.

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[Image credit: Shutterstock]

Glenda Kruss, Human Sciences Research Council and Dr Moses Sithole, Human Sciences Research Council

About two thirds of South Africa’s GDP now consists of contributions from the services sector, which ranges from banks and insurance companies to tourism, hospitality and personal services. This means that policymakers, industry leaders, lobbyists and small business owners should all be concerned about the sector’s potential to fix the biggest challenges facing the South African economy – poverty and inequality.

For a long time commentators believed that an economy can only diversify and grow through following a model of industrialisation. But there’s a growing consensus that the services sector can contribute to economic transformation in emerging economies.

The South African services sector has traditionally involved low-tech activities. Examples include food, personal or legal services. These are limited to domestic markets which means that, for the most part, they can’t be traded or exported.

But recent technology developments have led to a raft of a modern and tradable set of service industries that are delivered digitally. These have popped up in different areas, like finance, transport, hospitality and information, communication and technology.

On top of this, technology has disrupted traditionally non-tradable service industries. Examples include Takealot.com, GetSmarter, and of course, Uber and Airbnb. All of them are models that show how technology and big data can lead to sectors being completely disrupted and overhauled, creating new types of enterprises and jobs.

Unfortunately, debates about changing South Africa’s economy usually ignore these developments and the role that innovation and technology can play in transforming the services sector.

Innovation in South Africa

Innovation refers to the introduction of a new good or service (product), a process, or a new organisational or marketing method. It can be new to the firm, the market or the world. Innovation in services has a strong human dimension, selling, marketing and delivery are critical, as well as close customer integration.

Using data collected by the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators, which does surveys on behalf of the Department of Science and Technology, we pieced together an understanding of the innovation dynamics in the finance and the wholesale and retail sectors. These are the service sectors that contribute most to GDP.

We discovered trends that show there’s huge potential for innovation across the services sector.

Data from 2010-2012 suggests a healthy scale of innovation in South African services sector firms. This is particularly true, but isn’t confined to, financial services where one of the most prevalent innovations was in marketing.

We also found significant innovation trends in wholesale and retail, where a higher proportion of firms produced products that were new to the market.

The finance firms spent almost seven times more on innovation activities. Their innovation expenditure as a proportion of their turnover was likewise seven times greater.

Both sub-sectors received almost the same turnover from sales of new to the market products– around 17%. This suggests that there may be a greater return on innovation investment for the wholesale and retail firms, which spend less.

Comparing the two services sub-sectors also suggests that there are a variety of ways that innovations can be implemented.

Incremental innovation, through small improvements that build on one another, was more prevalent in the wholesale and retail firms. This took the form of training and investment in new machinery. Finance firms also spent on incremental innovation. But they were more likely to conduct R&D in-house.

All of these firms experience barriers to innovating on a large scale. The main ones were market uncertainty, competition and lack of qualified people. Firms that innovate in the two sub-sectors experience these barriers in different combinations and scales.

Potential impact

There is significant potential for globally competitive and local job-creating services firms that could help South Africa’s economy grow in different ways.

Haroon Bhorat, director of the Development Policy Unit at the University of Cape Town, and other academics argue that South Africa’s services sector needs to become more export orientated so that it can access larger global markets. This in turn, they argue, will drive structural transformation so that our economy does not over-rely on the traditional mining or agriculture sectors, and will grow local employment.

Currently, South Africa lags behind other emerging economies when it comes to expenditure on R&D and innovation. But a shift will require businesses to get involved in more innovation and knowledge intensive activities. These, in turn, need support from public funds.

The Department of Science and Technology is developing a new policy framework on science, technology and innovation. Current policy tends mostly to support R&D driven innovation, for example, through a tax incentive for expenditure on R&D. But there’s room for more interventions through incentives to support improvements in production systems, branding and marketing activities, as well as export promotion.

*Cheryl Moses, Hlamulo Makelane, Precious Mudavanhu and Gerard Ralphs contributed research and writing.

Glenda Kruss, Doctor, Human Sciences Research Council and Dr Moses Sithole, Chief Research Specialist: HSRC’s Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators, Human Sciences Research Council

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

 

Impacts of innovation, Innovation indicators, The meaning of innovation

Event | Tweets and slides from Industry Associations Innovation Day 2018

On 25 May 2018, about 60 industry association leaders, government officials, researchers and entrepreneurs gathered at Gauteng’s Riversands Incubation Hub. On the agenda? Innovation, government and Industry 4.0. This post shares the final programme and speaker list, presentations and Tweets from @HSRC_CeSTII.

IAID
Image credit: Department of Science and Technology

Programme and speakers

Did you attend? Rate your experience

Slides

How much R&D and innovation on in South Africa, and how we know this – Dr Glenda Kruss &Dr Moses Sithole, Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators, Human Sciences Research Council

How industry/businesses can leverage CSIR platforms for innovation – Kobus Roux, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

[Image credit: HSRC/CeSTII]
[Image credit: HSRC/CeSTII]
[Image credit: HSRC/CeSTII]

Tweets

Impacts of innovation, Innovation at large

Analysis | Innovation in services: The potential to contribute to structural economic transformation

Contrary to the view that diversification and structural change only result from industrialisation, there is growing consensus that the services sector can contribute to economic transformation in emerging economies. This is potentially good news for South Africa given the growth of the services sector to 65% of GDP by 2014, and the proliferation of Industry 4.0. This Research Brief uses data from the Business Innovation Survey 2010-2012 to illuminate the character of innovation activities* in two key services sub-sectors: wholesale and retail trade (WRT), and finance, real estate and business services (FI). These sub-sectors are now central to the South African economy in terms of their contribution to GDP growth, and their advancement is therefore a key consideration for economists, lobbyists, business leaders, and policy makers alike.

The Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) is a statistical and policy research institute based at South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

CeSTII performs national surveys that underpin benchmarking, planning and reporting on R&D, innovation and technology transfer in South Africa, including the South African Business Innovation Survey 2014-2016.

Our Research Briefs are concise papers based our ongoing work. Their goal? To provide empirical evidence and informed opinion that policy- and decision-makers can use to strengthen the quality of their thinking and action.

Research Brief No. 3*

‘INNOVATION IN SERVICES: THE POTENTIAL TO CONTRIBUTE TO STRUCTURAL ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION?’

Authors: Glenda Kruss, Moses Sithole, Cheryl Moses, Hlamulo Makelane and Precious Mudavanhu

*Data presented in this paper is drawn from the South African Business Innovation Survey 2010-2012. Research Brief No. 3 was first published in May 2018.

How South Africa’s services sector can help tackle poverty and inequality

Full Report: Innovation in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2010-2012

Full Report: Innovation in Selected South African Services Sectors, 2010-2012

Some government mechanisms in support of innovation in South Africa

There is growing consensus that the services sector can contribute to economic transformation in emerging economies, contrary to the long-held orthodoxy that diversification and structural change only result from industrialisation. This is potentially good news for South Africa, given the growth of the services sector to 65% of GDP by 2014—growth that has occurred at the expense of the manufacturing and mining sectors. The risk is that growth in services may reflect new ways of increasing asset values through new types of speculative financial products that have a high GDP effect, but little effect on positive structural economic change. Bhorat et al (2016) therefore ask the core developmental question: Can South African exploit this shift to build globally competitive, employment-creating firms that can drive structural economic transformation? – Kruss, et al (2018)

Innovation indicators

Analysis | Barriers to innovation: Evidence from South African manufacturing companies 2010–2012

“Studies on barriers to innovation typically focus on the impact of obstacles on the propensity to innovate as well as the factors affecting perceptions of the importance of these barriers,” Moses et al (2018) argue in a new HSRC Policy Brief. Drawing from the South African Business Innovation Survey 2010–2012 dataset, the brief documents factors affecting how companies perceive the importance of a range of barriers to innovation.

The Business Innovation Survey 2010–2012 data allows for an evaluation of various factors that influence a company’s perceptions of different barriers to innovation.

The results presented in this brief do not represent the population of all the business enterprises in South Africa, but only a sample of 128 manufacturing enterprises.

Download HSRC Policy Brief (March 2018) ‘Barriers to innovation: Evidence from South African manufacturing companies 2010–2012’

Policy Brief Authors

  • C Moses (BSc, BSc Honours, MSc), Chief Researcher, Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators, Human Sciences Research Council | cmoses@hsrc.ac.za
  • Dr MM Sithole (BSc, CDE, PGD, MSc, PhD), Chief Research Specialist; Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators, Human Sciences Research Council | msithole@hsrc.ac.za
  • P Mudavanhu (BSc, BCom Honours, MCom), Senior Researcher, Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators, Human Sciences Research Council
  • N Nkobole-Mhlongo (BSc, BSc Honours, MSc), Junior Lecturer, University of South Africa
  • T Kupamupindi (BSc, BSc Honours, MPhil), Senior Demographer, International Centre for Aids Care and Treatment Programs, Columbia University

 

Innovation indicators

Analysis | Can government stimulate innovation through public funding and procurement in manufacturing and services?

In two brand new briefing papers, researchers from the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators at the Human Sciences Research Council investigate firm-level awareness of public funding for innovation in the manufacturing and services sectors.

The Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) is a statistical and policy research institute based at South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

CeSTII performs national surveys that underpin benchmarking, planning and reporting on R&D, innovation and technology transfer in South Africa, including the South African Business Innovation Survey 2014-2016.

Our Research Briefs are concise papers based our ongoing work. Their goal? To provide empirical evidence and informed opinion that policy- and decision-makers can use to strengthen the quality of their thinking and action.

ResearchBrief1_V7.indd

Research Brief No. 1*

‘CAN GOVERNMENT STIMULATE INNOVATION THROUGH PUBLIC FUNDING AND PROCUREMENT? WHAT SOUTH AFRICAN MANUFACTURING FIRMS SAY’

Authors: Glenda Kruss, Moses Sithole, Cheryl Moses and Hlamulo Makelane

ResearchBrief2_V3.indd

Research Brief No. 2*

‘CAN GOVERNMENT STIMULATE INNOVATION THROUGH PUBLIC FUNDING AND PROCUREMENT? WHAT SOUTH AFRICAN SERVICES FIRMS SAY’

Authors: Glenda Kruss, Moses Sithole and Cheryl Moses

*Data presented in these papers is drawn from the South African Business Innovation Survey 2010-2012. Research Briefs No. 1 and No. 2 were first published in April 2018.

Full Report: Innovation in the South African Manufacturing Sector, 2010-2012

Full Report: Innovation in Selected South African Services Sectors, 2010-2012

Some government mechanisms in support of innovation in South Africa

The South African government invests a significant amount of effort into supporting innovation in the South African business sector. This support can either be financial in nature or through support programmes that make access to other resources easier. Given the right support from government, we should expect business to be better positioned to take their innovations further. We report on the extent to which firms access this funding, if they benefit in other ways, and detail the reasons why they do not access public funding.  – Kruss, et al (2018)

Impacts of innovation, Innovation at large, Innovation indicators, The meaning of innovation

Event | Coming up: Industry Associations Innovation Day 2018 – 25 May

InnovationDay_BannerImage_V1 [2160x1080px]
A collaboration of the Department of Science and Technology, and the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators of the Human Sciences Research Council and Business Unity South Africa, the Industry Associations Innovation Day 2018 will take place at The Canvas Riversands, Fourways, on 25 May 2018.

The Industry Associations Innovation Day 2018 is envisaged to facilitate a dialogue between industry association leaders across the range of sectors, thought leaders, researchers, and government, as well as encounter case studies, on how some industry associations are tackling the innovation question with and for their membership.

Register now

The Canvas Riversands

Download one-page invitation you can share around*

On the agenda*

*Note: The agenda has been updated to include speakers from the National Business Initiative, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Information Technology Association of South Africa

REGISTRATION (08h30-09h00)

WELCOME: Joanne Yawitch, CEO: National Business Initiative

KEYNOTE: Innovation, government and Industry 4.0: South Africa’s policy vision, Imraan Patel, Deputy-Director General, Department of Science and Technology

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP PANEL: The trends we can’t afford to ignore anymore, and what businesses can do about them… Themba Maseko, Business Leadership South Africa (Moderator), Etienne Vlok, Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union, Nonkululeko Shinga, Department of Trade and Industry, Mike Colley, Institute for Futures Research

EVIDENCE PRESENTATION: How much R&D and innovation goes on in South Africa, and how we know this, Dr Glenda Kruss, Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators, Human Sciences Research Council

BREAK (10h45-11h00)

PRACTICE LEADERSHIP PANEL: What industry associations can do to support an innovation agenda, Henra Mayer, Innocentrix (Moderator), Dr John Purchase, Agricultural Business Chamber, Brenda Martin, South African Wind Energy Association, Philippa Rodseth, Manufacturing Circle, Sunil Geness, Information Technology Association of South Africa

INFORMATION PRESENTATION:

LUNCH AND NETWORKING (13h00-14h00)

Learn more?

Write to Gerard Ralphs gralphs[at]hsrc.ac.za, or call 021 466 8000.

Innovation indicators

Announcement | Ignition on SA Business Innovation Survey, 2014-2016

It’s been an intense but rewarding week for ‘Team BIS’ at the HSRC. We announced the rollout of our 2014-2016 survey fieldwork effort, attended the SA Innovation Summit, and talked and listened to loads of clever and committed people. Who knew doing large-scale quantitative research could be this, well, fun.

Moses
Dr Moses Sithole, BIS technical lead, interviewed by Activate radio on 6 September 2017 at the Cape Town Stadium. [Image credit: HSRC/CeSTII]

Ramping up

We’ll remember 5 September 2017 as the day we ramped up Business Innovation Survey 2014-2016, even though behind-the-scenes prep has been ongoing for much, much longer.

Director of the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators , Dr Glenda Kruss, appeared on eNCA and SABC’s Morning Live, before briefing media at a bespoke event arranged at the HSRC.

We were also very lucky to have one of Africa and the world’s leading science journalists in the room, Linda Nordling, editor of *Research Africa, whose feature “Services industries in the crosshairs as SA launches innovation survey” (7 September 2017) delves into the history of innovation surveys in South Africa, and how the 2014-2016 round will differ from previous rounds.

See also article published in Engineering News and Business Report

Adding to the national conversation

When we designed the advocacy strategy for the South African Business Innovation Survey 2014-2016, we saw September 2017 as a month full of important opportunities to add our voice to a national conversation on innovation.

The SA Innovation Summit event, which ends tomorrow, and the SA Innovation Bridge event, which starts next Friday, are now both annual calendar events for South Africa.

They bring together a whole range of actors from the national system of innovation, and beyond, and both events are about making interaction possible within the system, and with other systems, too; to catalyse more innovation, faster.

In attending these events, we wanted to tell our story, but also listen to as many others’ as we can.

To these ends, the Summit which was held at the Cape Town Stadium’s conference venue certainly delivered great value for us.

Dr Moses Sithole spoke about innovation measurement and firm competitiveness on 7 September and we also listened to the innovation stories of companies, like Skeg, who develop product prototypes for all industries, and of entrepreneurs, like the climate-savvy Vicky Shabangu, who is trying to develop a waste management business in Mpumalanga, from scratch.

A few buzz words characterised the discourse on display at the Summit, like ‘disruption’, ‘crytocurrencies’, ‘big data’, ‘systems thinking’, ‘innovation districts’, ‘knowledge regions’, ‘co-creation’, ‘edtech’, ‘fintech’, and so on.

Powerful messages

The Summit was full of powerful messages for innovators big, small or just starting up. The value of networking, exchange, spaces and places, and information were talked up. So was the extremely powerful role of data, digital and disruption in shaping how the economies (and societies) of the future will operate.

For the South African Business Innovation Survey 2014-2016, the take-home messages were equally strong: we need a strong evidence base, rooted in the realities of firms across different industrial, services and informal sectors of the economy, to help with the shaping of responsive policy.

CE.JPG
Visual artist James Durno worked with Kgomotso Matlapeng (Department of Science and Technology) and Gerard Ralphs (Team BIS) on 7 September to co-create this image of the relationship between BIS data and policy. [Image credit: HSRC/CeSTII]
The meaning of innovation

FAQ | SA Business Innovation Survey, 2014-2016

*Fieldwork for SA Business Innovation Survey 2014 – 2016 ended on 30 November 2018. 

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*You can also download these FAQ

What is the purpose of the Business Innovation Survey?

Commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology, and performed by the Human Sciences Research Council, the Business Innovation Survey aims to deliver an internationally comparable report on innovation activities in key sectors of the South African economy. Survey results will play a vital role in policymaking for technology, innovation, and economic development.

Which companies have been selected to participate in this round of the Survey?

Statistics South Africa has drawn a random sample of 5,000 firms from the business register in line with its agreement on official national statistics with the Department of Science and Technology. The sample consists of a variety of businesses, ranging from very small to very large firms that operate in key industrial and services sectors. Sub-sectors covered by the survey include: financial intermediation; research and development; wholesale and retail trade; manufacturing; architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis; computer and related activities; mining and quarrying; electricity, gas and water supply.

What will businesses gain from participating in the Survey?

A source of business intelligence, the Survey’s results can be used to benchmark a company’s innovation activities against other enterprises in its sector, both nationally and internationally. An added benefit of participation is the opportunity it presents for an internal review of potential business development areas that might not otherwise be explored.

What does South Africa gain from businesses participating in the Survey?

National business innovation surveys provide an essential source of data for evidence-informed policymaking. In addition, the 2014-2016 survey round is being undertaken so that results are internationally comparable.

How will Survey respondent company data be managed?

Questionnaires are stored in secure rooms and captured data is stored on secure servers at the Human Sciences Research Council premises in Cape Town, South Africa. All staff who work on the survey have signed strict agreements on the confidentiality of the data. Your company’s details and firm-level data will not be shared with any third party.

What are the different types of innovation the Survey measures?

The South African Business Innovation Survey recognises four types of innovation in firms: 1. Product innovation (including both goods and/or services); 2. Process innovation; 3. Organisational innovation; 4. Marketing innovation. This section of the FAQ provides detailed explanations and examples of each, as well as examples of what would not be considered an innovation in each category.

What makes a product or business activity an “innovation”?

Most people picture an invention new to the world when they think of innovation. In fact, two criteria are important in defining an innovation: 1. Does the product or activity represent significant change or improvement? AND/OR 2. Is the activity or product new to the firm? If the change meets either or both of these criteria, it can be considered an innovation. While a given change could be an innovation for one firm, the same change may not be an innovation for another firm. In answering the Business Innovation Survey, each firm has to decide for itself whether a particular change is new to the firm and/or whether the product, process or service has significantly improved.

When does an innovation belong to an enterprise?

1. If an enterprise has internally developed and implemented its own significant changes.

2. If the enterprise has significantly improved or modified its existing products, processes, services, methods or delivery processes, either by internal development or by introducing a new idea from external sources.

3. If an enterprise has implemented a new or significantly improved change, which may have originated elsewhere, such as the head office or a subsidiary company, another company, sector or country.

What is a firm’s “innovation expenditure”?

Innovation expenditure is the amount of expenditure committed to innovation, including current expenditure (personnel, for example) and capital expenditure (for example, buildings or equipment). For the 2014-2016 round of the Survey, we request that respondents provide: 1. turnover data for two years, and 2. expenditure data for one year. If these data are not available to respondents when completing the questionnaire, we ask that estimates are provided. We also remind you that all firm-level data provided in this section of the questionnaire are kept strictly confidential and are not made public in any way.

What is a product innovation?

Product innovation relates to both goods and services. When a good or service is introduced to the firm and is new to that firm OR shows significant improvement with respect to the capabilities or planned uses, then the change represents a product innovation. A product innovation may include significant changes in technical specifications, components and materials, incorporated software, user experience, or other functional characteristics of the good or service.

Examples of product innovations that relate to goods and services in the industrial and services sectors

SERVICES SECTOR

  • Ticket automation for cash or pay card (e.g. parking systems)
  • New point of sale systems (e.g. scanner cash box)
  • Customised business software (e.g. anti-fraud software that profiles and tracks individual transactions)
  • New multimedia applications (e.g. tablet)
  • New smartphone apps
  • New logistics services
  • Dial in services (e.g. goods delivery)
  • New or significantly improved insurance services (e.g. gap cover)
  • Remote software maintenance
  • Direct clearance with hospitals

INDUSTRIAL SECTOR

  • Inclusion of eco-friendly products in product ranges
  • Introduction of client or loyalty cards
  • Changes to materials e.g. breathable textiles
  • New types of paper for specific printers
  • Improved purity of final mining product
  • Automated tunnel borers
  • Autonomous mine site infrastructure
  • Online sales or direct sales to end-users
  • New kinds of product certification services
  • Combining solutions, such as technical and consulting services
  • Introduction of extended warranties on new or used products
  • Remote software maintenance
  • New information technology applications for client servicing

What is a process innovation?

A process innovation relates to improvements in production methods, delivery methods or distribution methods. For these process improvements to be considered innovations, they must be new to the firm OR significantly improved. These significant changes include those that relate to specific techniques, equipment and/or software, changes that are intended to improve the quality, efficiency or flexibility of a production or supply activity or logistics, or changes that reduce environmental or safety hazards.

Examples of process innovations by sector

SERVICES SECTOR

  • New online banking modules
  • Improved premium clearing systems
  • Electronic Data Interchange
  • CASE tools for customer-specific hardware
  • Introduction of software to identify optimal delivery routes
  • New or improved software or routines for purchasing, accounting or maintenance systems

INDUSTRIAL SECTOR

  • Robotics
  • Digital printing processes
  • Automated packaging
  • Computerised equipment for quality control of production
  • Mapping by drone
  • Smart boreholes
  • Smart volts and vents
  • Installation of automated trucks and drill rigs

What is NOT considered a process innovation?

An increase in production or service capabilities through the addition of manufacturing or logistical systems that are similar to those already in use.

What is an organisational innovation?

An organisational innovation is intended to significantly improve the firm’s innovative capacity or performance characteristics. This can encompass significant changes in workplace organisation, business practices or external relations implemented in the firm.

Examples of organisational innovations

  • A reduction in the number of management levels to create greater flexibility in decision-making.
  • Integrated monitoring system for firm activities (e.g. production, finance, strategy or marketing).
  • The introduction of an organisational division to support new product development in a specific area

What is NOT considered an organisational innovation?

Changes in management strategy not linked to significant organisational change.
Introduction of new technology that has limited benefits or is restricted to a small division of the firm.

What is a marketing innovation?

The implementation of a significant change in sales and marketing methods would qualify as marketing innovation. “Significant” would include improved product appearance and packaging that is intended to increase product appeal and/or consumer awareness.

Examples of marketing innovation

  • Bundling existing goods or services in new ways to appeal to market segments.
  • Design of new consumer products (e.g. custom appliances).

What is NOT considered a marketing innovation?

  • Routine or seasonal changes.
  • Minor updates in the appearance of packaging.
  • Advertising, unless based on the use of new media or a new advertising technique.

More questions?

Write to innovation@hsrc.ac.za

Innovation at large

Event | Survey leaders to brief media on 5 September 2017

Members of the media and other interested parties are invited to join the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators and the Department of Science and Technology for an announcement of the launch of fieldwork for the South African Business Innovation Survey 2014-2016.

The briefing will take place on 5 September 2017 (10h30-12h00), and participants can attend in Cape Town, Durban or Pretoria, in the videoconference facilities of the Human Sciences Research Council.

RSVP is required

Download Business Innovation Survey 2014-2016 brochure

The event will include short statements by the Survey’s technical team concerning the aims and expected outcomes of the research, as well as a statement from the Department of Science and Technology about the significance of the research for national policy.

Participants at the Cape Town venue will also have an opportunity to visit the ‘Innovation Survey Hub’, a dedicated research centre at the HSRC where all fieldwork will take place.

For more information, please contact Gerard Ralphs (gralphs[at]hsrc.ac.za) or 0214668000.

Impacts of innovation, Innovation at large, Innovation indicators, The meaning of innovation

Announcement | All the SA innovation survey info you need, right here

This blog has been designed as a resource for interested parties to learn more about the South African business innovation surveys and their data. It’s also a practical resource to support and encourage firms responding to surveys.

Content pillars

We’re blogging in four key areas, which you’ll see across our posts. These are:

  1. The meaning of innovation

2. Innovation indicators

3. Impact of innovation

4. Innovation at large

Our blog writers are based at the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) at the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC).

Goals you can achieve on this blog

Got questions?

Write to innovation@hsrc.ac.za

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