Development of Methodology for Statistical Measurement of Innovative Activity amid Reforming of International Standards

Abstract

The article presents the results of the study of the latest international standards and methods of statistical measurement of innovations developed by leading international organizations, contributing to the further development of the domestic methodology of this area of statistics. The authors identified promising directions for extending and refining knowledge on various aspects of innovative activity, including those associated with generation of new information base to analyze, conduct international comparisons and make forecasts of development of the innovative sector of the economy.The article considers up to date approaches to the measurement of innovative processes and the possibility of their adaptation to domestic practice. The paper includes revised definitions of the concepts of innovations, innovation activity, and its types. The composition and content of types of specially researched innovations, covering basic business process of organizations, are revealed; characteristics of innovation activity are identified in more detail. A new version of the Community Innovation Survey program is presented, which focuses on the study of «open innovation», including user innovations, revision of innovative activities. Some additions to the existing questionnaire are formulated.The place of innovative development of Russia compared to that in European countries is analyzed. For these purposes, the authors justified the use of the system of indicators reflecting current trends and development potential of innovations in the economy. In particular, this system includes indicators of the level of innovative activity, dynamics, and intensity of innovative activity. Based on the calculations of key indicators characterizing innovative activity in Russia, the authors concluded that over the past decade, the main characteristics of innovation activity have not significantly changed. In terms of the level of innovation activity, our country ranks 28th (7,5%), as for the intensity of expenditure on technological innovation - 9th (2,1%), in terms of the share of innovative goods and services in total sales 24th (6,5%).In conclusion, the authors formulated main methodological changes in the statistical measurement of innovative processes associated with the modernization of international standards and identified further directions for improving statistics of innovation. These directions require increased attention to monitoring the effectiveness of the tools used, and creating an information basis for making informed management decisions in the field of regulating innovation processes.