Survey of Innovation Activities (SIA)

In this paper, results of the 2009 Survey of Innovation Activities are described and discussed. The term innovation, traditionally associated with research and development, has evolved to mean the implementation of new or significantly improved goods and services, production process, marketing or organizational methods in a firm. Innovation data gathered in the survey help better understand innovation and its relation to economic growth, and provide indicators for benchmarking national performance. Results of the survey suggest that more than half of sampled firms are innovators, with larger firms innovating more than smaller ones. Firms vary in innovation activity by study areas. Effects of innovation are largely customer-driven. Firms suggest cost factors to be the most important barrier to innovation. Government support is found to be limited, particularly for product innovations, to mediumsized firms. Knowledge and cooperation networks for innovation are rather weak. Firms do not access technical assistance from the government and research institutions. Cooperation is also low between the establishments and academe. Firms tend to cooperate more with establishments within their enterprise, their customers and suppliers. The results point to the need to articulate the innovation strategy to firms, and to improve information dissemination on programs available to assist firms. Networking, linkages and collaboration among the government, industry associations, and universities and research institutions must be also be further enhanced. The first two authors are Senior Research Fellows, the third and fourth authors are Research Associate and Research Specialist, of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.