Commercialization and R&D Impacts

Detailed information for 2006

Science, Innovation and Electronic Information Division is engaged in a joint project with Industry Canada to investigate the commercialization of innovation process in Canadian firms. This survey collects anecdotal information on commercialization to gather material for the design of a subsequent survey on commercialization.

Data release - April 2, 2007

• Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

This survey is a joint project of Statistics Canada and Industry Canada attempting to better understand the process of commercializing innovations.

From a business firm view, commercialization is part of the innovative process and could be described as the set of conditions that should be met and the set of activities to perform for a firm to generate revenues from an innovation introduced in the market.

Semi-directed interviews were conducted to explore activities performed by firms and factors contributing to success of innovation. We were able to explore factors such as:
o Business management and human resources management
o Commercialization of research and development
o Commercialization of innovation
o Intellectual property management
o Pre-commercialization activities (feasibility studies)
o Licensing in and licensing out
o Collaborations and partnerships
o Process innovations
o Other factors

This survey is intended to provide material for the design of a subsequent survey on commercialization and to provide information on key issues related to commercialization of innovation.

Statistical activity

Science and technology (S&T) and the information society are changing the way we live, learn and work. The concepts are closely intertwined: science generates new understanding of the way the world works, technology applies it to develop innovative products and services and the information society is one of the results of the innovations.

People are looking to Statistics Canada to measure and explain the social and economic impacts of these changes.

The purpose of this Program is to develop useful indicators of S&T activity in Canada based on a framework that ties them together in a coherent picture.

Collection period: January 2007 to March 2007

Subjects

• Innovation
• Research and development
• Science and technology

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The target population consists of small (less than 99 employees) and medium enterprises (between 100 and 500 employees) identified as innovators or that performed research and development activities.

Instrument design

The questionnaire was developed by internal experts and reviewed by a steering committee of representatives from Statistics Canada, Industry Canada and other departments.

Sampling

This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.

This series of interviews included representation from a variety of industries and provinces but was not designed to be representative of the entire economy. The purpose was to obtain qualitative information from innovative firms.

The sample frame was constructed from four Statistics Canada databases:
o the Survey of Innovation 2005 (Manufacturing Industries)
o the Research and Development in Canadian Industry Survey 2004
o the Biotechnology Use and Development Survey 2005
o the Survey of Innovation 2003 (Services Industries)

Data sources

Responding to this survey is voluntary.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

Information was collected through semi-directed interviews, using an interview guide. Interviews were conducted with CEOs and major officers to ensure reliability of information collected on strategic orientations of the firm. Interviews were designed to last an hour, providing time to go through four of the modules identified in the Interview Guide.

By conducting open-ended interviews with the CEOs of innovative companies, we hope to better understand the factors and activities behind the commercialisation of innovation process. Interviews offer the opportunity for customization and interaction with the respondents. The interviewer has the opportunity to ask questions specific to that business, prompt for more detail and to re-focus the discussion on the topic at hand.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .

Error detection

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Imputation

Not applicable.

Estimation

This methodological step does not apply to this survey.

Quality evaluation

All interviewers were trained to follow the Interviewer Guide and record information in a consistent manner. Each interview record was verified for completeness. The data was analysed within a theoretical framework.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

In order to prevent any data disclosure, confidentiality analysis is done using the Statistics Canada Generalized Disclosure Control System (G-Confid). G-Confid is used for primary suppression (direct disclosure) as well as for secondary suppression (residual disclosure). Direct disclosure occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed of or dominated by few enterprises while residual disclosure occurs when confidential information can be derived indirectly by piecing together information from different sources or data series.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

This methodology does not apply to this survey.

Data accuracy

Quality assurance measures were implemented at each step of the data collection and processing cycle to monitor the quality of the data.

These measures included the use of highly skilled interviewers with respect to procedures for the interviewer guide, observation of interviewers to detect problems of interviewer guide design or misunderstanding of instructions, and procedures to ensure that data was captured consistently. Interviews were conducted with two interviewers, one leader and one note taker.