Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the implementation of Decision No 1608/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
Date: 2007-12-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, applied sciences, innovation, research and development, statistical method, technology

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 14.12.2007 
COM(2007) 801 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

on the implementation of Decision No 1608/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of 
the Council 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The statistics on science, technology and innovation (STI statistics) are based on the Decision 
of the European Parliament and of the Council No 1608/2003/EC. In close co-operation with 
Member  states,  this  Decision  has  been  implemented  by  Eurostat  in  the  form  of  legislative 
measures on the one hand and as additional work going beyond that on the other hand. 

Two  Commission  Regulations  relating  to  STI  statistics  (No.  753/2004  and  No.  1450/2004) 
were  adopted  in  2004.  These  relate  to  statistics  on  science  and  technology  on  the  one  hand 
and  to  statistics  on  innovation  on  the  other  hand.  These  two  legislative  measures  led  to 
considerable  improvements  of  R&D  statistics  and  the  Community  innovation  statistics. 
Additional  progress  has  been  made  on  the  statistics  on  the  career  development  of  doctorate 
holders  (CDH  statistics),  on  high  tech  statistics  and  on  patents  statistics.  The  statistics  and 
indicators  produced  were  used  in  numerous  publications  and  policy  papers  (e.g.  in  the 
European  Innovation  Scoreboard).  The  community  measures  also  led  to  adaptations  of  the 
national statistical systems on STI statistics. 

The  two  Commission  Regulations  also  improved  the  data  quality  of  STI  statistics 
considerably.  This  is  in  particular  true  for  R&D  statistics  and  Community  Innovation 
statistics. Further data quality improvements are however necessary. 

A first attempt of measuring the costs and burden of STI statistics on respondents and national 
authorities  was  undertaken.  Heterogeneous  results  were  reported  by  countries.  Therefore  no 
clear conclusions can be made yet. The work needs to be pursued. 

The  further  development  of  STI  statistics  is  on  the  one  hand  necessary  with  regard  to  the 
improvements to be made on existing statistical domains. Progress should e.g. be achieved in 
increasing the relevance of R&D statistics, in revising the concepts and definitions of HRST 
statistics,  in  stabilising  the  CDH  statistics,  in  better  using  the  patent  statistics  raw  database 
PATSTAT or in revising the definitions of high tech statistics. 

More in the medium and longer term, further actions seem necessary such as the improvement 
of the measurement of the internationalisation of STI, the better access to the STI micro-data 
or  the  improvement  of  the  indicators  measuring  knowledge  flows,  linkages,  STI  output  and 
impact.  This  should  also  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  overhaul  of  the  two  Commission 
Regulations  mentioned  above  as  well  as  with  the  adding  of  an  additional  Commission 
Regulation on CDH statistics. 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

on the implementation of Decision No 1608/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of 
the Council 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This  Report  from  the  Commission  concerns  the  implementation  of  Decision  No 
1608/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2003 on the 
production and development of Community statistics on science and technology1 as 
required by Article 5 of the same Decision. 

In  the  Commission's  Annual  Policy  Strategy  for  2008,  the  statistics  on  science, 
technology and innovation ("STI statistics") are closely linked to the Lisbon Strategy 
for  growth  and  jobs  and  to  prosperity  in  which  education,  research  and  innovation 
rank highly. 

The  first  part  of  this  report  focuses  on  implementation  since  the  Decision  was 
adopted. It is followed by chapters on data quality, costs and the  statistical burden. 
The final chapter of the report looks ahead to the strategic actions which should be 
taken in the years to come. 

2. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISION NO 1608/2003/EC 

2.1. 

The implementation by the Commission 

Decision  No  1608/2003/EC  has  been  implemented  by  Eurostat  in  the  form  of 
legislative measures on the one hand and additional work going beyond that on the 
other hand. 

Two Commission Regulations relating to STI statistics were adopted in 2004:  

•  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  753/2004  of  22  April  2004  implementing 
Decision  No  1608/2003/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  as 
regards statistics on science and technology2; and  

•  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  1450/2004  of  13  August  2004  implementing 
Decision  No  1608/2003/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council 
concerning  the  production  and  development  of  Community  statistics  on 
innovation3.  

Regulation  No  753/2004  covers  R&D  statistics,  statistics  on  human  resources  in 
science and technology ("HRST statistics"), statistics on high-technology industries 
and knowledge-based services, patent statistics and other STI statistics. The precise 
data  required  are  listed  for  R&D  statistics  only.  Regulation  No  1450/2004  covers 
Community innovation statistics only. 

Under these two Regulations the main achievements in the various domains of STI 
statistics have been:  

1 
2 
3 

OJ L 230, 16.9.2003, p.1 
OJ L 118, 23.4.2004, p.23 
OJ L 267, 14.8.2004, p.32 

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2.1.1 

R  &  D  statistics  (including  Statistics  on  Government  budget  appropriations  or 
outlays allocated to R&D, Gbaord statistics)  

R&D statistics measure the R&D performance in Europe. The R&D expenditure and 
the  R&D  personnel  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  R&D  performing  enterprise  or 
institution are compiled in various dimensions and breakdowns. These statistics are 
based on the so-called Frascati Manual and used for compiling the 3 % Lisbon and 
Barcelona Council Indicator on R&D intensity. 

Figure 1: R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as % of GDP), EU-25, 10 New Member 
States (NMS 10), China, Japan, Russia and the United States 1994 to 2005 

% of GDP

3.5

3.0

2.79

2.92

2.82

2.89

3.02

3.04

3.05

3.13

3.18

3.20

3.18

2.55

2.58

2.62

2.66

2.74

2.76

2.65

2.68

2.68

1.77

1.80

'
1.80

1.86

1.87

1.88

1.89

1.88

1.85

1.85

2.42

2.51

1.82

2.5

2.0

1.5

JP

US

EU -25

1.18

1.25

1.28

1.23

1.34

CN

1.0

0.84

0.85

0.97

1.04

0.95

1.00

1.05

0.90

0.95

1.07

1.13

1.16

0.77

0.76

0.77

0.77

0.78

0.78

0.77

0.79

R U

N MS 10

1.07

0.82

0.5

0.64

0.57

0.57

0.64

0.65

0.0

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

 NOTES 

Eurostat estimations: EU-25 and NMS10
Provisional data: US 2003 and 2004
US 1993 - 2004: Excludes most or all capital expenditure Break in series: JP 1996, US 1998, CN 2000

JP 1994-1995: Overestimated data 
CN 1994-1999: underestimated data 

Source: Eurostat/R&D statistics -OECD - MSTI 2006/1

Main achievements: 

•  Reorganisation and increase of data production and data quality 

•  Harmonisation of the data collection questionnaire and time series with the OECD 

•  Establishment and implementation of quality reports on R&D statistics for various 

institutional sectors. 

2.1.2.  Community innovation statistics 

The  Community  innovation  surveys  measure  the  innovation  performance  of 
enterprises  in  Europe.  They  provide  indicators  on  innovation  activities,  the  various 
types  of  innovation,  innovation  expenditure,  effects  or  co-operation  on  innovation. 
These  surveys  are  the  only  harmonised  source  for  measuring  innovation  in  Europe 
and beyond. They are based on the so-called Oslo Manual. 

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Figure 2: Enterprises with innovation activity, as % of all 
enterprises, 2002-2004 

65 

52 
52 
52 
52 
52 
51

50

49

46

43

43

42

41

38

37

36

36

35

34

33

29

27

25

23

21

21

20

18
16 

DE 
AT 
LU 
IE 
IS 
DK 
BE 
SE
EE 
CY 
FI 
UK 
EU27 
PT 
CZ 
NO 
IT 
GR 
ES
NL 
FR 
LT 
SI 
PL 
SK 
HU 
MT 
RO 
LV 
BG 

0 

10 

20

30

40

50

60 

70

Source: Eurostat: Community Innovation statistics 2004 

Main achievements: 

•  Preparation  of  the  fourth  Community  Innovation  Survey  with  a  harmonised 
survey  questionnaire  and  methodology,  broadly  implemented  in  the  countries 
concerned. 

•  Collection and dissemination of tabulated CIS 4 data and indicators in late 2006, 

together with the CIS 4 quality reports.  

•  Release  of  the  2005  Eurostat/OECD  Oslo  Manual  2005  which  also  covers 

organisational and marketing innovation. 

•  Preparation of the CIS 2006, based on the reference year 2006, which repeats CIS 
4 in many Member States and preparation and implementation of pilot modules on 
organisational and marketing innovation with a view to CIS 2008.  

•  Opening of access to the CIS micro-data to more than 50 research institutes so far. 

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2.1.3 

Statistics on human resources in science and technology ("HRST statistics") 

The  HRST  statistics  measure  the  part  of  the  workforce  which  have  a  third  level 
education  in  science  and  technology  or  which  are  employed  in  a  science  and 
technology occupation. Many different dimensions of this part of the workforce are 
monitored  (such  as  their  sector  of  employment,  their  age  or  their  national  and 
international mobility). These statistics are based on the so-called Canberra Manual. 

Figure 3: Age pyramid of the persons employed in Science and Technology (S&T) 
with S&T education and of total employment in EU-25, 2004 

Age group

65+ 

60-64 

55-59 

50-54 

45-49 

40-44 

35-39 

30-34 

25-29 

20-24 

15-19 

Men 

1448

319

100

860

Women

3239

718

358

1867

7289

1391

1023

5173

10202

1814

1755

7849

11685

1969

2060

9321

12746

2229

2282

9937

13020

2395

2466

9642

11957

2472

2716

8533

10191

1997

2511

7447

7780

455

682

6303

2942

2321

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

5,000

10,000 
In thousand of persons

15,000

Persons employed in Science and Technology with S&T education
 — HRSTC 

Other employment

Source: Eurostat: HRST statistics 

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Main achievements: 

•  Continuation  of  regular  production  of  HRST  statistics  based  on  the  micro-data 
from the Community Labour Force Survey (CLFS) and expansion to allow better 
measurement of mobility issues. 

•  Together with the OECD and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and based 
on strong user needs, preparation and broader implementation of the "statistics on 
the careers of doctorate holders" ("CDH statistics") monitoring resident doctorate-
holders,  including  their  personal  characteristics,  educational  and  work  history, 
international mobility, etc. 

2.1.4 

Statistics  on  high-technology  industries  and  knowledge-based  services  ("High-tech 
statistics")  

The  high-tech  statistics  monitor  the  sectors  of  the  economy  which  are 
characterised  by  high  knowledge  intensity  (e.g.  pharmaceuticals,  computers, 
telecommunication,  aircraft,  R&D).  Economic,  employment  or  high  tech  trade 
indicators are produced for these industries.  

Figure 4: Distribution of high-tech exports and imports by group of products, EU-
25, Japan and the United States – 2004 

E U- 2 5

Japan

United States

11.4

10.0

11.5

14.0

23.2

9.7

5.8

25.6

8.1

17.8

29.9

32.9

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

12.5

0.9

18.1

16.9

0.9

50.7

10.2

3.5

28.5

12.3

7.4

38.1

11.5

5.1

16.4

13.9

19.0

7.3

4.0

33.4

10.0

8.2

34.1

37.2

High-tech 
exports

High-tech
imports

High-tech 
exports

High-tech 
imports

High-tech 
exports

High-tech 
imports

Electronics-telecom.

Aerospace

Scientific instruments

Computers-office machines

Pharmacy

Other

Source: Eurostat: High tech statistics 

Main achievements: 

•  Continuation  and  stepping-up  of  regular  production  of  the  high-tech  statistics 

based on both official and unofficial sources.  

•  Assessment of the underlying classifications (including on high tech trade) with a 
view to the forthcoming revision, related to the revision of the Nace nomenclature 
of economic activities.  

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2.1.5 

Patent statistics 

Patent statistics are in general used as output indicators related to science, technology 
and  innovation.  The  indicators  are  produced  on  the  base  of  administrative  data 
coming  from  the  European  Patent  Office  or  other  patent  offices.  World-wide 
comparisons  of  the  patenting  activities  allow  an  assessment  of  the  innovative 
capacity of the respective economies.  

Table 1: High-technology patent applications to the EPO by high-tech group, EU-
27, Japan and United States — 2003 

Aviation 
Computer and automated 
business equipment
Communication 
technology
Lasers
Micro-organism and 
genetic engineering 
Semi-conductors
Total high-tech patent applications 

EU-27
256

3,242

4,932

118

1,349

943
10,840

JP
18

2,088

2,583

90

704

1,351
6,834

US
153

5,479

4,475

158

2,060

1,520
13,845

Source: Eurostat: Patent statistics 

Main achievements:  

•  Together with other international institutions (such as the European Patent Office, 
EPO, the US Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO or the OECD), establishment 
and  further  improvement  of  PATSTAT,  the  harmonised  raw  data  base  covering, 
inter alia, EPO patent applications and USPTO patents granted.  

•  Production  of  an  automated  method  for  largely  harmonising  the  names  of  the 
patent  applicants.  The  application  of  this  method  allows  the  production  of 
additional patent statistics, e.g. patent concentration ratios. 

•  Increasing  use  of  PATSTAT  with  production  of  more  user-relevant  patent 

statistics and indicators. 

2.1.6 

Production and dissemination  

For  further  improving  the  data  quality  of  STI  statistics  and  for  establishing  longer 
time  series,  Eurostat  has  built-up  an  in-house  production  database  (STI  DB)  and 
started  to  produce  a  generic  IT  application  for  processing  micro-data.  Numerous 
publications have been produced, using the STI statistics disseminated free of charge 
on  the  web.  Examples  include  the  series  of  Eurostat  Panoramas  on  science, 
technology and innovation published annually basis or the around 15 or so issues of 
Statistics  in  Focus  released  regularly.  The  STI  statistics  have  also  been  used  in 
numerous  policy  papers  and  communications.  Prominent  examples  are  the  annual 
European innovation scoreboard produced by DG ENTR or the key figures published 
by DG RTD. 

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2.1.7 

STI statistics not yet implemented  

Due to human resource constraints, other areas mentioned in section 3 of the annex 
to the Regulation No. 753/2004 have however not been followed-up intensively, e.g. 
statistics  on  biotechnology,  nanotechnology  and  on  the  technological  balance  of 
payments. 

These  lacking  actions  are  however  counterbalanced  by  a  number  of  actions  which 
have  been  carried  forward  due  to  policy  needs.  Some  of  these  such  as  the  CDH 
statistics are listed in the previous paragraphs. Others need to be pursued further and 
are therefore part of chapter 5 (e.g. the better measurement of the internationalisation 
of R&D). 

2.2. 

Implementation of STI statistics in Member States 

This section briefly describes the measures taken in Member States on STI statistics 
collected  directly  from  them:  R&D/Gbaord  statistics,  Community  innovation 
statistics and CDH statistics. For the other domains, other official or unofficial data 
sources  are  used  which  are  not  included  in  surveys  to  be  carried  out  by  Member 
States.  

R&D/Gbaord Statistics 

To meet the requirements of Regulation No. 753/2004, many countries adapted their 
national  questionnaires  and  data  collection  from  2002/2003  onwards.  Often  the 
revised national questionnaires already included the R&D data submitted voluntarily. 
Generally, the national data compilation methods, often soundly based on surveying 
known R&D performers, have remained unchanged. Instead, the size of the national 
R&D survey questionnaires or the use of national data sources has had to be adapted. 

A number of countries had problems with transmission of R&D and Gbaord data for 
the  first  two  obligatory  reference  years  (2003  and  2004),  in  particular  with  the 
completeness of the data and with meeting the deadlines imposed by the Commission 
Regulation. However, they should have fewer difficulties with R&D statistics for the 
reference year 2005 in also further improving the timeliness of these statistics. The 
transmission  of  the  R&D  variables  requested  on  a  voluntary  basis  remains 
incomplete however. 

Community innovation statistics  

The fourth Community Innovation Survey (CIS 4) was perceived as less burdensome 
and  easier  to  implement  at  national  level.  Member  States  mostly  followed  the 
harmonised  CIS  4  survey  questionnaire  and  the  harmonised  survey  methodology. 
This  led  to  an  improvement  in  data  quality,  in  particular  with  regard  to  data 
comparability  and  timeliness.  The  tabulated  (regional  and  national)  data  were 
generally transmitted on time. However, Eurostat will not receive all the national CIS 
4  micro-data  sets  as  some  countries  will  not  transmit  these  data  voluntarily. 
Furthermore a number of countries will not transmit regional data. 

Statistics on the career development of doctorate holders (“CDH statistics”) 

Based on strong user needs, the broader production of CDH statistics started in 2006 
and 2007 in more than 20 Member States. In this context, countries started to work 
on  using  national  administrative  data  sources  and  registers,  building-up  national 
sample  frames  covering  all  resident  doctorate-holders,  calculating  sample  size, 
drawing-up  the  national  survey  questionnaires  and  developing  data  collection 

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techniques. A broader evaluation of the production of CDH statistics at national level 
will be conducted in 2008. 

The European Commission (Eurostat) considers that: 

• 

• 

• 

considerable  progress  has  been  made  with  the  implementation  of  Decision  No 
1608/2003/EC,  with  Regulations  No  753/2004  and  1450/2004  covering  all  the 
domains of STI statistics; 

the launching of additional projects such as the CDH statistics was justified by 
their relevance with regard to strength of the underlying policy needs, 

these  measures  at  international  level  have  generally  been  observed  by  the 
individual countries, which have stepped up their efforts to make the necessary 
national adaptations or investment. This led to an increase of the available STI 
statistics e.g. in R&D and Gbaord statistics by around one third since 2001. 

3. 

STI STATISTICS: DATA QUALITY 

The framework for the data quality of STI statistics is the European Statistics Code 
of  Practice4  covering  15  main  principles.  The  main  principles  relevant  for  data 
quality in STI statistics are: 

•  Principle 3: The adequacy of resources available to national statistical authorities 

•  Principle 4: Quality commitment for all ESS members 

•  Principle 7: The soundness of the methodology which must underpin the quality 

statistics. 

•  Principle 9: The non-excessive burden on respondents 

•  and the Principles 11 to 15 related to relevance, accuracy, reliability, timeliness, 

punctuality, coherence and comparability of the statistics produced. 

Data  quality  as  well  as  cost  and  burden  on  respondents  are  also  part  of  the 
“Commission  Communication  on  reduction  of  the  response  burden,  simplification 
and  priority-setting  in  the  field  of  Community  statistics”5.  This  Communication 
deals - inter alia - with the re-engineering of business statistics which will also affect 
STI statistics in the medium term. 

Some of the statistical quality issues arising in the various domains are highlighted 
below.  Many  of  these  findings  often  are  taken  from  the  quality  reports  on  the 
individual surveys: 

•  R&D  statistics:  The  quality  of  the  European  R&D  statistics  improved  with 
implementation of Regulation No 753/2004. An increase in data availability was 
observed  from  reference  year  2003  onwards.  The  accuracy  of  the  data  and 
comparability  between  countries  are  also  good.  The  recommendations  on  data 
compilation made in the OECD Frascati Manual have generally been observed. 

•  Community innovation statistics: The quality for the CIS 4 data also improved 
considerably compared with previous CIS. Often this is due to the shorter, clearer 

4 
5 

COM (2005) 217 
COM (2006) 693 

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questionnaire,  stronger  production  and  implementation  process  at  national  level 
and  greater  familiarity  with  the  CIS  on  the  part  of  respondents.  The  timeliness, 
completeness  and  comparability  of  the  national  CIS  4  data  sets  have  also 
improved. The accuracy of the data has been satisfactory for most countries. 

•  Other  STI  statistics:  For  the  other  domains  the  quality  improvements  often 
depend on the progress made with the source data. Considerable progress has been 
made in this respect with the data from the Community Labour Force Survey or 
from PATSTAT. 

Turning  to  the  Regulations  No  753/2004  and  No  1450/2004,  Eurostat  started  the 
compliance  monitoring  with  the  legislation  on  R&D  statistics  and  Community 
innovation  statistics  in  2006/2007.  This  monitoring  will  be  repeated  at  regular 
intervals following predefined order of priority for action vis-à-vis Member States. 

The European Commission (Eurostat): 

• 

considers  that  the  quality  of  R&D  statistics  and  of  Community  innovation 
statistics  has  improved  considerably  in  recent  years,  inter  alia  due  to 
Regulations No 753/2004 and 1450/2004; 

•  believes  that  further  improvements  in  data  quality  are,  however,  necessary  in 

the years ahead; 

• 

intends to monitor statistical data quality in the various domains in the future 
too. 

4. 

STI STATISTICS: COSTS AND BURDEN 

Eurostat measures the costs and burden imposed by business statistics in a number of 
statistical  domains.  In  the  case  of  STI  statistics  the  costs  and  burden  have  been 
measured only for R&D statistics and Community innovation statistics as these have 
been the only two self-standing surveys of enterprises until now. 

Hampered  by  the  fact  that  not  every  country  replied  and  that  the  data  received  are 
heterogeneous  and  not  fully  comparable,  no  firm  overall  conclusions  can  be  drawn 
on the costs and burden imposed by R&D statistics and the CIS. The example of two 
countries is however given:  

•  In  Estonia  an  enterprise  being  surveyed  on  R&D  statistics  spends  on  average  4 
hours in compiling all the R&D data required. Due to a low sample rate this time 
is  reduced  to  8  minutes  only  when  all  enterprises  in  the  countries  are  taken  into 
consideration. For the Community innovation statistics this burden is 95 minutes 
for the surveyed enterprise and 55 minutes for all enterprises. 

•  In Italy on the other hand the compilation of the required R&D statistics caused 
an average burden of 95 minutes at the surveyed enterprises and 40 minutes when 
all  national  enterprises  are  taken  into  consideration.  Vice  versa  to  Estonia,  the 
corresponding  figures  for  the  Community  innovation  statistics  are  much  higher 
with  around  7  hours  for  the  sampled  enterprises  and  less  than  2  hours  for  all 
national enterprises. 

These  two  examples  show  that  the  costs  and  burden  of  R&D  statistics  and 
Community Innovation statistics caused  at enterprises  are very heterogeneous. This 
is  also  true  for  the  cost/burden  measurement  in  other  areas  such  as  Structural 

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Business Statistics where rather heterogeneous information from only 16 countries is 
available at this stage. 

Beside  further  efforts  of  considerably  improving  the  cost  and  burden  measurement 
caused  by  the  two  STI  statistics  surveys  in  question,  Eurostat  will  also  make  the 
national data compilation methods used for these two surveys more transparent. This 
should  lead  to  incentives  for  improving  the  national  methods  and  consequently 
reduce the burden on businesses (e.g. through the lowering of the sample size which 
seem to be too high in some countries). 

Similarly,  the  burden  which  CDH  statistics  will  place  on  Member  States  will  also 
vary,  depending  on  their  existing  survey  frames  or  on  their  existing  CDH  or  other 
national  surveys.  These  statistics  are  however  not  targeted  at  enterprises  as 
respondents, but at persons. 

The European Commission (Eurostat) 

•  has  undertaken  an  initial  measurement  of  the  costs  and  statistical  burden 

imposed by R&D statistics and Community innovation statistics; 

• 

sees that the costs and burden which these statistics impose on respondents and 
national authorities are rather varied; 

•  believes that the costs and burden can be reduced in many countries purely by 
the  more  sophisticated  application  of  statistical  methods  without  endangering 
data quality. 

5. 

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF STI STATISTICS 

Further  development  of  STI statistics should relate to the whole STI system, i.e. to 
science input, linkages, output and impact. This chapter looks ahead to the next few 
years. On the one hand much can be achieved by improving the existing statistics in 
the short to medium term. On the other hand, new indicators, new data sources and 
new domains of STI statistics should be sought in a medium to long term approach. 

5.1 

Improving existing STI statistics 

5.1.1 

Improving the quality of STI statistics  

In  close  co-operation  with  Member  States,  Eurostat  needs 
to  ensure  full 
implementation  of  the  legislative  framework  at  national  level  in  order  to  achieve 
further  improvements  in  data  quality.  This  includes  additional  data  collections  and 
other activities, which need to be pursued and further improved. 

Specific  cases  are:  rebalancing  the  R&D  statistics  included  in  Regulation  No 
753/2004  (based  on  an  assessment  of  data  quality  and  user  needs);  making  the 
breakdown  of  “R&D  funded  from  abroad”  compulsory;  improving  the  quality  of 
R&D  statistics  with  a  view  to  the  expected  capitalisation  of  R&D  in  the  European 
System of Accounts and with the view of better responding to the user needs related 
to women in science; increasing harmonisation of data compilation methods of R&D 
statistics or further improving their timeliness with now-casts. 

The quality (consistency and relevance) of the STI statistics on researchers needs to 
be improved. Finally the revised classification of economic activities (Nace Rev. 2) 
needs  to  be  fully  incorporated  into  STI  statistics  from  2008  onwards.  This  should 
make them more relevant. 

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5.1.2 

Statistics on human resources in science and technology (“HRST statistics”)  

The  OECD  Canberra  Manual,  the  basic  methodology  for  HRST  statistics,  dating 
back to 1992, needs to be revised. This revision should, in particular, deal with the 
relevance of the concepts and definitions of HRST, which have been found deficient. 
The  CDH  statistics  also  need  to  be  incorporated  into  the  HRST  concepts  and 
definitions.  Work  on  this  has  started.  Close  co-operation  at  international  level  (in 
particular with the OECD) has to be sought in this context. 

The new statistics on the career development of doctorate holders (“CDH statistics”) 
launched by the OECD, the UIS and Eurostat need to be evaluated and stabilised by 
producing them on a regular basis. This should be done after the first comprehensive 
national programme implementing CDH statistics in European countries in 2007. As 
second  stage,  full  integration  into  the  European  Statistical  System  should  be 
envisaged. 

5.1.3 

Patent statistics  

PATSTAT, the new source of patent raw data, opens up many new possibilities for 
generating  patent  indicators  going  beyond  those  currently  produced.  Additional 
indicators can be compiled relating to national patent applications, cleaned names of 
applicants,  internationalisation  of  patents  or  inventors.  Examples  include  patent 
concentration  ratios  or  indicators  measuring  the  industry-science  linkages  better. 
Strong  user  needs  for  additional  indicators  could  even  lead  to  adaptation  of 
PATSTAT.  The  PATSTAT  raw  data  file  could  be  further  used  for  building  up 
linkages  to  other  micro-data  sets  (such  as  the  EU  industrial  R&D  investment 
scoreboard). Beyond that, the timeliness of patent statistics needs to be improved and 
production of regional patent statistics needs to be stabilised. 

5.1.4 

Statistics  on  high-tech  industries  and  knowledge-based  services  (“High-tech 
statistics”) 

The aggregated high-tech statistics (including the high-tech trade aggregates) have to 
be  revised  as  the  NACE  nomenclature  of  economic  activities  is  changing  to  Nace 
Rev. 2 or as the groupings of products needs to be updated. Also the improvements 
to the structure of economic activities in Nace Rev. 2 are opening new possibilities 
for  more  sophisticated,  more  relevant  aggregates.  Co-operation  with  other 
international partners is needed in this area. 

The European Commission (Eurostat) intends: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

further  to  improve  the  quality  of  STI  statistics  together  with  Member 
States; 

to  embark  on  revision  of  the  concepts  and  definitions  for  statistics  on 
human resources in science and technology; 

to  evaluate  and  stabilise  the  statistics  on  the  career  development  of 
doctorate  holders;  to  make  better  use  of  PATSTAT  for  internationally 
comparable patent statistics by also creating new indicators; 

to  revise  the  concepts  and  definitions  for  high-tech  industries  and 
knowledge-based services by making them more relevant. 

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5.2 

New indicators, new data sources and new domains 

New indicators also need to be developed, new data sources need to be opened up, 
other possibly need to be closed and new domains need to be added in the medium to 
long  term.  A  number  of  the  main  areas  for  medium  and  long  term  planning  are 
touched on below.  

5.2.1 

Better measurement of internationalisation of STI 

Measurement  of  internationalisation  of  STI  seems  insufficient  considering  the  fact 
that STI is becoming more and more international. There are gaps in the data on, for 
example, R&D expenditure by EU companies outside their territory of R&D owned 
by foreign affiliates, mobility of highly skilled human resources or international co-
operation on innovation. 

Improvements  can  be  made  step  by  step  in  the  various  domains  concerned  (e.g. 
statistics  on  R&D  and  on  foreign  affiliates’  statistics).  Close  co-operation  with  the 
OECD also needs to be sought. 

5.2.2 

Better Community Innovation Surveys for more users 

The  2005  Eurostat/OECD  Oslo  Manual  covering  two  new  types  of  innovation  (in 
organisation  and  marketing)  needs  to  be  fully  implemented  in  CIS  2008.  Beyond 
this, new user demands will be addressed by the forthcoming Community Innovation 
Surveys, i.e. CIS 2008 and beyond. These include, in particular, better measurement 
of  eco-innovation  and  design,  recording  of  user-driven  innovation  or  public 
procurement and innovation. Further sectors of the economy should be added as well 
as a full coverage of European regions achieved with the next waves of Community 
Innovation  Surveys.  On  the  other  hand,  care  has  to  taken  that  the  CIS  2008 
questionnaire does not get overloaded with a negative effect on data quality. 

5.2.3 

Better access to micro-data 

More  intensive  use  needs  to  be  made  of  micro-data  by  researchers,  beyond  the 
standard  tabulations  and  indicators  disseminated.  Taking  the  CIS  as  an  example, 
transmission  of  micro-data  to  Eurostat  and  centralised  use  of  them  there  by 
researchers considerably improves the cost–benefit ratio. The micro-data can be used 
either  as  anonymised  micro-data  or  as  confidential  micro-data  at  the  Eurostat  Safe 
Centre.  Access  to  both  data  sets  is  governed  by  Commission  Regulation  No 
831/2002.  Central  availability  of  CIS  micro-data  at  Eurostat  has  to  be  ensured  by 
means of compulsory data transmission from countries. The procedure for access to 
the CIS micro-data by researchers needs to be simplified. 

In the medium term, the possibility of transmission of  other STI  micro-data should 
be investigated. The first candidates for this would be the R&D and CDH statistics. 
This  would  however  require  greater  harmonisation  of  data  production  at  national 
level and sufficient user needs for these micro-data on the art of researchers. Finally, 
linking  different STI micro-data sets  with other  micro-data sets  should be part of a 
longer term work plan. 

5.2.4  More indicators on knowledge flows, linkages, STI output and impact 

There  is  a  need  to  review  existing  indicators  on  knowledge  transfer  between 
universities and industry to assess their scope (e.g. licensing and patenting, spin-off 
creation,  collaborative  research,  publications,  human  resources  mobility)  and 
determine their link with economic impact, in view of promoting more coherent data 

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relevant  for  knowledge  transfer  analysis  across  Europe  and  defining  a  set  of 
harmonised indicators. In particular, the need to create new indicators illustrating the 
knowledge  creation  and  dissemination  process  within  the  R&D  and  innovation 
systems  should  be  assessed.  Such  linkage  indicators  would  focus,  for  example,  on 
networks  of  researchers/inventors  or  the  extent  to  which  the  industrial  base  makes 
use of the results of the scientific work for its innovative activities. A specific chapter 
on innovation linkages was inserted in the 2005 Oslo Manual. Similar to the linkages 
indicators, the STI output and impact indicators have also not yet been investigated 
comprehensively. Many improvements are being made (e.g. on patent or bibliometric 
statistics),  but  no  overall  mapping  of  user  needs  against  the  data  produced  in  these 
areas has yet been carried out. This is particularly true for STI indicators measuring 
the economic impact, for which no harmonised set of indicators exists. 

These requirements apply to all domains of STI statistics (R&D statistics, innovation 
statistics, HRST statistics, high-tech statistics and patent statistics). First, users needs 
should  be  clarified  and  consolidated  in  relation  with  the  statistical  production 
possibilities.  The  existing  data  production  then  needs  to  be  improved,  mainly  by 
defining and producing new indicators. Better use of the micro-data in the CIS is one 
immediate candidate for this. On the other hand, immediate incorporation of domains 
not yet part of the European Statistical System such as bibiliometric statistics, seems 
difficult, if not impossible. This is mainly due to the lacking resources at Eurostat or 
the  underlying  intellectual  property  rights.  Further  research  and  consolidation 
measures should be launched on this activity. 

5.2.5 

Screening and re-assessment of STI input indicators  

The  traditional  R&  D  statistics  and  the  various  breakdowns,  subdivisions  and 
allocations  to  the  performing  sectors  (Business  enterprise  sector,  BES,  government 
sector,  GOV,  Higher  Education  sector,  HES  and  Private  Non-Profit  sector,  PNP) 
have existed for over 40 years. They are based on the Frascati Manual (latest version 
from 2002). They have been adapted over the years without fundamentally changing 
the  concepts  and  definitions.  Moreover,  over  the  years  the  R&D  and  Gbaord 
statistics have been burdened with requests for additional data for which they were 
not originally designed. New requirements are already  looming, e.g.  in the  form of 
capitalisation  of  R&D  within  the  revised  System  of  National  Accounts  or  better 
measurement of internationalisation of R&D. Also the relevance of some of the R&D 
and Gboard data  produced since  many  years might be endangered. One example is 
the Gbaord statistics which do not include data on tax credits. 

In the medium term it therefore seems necessary to screen and assess the traditional 
R&D and Gbaord statistics, particularly their relevance. This should be done not only 
within  the  statistical  community,  but  also  together  with  the  user  and  also  research 
community. 

5.2.6  Data on individual enterprises, enterprise groups and research or higher education 

institutions  

Efforts have been made at European level to produce and open up access to data on 
individual  enterprises,  enterprise  groups,  and  research  or  educational  institutions, 
such  as  universities.  The  information  produced  has  generally  been  based  on 
information publicly available, e.g. released in the accounts of the relevant entities or 
being  accessible  as  administrative  data  at  national  level.  The  most  prominent 
example  of  these  efforts  is  the  EU’s  industrial  R&D  investment  scoreboard, 
produced  by  the  European  Commission  (by  the  IPTS  on  behalf  of  DG  RTD). 

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Information  on  individual  enterprises  or  institutions  is  added  to  the  aggregated 
statistics produced as standard output. 

Based  on  such  existing  activities,  a  number  of  measures  could  be  envisaged  in  the 
years ahead: 

•  In the short to medium term the further development of the EU’s industrial R&D 
investment scoreboard could be envisaged in adding more individual data records 
(e.g. on patents) to it or in starting to seek synergies with the Eurostat Euro-group 
business register covering enterprise groups and their structures. One aim would 
be to provide data about the access to finance for innovative enterprises. However, 
no double data production on single enterprise group data should take place in the 
long term. 

•  Similar  information  on  individual  institutions  (other  than  enterprises)  could  also 
be  collected  by  Eurostat  in  due  course.  The  first  candidates  would  be  European 
universities  with  their  twin  functions  of  research  and  education.  Indicators  on 
individual  universities  could  be  compiled  from  statistical  or  administrative  data 
sources  at  national  level  and  then  transmitted  to  Eurostat.  Several  research 
activities are already in progress in this field. As user needs related to this area are 
growing fast, Eurostat will investigate the feasibility of such a data production and 
follow-up this work in due course. 

5.2.7 

Integrating  statistics  on  biotechnology  and  nanotechnology  and  other  emerging 
fields. 

Development  of  biotechnology  and  nanotechnology  statistics  has  been  pushed 
forward  mainly  by  the  OECD  in  recent  years.  In  particular,  the  work  on 
biotechnology  statistics  has  made  progress  towards  greater  harmonisation  of  the 
underlying  concepts  and  definitions  and  on  pilot  data  collections.  The  work  on 
measuring  nanotechnology  is  not  as  advanced  as  the  work  on  biotechnology. 
However, users (DG RTD) repeatedly expressed information needs in this area. 

Biotechnology  and  nanotechnology  statistics  should  somehow  be  incorporated  into 
STI  statistics  in  the  medium  term.  This  implies,  for  example,  improving  R&D 
statistics,  patent  statistics  or  HRST  statistics.  On  the  other  hand,  the  statistics  on 
biotechnology  and  nanotechnology  have  to  be  seen  broader  as  broader  than  just 
being part of STI statistics. Therefore, in due course, other official or un-official data 
should also be used to provide additional information needed on biotechnology and 
nanotechnology.  The  statistics  and  data  for  nanotechnology  should  whenever 
possible  also  provide  distinct  data  and  statistics  on  environment,  safety  and  health 
impacts of nanotechnologies and related research expenditure 

Policy needs for data on Science, technology and innovation do evolve, sometimes in 
a fast way. Whilst statistical infrastructures can not be adapted at short term notice, 
they  have  nevertheless  to  address  new  issues.  In  that  respect,  the  relevance  of  the 
classifications  and  methods  used  is  to  be  regularly  evaluated  in  view  of 
improvement. The strong policy concerns about environment, public health, climate 
change  and  energy  production  for  instance  are  also  linked  to  further  Research  and 
Development  in  these  fields.  Whilst  currently  rather  well  adapted  to  produce 
statistics on these topics, the existing nomenclatures should nevertheless continue to 
improve their relevance for policy concerns. 

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The European Commission (Eurostat) intends: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

to improve measurement of internationalisation of STI; 

to  improve  the  Community  Innovation  Surveys  to  make  them  even  more 
relevant; 

to  improve  access  to  STI  micro-data  by  making  transmission  of  the  CIS 
micro-data to Eurostat also compulsory; 

to improve the STI indicators on knowledge flows, linkages, STI output and 
impact; 

to screen the STI input indicators to check their relevance; 

to  investigate  further  the  handling  of  STI  data  related  to  individual  higher 
education  institutions  or  enterprise  groups  and  to  take  the  appropriate 
actions in due course; 

to integrate statistics on biotechnology , nanotechnology and other emerging 
fields into STI statistics as far as possible and necessary. 

5.3 

Updating the legal framework for STI statistics 

The  legal  framework  for  STI  statistics  needs  to  be  upgraded  in  the  medium  term. 
Eurostat aims to take the following actions in this respect: 

•  Regulation  No  753/2004  needs  to  be  rebalanced,  taking  into  consideration 
additional data needs, integrating some of the data collected on a voluntary basis, 
eliminating other data of lower relevance or reconsidering the frequencies of data 
production; 

•  Regulation  No  1450/2004  also  needs  to  be  revised  basing  it  on  the  harmonised 
survey  questionnaire  and  survey  methodology  for  CIS  2008  and  in  making 
transmission of the CIS micro-data compulsory; 

•  a  third  Commission  Regulation  on  statistics  on  the  career  development  of 
doctorate holders (“CDH statistics”) should to be adopted at the appropriate time. 
Data production every two years could be envisaged. 

Additional legislation might become necessary, e.g. on micro-data access and micro-
data linking. Eurostat intends to take the appropriate actions in this respect. 

The European Commission (Eurostat) intends: 

• 

• 

to revise Regulations No 753/2004 and 1450/2004 to ensure greater relevance; 

to  adopt  a  third  Commission  Regulation  on  the  statistics  on  the  career 
development of doctorate holders in due course. 

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