Knowledge Economy and Innovation Activities: An Approach to Definitions and Measurement

Scientific and technological innovation may be considered the transformation of an idea into a new or improved product introduced to the market, into a new or improved operational process used in industry and commerce, or into a new approach to a social service. The word “innovation” can have different meanings in different contexts and the one chosen will depend on the particular objectives of measurement or analysis. So far, international norms for data collection proposed in the Oslo Manual have been developed only for technological innovation.