Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISIFrietsch, R.; Reiß, T.; Schmoch, U. (2024): Development of Innovation Monitoring and Innovation Indicators in the Past 50 Years. In: Edler, J.; Walz, R. (Ed): Systems and Innovation Research in Transition. Research Questions and Trends in Historical Perspective. Cham: Springer.
Five decades of innovation monitoring
Development of innovation monitoring and indicators during the last 50 years
In the 1930s and 1940s, the USA in particular had already begun systematically analyzing innovation processes and how to manage them, as well as giving conceptual consideration to their formation and effects, with economists and sociologists at the forefront of this approach. Meanwhile, Europe was lagging behind.
In the 1970s, worldwide innovation research emerged as a discipline and innovation research institutes — the earliest of which included Fraunhofer ISI — got off the ground. From the very beginning, innovation indicators were a driving force of the young discipline.
For more than 30 years, innovation research and innovation indicators followed what we call the “R&D paradigm” — a representation of innovation activities in industry R&D departments, mainly found in large multinational enterprises. This resulted in the development and use of indicators that allowed in-depth analysis of R&D inputs and outputs in industry.
New data sources open up new possibilities
With the availability of large data sources — which had not yet acquired the name “big data” in the early years — and the capacity to process them in the first decade of the new millenium, an emancipation from the R&D paradigm accelerated and shifted the focus not only to the service sector, but also to other aspects of the innovation process.
This article in our anthology starts from the development of innovation indicators in the early years, emphasizes the contributions by pioneers in the field and describes the core indicators of the time. With the establishment of the innovation systems approach in the 1990s, a wider perspective became necessary in the case of innovation indicators too, and increasing computing power plus more extensive data accessibility widened the scope. We finish with an outlook on current and future developments.
Innovation monitoring at Fraunhofer ISI: Five projects from five decades
Swipe through the years
1972: The function of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in the innovation system of the Federal Republic of Germany. Study for the Federal Ministry of Education and Science/Foundation Study by Fraunhofer ISI
In this fundamental work, which was one of the bedrocks on which the institute was founded, Helmar Krupp examined the German innovation system as a whole and compared it to those of other countries. His empirical basis was essentially a comparison of international concepts and developments in the area of scientific and innovation policy (which at the time was not yet established in its later form) in selected countries. As well as describing the objective and necessity of developing the system further, he also specified a whole raft of indicators that are required for evaluation, monitoring and international comparisons. In later analyses, many of these indicators became the standard in empirical innovation research.
1988: Technology Forecasts Using Patent Indicators
This book described the state of the art in the field of patent analyses and statistics, thus documenting what at the time could only be done in this form at Fraunhofer ISI.
1996: Assessing different types of patent data for describing high technology export performance
This contribution to a workshop introduced the concept of Triad patents (USA, Europe and Japan) for the first time. This concept later became the standard in international comparative patent statistics and is still used today. This paper documents the leading role played by Fraunhofer ISI in technometrics and statistical patent analysis during the 1990s.
1997-2007: Report on Germany's technological performance
This series of reports established a comprehensive monitoring system for the German innovation system for the first time, which regularly reflected critically on developments, making recommendations and giving starting points for scientific and innovation policy actions. Methodological and conceptual further developments were also made within the reporting system — driven by the growing need for an ever more comprehensive depiction of the system. This reporting on technological performance evolved directly into reporting by the Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI).
2018 until today: Monitoring of the Asia-Pacific research area (APRA monitoring)
This ongoing series of reports has picked up on the expertise covered by previous reporting and monitoring systems. New focal points include evaluating cooperation and determining the importance of international exchange. This up-to-date reporting system also provides the option to apply an enhanced range of methods including those using big data analytics and text mining in conjunction with classic desk research work.
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