In late 2006, Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez announced the creation of a blue ribbon Advisory Committee on Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy. The panel was chaired by Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and was composed of leading business executives and experts from academia. It was asked to review how the US government tracks and measures innovation and to provide recommendations for how measurement systems can do a better job of tracking new forms of innovative activity. The panel released its findings earlier this month, and its report should be considered a “must-read” for anyone with an interest in the innovation economy.
The Committee began its work with a basic working definition of innovation: “The design, invention, development and/or implantation of new or altered products, services, processes, systems, organizational structures, or business models for the purpose of creating new value for customers and financial returns for the firm.” This definition helped set important guidelines for the Committee’s work. Their work focused on measuring the creation of new value, not just something new. In addition, the Committee recognized that effective innovation measurement must go beyond tracking inputs such as R&D spending; it must also track outcomes for firms, customers, regions, and nations.
The report includes a series of recommendations for both government and business. For government, the Committee recommends better coordination between government statistical agencies, increased access to government data sources for outside researchers, and enhanced funding to create a stronger framework for measuring innovation. For business, the Committee recommends that corporate leaders provide expanded support for the creation of new firm and industry-level measures of innovation. Business leaders should also actively participate in innovation research activities.
Download the January 2008 report of The Advisory Committee on Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy, Innovation Measurement: Tracking the State of Innovation in the American Economy.
© 2008 The Public Forum Institute and the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship www.publicforuminstitute.org/nde.
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