BULGARIAN NATIONAL PESTLE AND SWOT ANALYSIS

Relevant WP: WP3- Context Analysis and Taskforce Formation

Activity: 3.4 National PESTLE & SWOT Analysis and Synthesis

Responsible organization: UoM

Authors: BASSCOM, MEYS

Version: v 2.0

Date: 23.11.2011

Table of Contents

1 National PESTLE and SWOT analysis ................................................................................. 1

1.1 Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental analysis of

the emerging innovation system ................................................................................... 3

1.2 Strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of/for the emerging

innovation system ......................................................................................................... 6

1.3 Self assessment tool: Features of well performing national and regional research

and innovation ............................................................................................................ 12

References .................................................................................................................. 13

1

1 National PESTLE and SWOT analysis

The output of the analysis has to be duly justified, please make sure you include specific

information and the source of the statements you provide (e.g. interviews, documents,

databases, informal information).

The general objective of the National PESTLE and SWOT analyses is to identify and structure

the main drivers and barriers of the ICT research and technology development sector in

Bulgaria. The analysis follows identical structure of the analyses done by the other partners

in the FORSEE Project in order to provide common framework for international comparison

and aggregation of the results.

On one hand the stable economic and political macro environment with the lowest tax

levels in the EU provides competitive advantages for the Bulgarian economy. On the other

hand, the lower level (compared to other EU countries) RTD expenses and insufficiently

developed eGovernment services could be considered as a barrier to the high tech sectors’

development.

One could conclude that the weaken education system, if not strengthen, could turn from

fundamental driver into a barrier of the sustainable RTDI development in Bulgaria.

The National RTDI systems could be considered as well established as a management and

implementation structure but need to be more effective and efficient in order to become

real driver for accelerating the development of the Bulgarian RTDI sector to a level that

could ensure achievement of the ambitious national target of 1.5% of GDP for R&D intensity

by 2020.

The establishment of an independent evaluation mechanism for the RTDI performance and

stakeholder’s potential could provide the necessary information for development of

strategic priorities. Prioritization of the RTDI objectives could be considered as a must in

time of limited resources available for RTDI support on a macro level. One can expect that

the results from the FORSEE project will contribute in that area.

On a macro level electronics and ICT sectors of the Bulgarian economy have good growth

potential, states the major conclusion of a current study by the Bulgarian Ministry of

Finance. The report of the Economic Analysis and Forecasts Directorate of the Finance

Ministry released in August 2010 studied the performance of the real economy sector in

Bulgaria in 2008-2010 and identified those sectors to be the future drivers for the Bulgarian

economic development. (Ministry of Finance, 2011)

Based on the conclusions of the National PESTLE and SWOT analyses one can identify

several RTD intensive market segments in which Bulgaria has relevantly strong market

position and good potential for further development. These segments are:

2

• Software development driven by both big international R&D centers and innovative

Bulgarian software development companies. This good balance of national and

international capacity is an important driver for the sustainable development of the

sector.

• Production of electronics has traditionally been a strong sector in Bulgaria. The

current development of the automotive, telecommunications, military equipment

and consumer electronics in Bulgaria is categorized by the high level of new

investments and sustainable growth of the export even in the time of the worst

economic crises in Europe.

• The broadband telecommunications services are well developed in Bulgaria and

they have good potential for further growth in a high competitive and innovative

environment.

• Mobile telecommunications are well developed in Bulgaria. The country has one of

the highest mobile penetrations in the EU that is a good base for creating

innovations in that sector.

The statistical sources of information about RTDI claim that the level of private investments

in RTDI is significantly lower than the average level in the EU. One of the reasons for such a

low level could be found in the fact that the private entrepreneurs in ICT do not separate

RTDI expanses in their accounts considering most of them as production costs in sectors

which are very RTDI intensive such as software development and electronics. Conclusions

that private RTDI expenses were underestimated by the official statistics had been made by

several researchers1 but one could not find systematic analysis that proved or argued that

conclusions.

1 E.g. (CSD, 2010), (Yalamov & Bougiouklis, February 2011), (Bulgarian_ICT_Cluster, 2011)

3

1.1 Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental analysis of the emerging innovation system PESTLE analysis takes into consideration the macro-environment of the country and discusses the operating environment and the organization of the country (structure, culture,

competencies, resources) in a number of areas. The factors listed here are oriented into explaining success and failure of the external environment. By nature, this section includes general

information.

Political / legal institutional Economic and market issues Aggregate Indicator “Political Stability and Absence of Violence”

(World Bank Institute, 2011) did not change its value in the time of

the worst economic crises in Europe. This stable political

environment could reduce the overall macroeconomic risk and

promote investments in the country (World Bank Insitute, 2011).

Synchronization of the Bulgarian legislation with the EU acquis

communautaire ensures favorable conditions for doing business in

Bulgaria and therefore, serves as an additional stimulus for

companies to invest in the country, including in RTDI.

Labor legislation favorable for employers. Bulgaria ranks 48 on

Rigidity of employment index from 140 countries worldwide and

only 4 EU member states have better value of that indicator2.

(World Economic Forum, 2011) It could be assumed that the lower

rigidity of employment stimulates the investments in the country,

especially in time of economic crisis.

Corruption and relevantly inefficient government are main barriers

in doing business in Bulgaria (World Economic Forum, 2011). It

could be assumed that those factors have a negative impact on the

investment climate in Bulgaria.

Conservative traditional approach to governance rather than

modern eGovernance. With 70% Online availability and interactivity

With a projected growth of 2.3% the Bulgarian Economy is claimed to be the 4th fastest growing economy in

the EU in 2012 according to the most recent EU forecast4 (EC, November 2011).

Bulgaria had the second-lowest debt ratio (16% of the GDP) of all EU Member States at the end of 2010 (EC -

SEC(2011) 711 final , 2011). This favorable government debt position support economic stability of the country.

The government deficit as a percentage of the GDP is -3.1% (EU Average -6.6) and is among the 5 lowest in the

EU that supports fiscal stability of the country (Eurostat, 2011).

The lowest tax levels compared to other EU countries provide favorable investment conditions. The average

effective tax rates (EATR) are the lowest in the EU (8.8%) compared to considerably higher the EATR (26.3%) in

EU15 and in the Member States referred to as the EU+12 (17.4%) (Elschne & Vanborren, 2009).

Stable (fixed) exchange rate to Euro minimizes the risk of currency exchange rates but still Bulgaria is not a

member of the Euro Area.

Bulgaria has the lowest GDP per capita in PPS of 44% (EU27 = 100) in EU (Eurostat, 2011), which decreases the

demand for high-tech products and services. Differences in the incomes of the big cities and the rest of the

country are an additional factor that negatively influences the demand.

Bulgaria has the lowest labor cost in the EU of 2.88 Euro per hour (Eurostat, 2011)5. On one hand the relevantly

cheap labor is attractive for the investors. On the other hand, this low level of salaries is one of the factors

stimulating the “brain drain” form the country.

Despite the recent reforms enacted to improve the business start-up conditions and progress in the area of

paying taxes, Bulgaria's world rankings still lag behind the best performers in the EU and world comparisons in

Doing Business. In the WB Doing Business Report the country ranking worsened (from 44 in 2010 to 51 in 2011)

(The World Bank, 2011).

Higher interest rates compared to the most of the EU countries that could be assumed as a barrier to new

2 EU Member States with better Rigidity of employment index are: Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom, Czech Republic and Belgium

4

of public services (supply side) Bulgaria is on the bottom of the

eGovernment implementation. Only four countries3 in the EU have

worse level of the indicators than Bulgaria. (Eurostat, 2011) The

ineffective eGovernment is a factor that can be assumed as a barrier

to the doing business in Bulgaria.

investments, including in RTDI. Despite the Macroeconomic stability the MFI interest rates - Loans to non-

financial corporations (annual data) in Bulgaria are 8.79% compared to 3.86 in the Euro area. (Eurostat, 2011)

Only three EU member states have higher interest rates then Bulgaria.6

Social, cultural and demographic Technology & Environment Customers are interested to buy innovative products. Young

people in Bulgaria tend to spend large portion of their incomes in

buying high-tech products.

Industrious labor force could be a driver for ICTD development.

Bulgarian tends to be practical and down-to-earth, methodical,

industrious, thrifty, and determined.

Aging and decreasing population. The demographic projections for

Bulgaria show that the population will decrease from 7.4 million

projected for 2015 to 5.9 million projected in 2050 (Eurostat, 2011).

The decreasing population could be assumed to have a negative

impact on the ICTD.

Indifferent education. In general the education in Bulgaria has

worse indicators values compared to the EU average indicators and

almost all EU Members. The Bulgarian education lag behind the

objectives set by Lisbon Strategy (Center for Economic

Development, December 2010).

At 0.49% of GDP in 2008 – i.e. around four times less than the EU-27 average - the R&D intensity of Bulgaria is

one of the lowest in the EU, Private R&D investment is the lowest in the EU, mostly as a result of sectoral

specialization in low technology sectors and the current scarcity of medium and high technology companies (EC -

SEC(2011) 711 final , 2011).

Bulgaria is one of the Catching-up countries with an innovation performance well below the EU27 average but

the rate of improvement is one of the highest of all countries and it is a growth leader within the Catching-up

countries. Relative strengths, compared to the country’s average performance, are in Human resources, Finance

and support and Economic effects and relative weaknesses are in Linkages & entrepreneurship and Throughputs

(Pro Inno Europe, 2011).

Bulgaria claimed the third highest speed of Internet - 1,611KBps8 (Pando Networks, 2011). The high speed of

Internet could be assumed as a driver for internet use and ICT RTDI development.

Bulgaria claimed to have a low fixed broadband penetration - 14.9% this is the second-worst penetration in the

EU, and only slightly more than half the EU average of 26.6%. This is due in particular to the low coverage in rural

areas, where the most recent figure available (December 2009) shows that it does not exceed 33%, and so lags

far behind every other Member State. (EC - SEC(2011) 711 final , 2011) The low level of Broadband penetration

could be assumed as barrier to the ICT RTDI. The low penetration could be a result of the Bulgarian specifics in

that area. The widely used public LAN access in Bulgaria is not taken into account by the current EU

methodologies and as a result is not included in the official numbers. If LAN access is included in the methodology

one could assume that the Bulgarian position on this indicator would be significantly better (CSD, 2010).

4 EU Member States with higher growth of GDP projected for 2012 are: Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia 5 Data from 2009 3 EU Member States with worse Online availability and interactivity of public services are: Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Hungary 6EU members states with higher MFI interest rates - Loans to non-financial corporations (annual data) are Romania, Estonia, and Hungary 8Countries with higher Internet speed than Bulgaria were South Korea and Romania

5

“Brain drain” could be considered as a major barrier to the

Bulgarian RTDI development. Bulgaria ranks 127 out of 142

countries worldwide7. (World Economic Forum, 2011). Despite the

high brain drain some of the Bulgarian specialists working abroad

are considering returning back to Bulgaria.

Relevantly high mobile penetration. With mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of 141 % Bulgaria

ranks fifth among the EU member states9 (ITU, 2010).

The delay in the implementation of Commission Recommendation 2009/848/CE to switch off analogue terrestrial

TV and free up a significant amount of radio spectrum (the 790-862 MHz band) for mobile broadband by 2012

risks slowing down the deployment of mobile broadband, in addition to the slow deployment of fixed

broadband (EC - SEC(2011) 711 final , 2011).

Bulgaria has highest overall investment intensity (public and private combined) in EU 23.5 % that may, in part,

reflect the different stages of economic development in the different countries as well as growth dynamics

among Member States over recent years (Eurostat, 2011).

Bulgaria has introduced strict environmental legislation that is compliant to the EU directives in environmental

protection.

7 Does your country retain and attract talented people? [1 = no, the best and brightest normally leave to pursue opportunities in other countries; 7 = yes, there are many opportunities for talented people within the country] 2010–11 weighted average 9 EU member states with higher Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants were: Finland, Lithuania, Austria, Portugal

6

1.2 Strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of/for the emerging innovation system

The SWOT analysis takes into consideration the following elements:

Strengths (internal competencies & capabilities-what we have)

Weaknesses (what we lack)

Opportunities (external positive circumstances-what we could get)

Threats (external negative circumstances-what we could lose)

Clustering Strengths Weaknesses ICT RTD

governance and

policy system

• Comprehensive structure for management of RTDI on parliamentary, ministry and executive (agency) levels.

• Governmental financial instrument for funding the fundamental and applied research of both public and private research performers is the National Science Fund (NSF), which is overseen by the National Council for Scientific Research at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science

• Governmental instrument for direct financial support for business R&D is the National Innovation Fund (NIF) administered by the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency to the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism.

• Financial support to innovation is provided by the Operational Programme “Development of the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy” (OPC), (co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund - ERDF), managed by the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Energy.

•

• National Innovation Fund (NIF) is not operational. NIF had to stop new

financing in 2009 and 2010 due to the crisis and complicated

negotiations with the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance (Yalamov &

Bougiouklis, February 2011).

• Decreasing financing of SMEs by National Science fund. National Science Funds actually attracted marginal number of SMEs and subsequently had to reduce the funding by 50%, reaching the average funding for the National Innovation Fund (Yalamov & Bougiouklis, February 2011).

• Bulgaria is not an active member of the European Corporate RTD

scoreboard.

• BULgaria do not participate in the EU technology platforms and

Bulgarian organizations have very limited presence in the EU

technology networks in ICT (Computerworld, 2011),

(Bulgarian_ICT_Cluster, 2011), (CORDIS, 2011)10.

• Of particular importance are the measures to increase the

attractiveness of a career in research, by focusing resources on a few,

highly attractive research positions. This could be done through an

evaluation by an independent, international and high level group of

experts which would select the most productive research groups in

10 Desktop research in http://cordis.europa.eu identified only two Bulgarian organizations members of the networks

7

Clustering Strengths Weaknesses the universities and research institutes, including those of the

Bulgarian Academy of Science, following models of EU countries with

a well established evaluation culture, such as the UK or Austria, as

well as through improved linkages with Bulgarian researchers

established abroad. (EC - SEC(2011) 711 final , 2011).

ICT RTD priority

setting, public

policies and

actors

• Comprehensive strategic framework related to RTD and innovation

defined on national and regional levels including but not limited to

National Strategy for Scientific Research 2020; National Roadmap for

Scientific Infrastructure; National Innovation Strategy of Republic of

Bulgaria; Operational Programme (OP) Competitiveness; Regional

innovation strategies for BG regions and others.

• ICT is one of the priority sectors of the Operational Programme (OP)

Competitiveness (co-funded by ERDF).

• There are various NGOs that are specialized in researching and

promoting RTDI such as: Center of Study of the Democracy, Center of

Economic Development, Institute of Market Economy, and others. In

many cases the NGOs are invited to participate in the decision-making

process.

• Improving coordination on Ministry Level. The new Strategy for

scientific research has been developed in close cooperation between

Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Youth and Science and

Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism

• In the time of economic crisis the RTDI should be set as priority for

economic development of the country Currently the RTDI expenses are

decreasing that would not stimulate the higher competitiveness of the

Bulgarian enterprises The financial instruments in ICT RTDI have not

been sufficiently coordinated.

• OP Human Resources focuses on the low-end of workforce (unemployed) or on providing horizontal measures, which makes the programme highly unlikely to support RTD related activities. (Yalamov & Bougiouklis, February 2011).

•

ICT RTD sector

features • Bulgaria emerged among the top 30 destinations for offshoring. R&D

labs of some of the largest software companies such as SAP, VMware, Software AG and others have been established, which would have a spillover effect. (Yalamov & Bougiouklis, February 2011)

• Bulgaria has managed to develop a strong position in electronics. Market serviced - automotive, telecommunications, military equipment

• The RTD expenses are not balanced. The share of the public expenses

is twice bigger than the share of the private sector in contrast with the

EU recommendations for 2/3 share of the private expenditures and 1/3

share of public expenditures for RTD (Center for Economic

Development , December 2010).

8

Clustering Strengths Weaknesses and consumer electronics. (InvestBulgaria Agency, 2010), (Bulgarian_ICT_Cluster, 2011)

• Very well developed broadband market. The Digital Agenda

Scoreboard Indicators such as “New entrants' share in fixed broadband

lines”; “Share of fixed broadband lines equal to or above 2 Mbps” and

“Share of fixed broadband lines equal to or above 10 Mbps” positioned

Bulgaria among the countries with the highest values in the EU (EC,

2011). The Bulgarian Internet providers have used innovative approach

in providing broadband Internet through public LAN.

• Academic entrepreneurship - a lot of existing or former researchers

have established one or series of enterprises in knowledge-intensive

services or high-tech industries. (CSD, 2010)

• Bulgaria is one of the Catching-up countries with an innovation

performance well below the EU27 average but the rate of

improvement is one of the highest of all countries and it is a growth

leader within the Catching-up countries. Relative strengths, compared

to the country’s average performance, are in Human resources, Finance

and support and Economic effects and relative weaknesses are in

Linkages & entrepreneurship and Throughputs (Pro Inno Europe, 2011).

• Private sector investment in R&D registers a sustainable upward trend

both in nominal terms (annual growth of over 20%) and as a percentage

of GDP.

• A number of private ICT companies (SW and electronics) are

competitive through RTD 11 . The most successful Bulgarian ICT

companies sustain their growth through RTD and innovations.

• The export of the High-tech industries is growing faster than the total

• The Public Procurement does not stimulate competitive R&D and

innovation. R&D is often used as an excuse to bypass the public

procurement regulations, while no real R&D is performed and the

government does not procure innovative products and services. Pre-

commercial procurement is nonexistent. (Yalamov & Bougiouklis,

February 2011).

• Despite the fact that the employment in RTDI has been growing still the

share of RTDI employment in the total employment of the country

0,48 %, is about three times smaller than the average share in EU 27 –

1.3 % (ЕС-27 – 1,3 %). Only three EU member states have smaller share

than Bulgaria13 (Eurostat, 2011).

• Aside from the existing supercomputer laboratory and some other

more basic e-infratsructuresa and networks the scientific infrastructure

of Bulgaria is not well developed and there are huge regional

disparities. There is a lack of advanced laboratories and scientific

facilities in microelectronics, telecommunications and other ICT

subsectors. (Bulgarian_ICT_Cluster, 2011).

• It could be assumed that many ICT enterprises in Bulgaria do not

register their RTDI activities through registering patents with Bulgarian

authors (CSD, 2010) or through properly reporting the RTDI expense

into the National Statistical Institute (Yalamov & Bougiouklis, February

2011). As a result the statistics on RTDI could be assumed as

underestimated.

• The educational system does not provide in a sustainable manner the

necessary high-tech, knowledge-intensive workforce (Yalamov &

Bougiouklis, February 2011).

• Weak cooperation between Universities, technological centers and

11 For more information see National ICT Innovation systems study and (CSD, 2010)

13 EU Member states with smaller share of RTDI employment than Bulgaria are Poland; Cyprus and Romania

9

Clustering Strengths Weaknesses export of the country, which could be considered as an indirect sign of

accelerated RTDI in the private sector in which RTDI is a must for being

competitive on the international markets (CSD, 2010).

• National super-computing laboratory is available for comprehensive

ICT research.

• Existence of national centers of competence in ICT such as ICT

specialized Institutes in Bulgaria Academy of Science, European

Software Institute Center Eastern Europe and Institute for Information

Theories and Applications and others

• Certain ICT companies and institutes finance their participation in the

European technological platforms (Computerworld, 2011).

• Bulgaria claimed the third highest speed of Internet - 1,611KBps12

(Pando Networks, 2011). The high speed of Internet could be assumed

as a driver for internet use and ICT RTDI development.

businesses do not support the balanced development of RTDI.

ICT RTD cross

cutting issues • Operational Programme (OP) Competitiveness (ERDF) could provide

support to the implementation of ICT in other industries.

• A few Bulgarian ICT companies have developed and released on the

innovative products applicable in non-ICT industrial sectors ( e.g.

construction, manufacturing, retail and others).

• The EU competitiveness programs are slow in segments where “Time

to market” is critical (Bulgarian_ICT_Cluster, 2011).

• Not sufficient cooperation between ICT RTD organizations and other

non-ICT organizations (CSD, 2010).

• In most of the Digital Agenda Scoreboard Indicators Bulgaria is

positioned among the countries with the lowest values in the EU14 (EC,

2011).

12Countries with higher Internet speed than Bulgaria were South Korea and Romania 14 Bulgaria is ranked among countries with the lowest values in EU for 55 out of total 67 Digital Agenda Scoreboard Indicators for more information visit:

http://scoreboard.lod2.eu/index.php?scenario=4&indicators%5B%5D=allIndicators&year=2010&countries%5B%5D=BG#chart

10

Opportunities Threats ICT RTD

governance and

policy system

• Creation of new or restructuring of one of the existing coordination

bodies to have sufficient power and resources to align and execute the

RTD related strategies, policies and plans and to absorb the EU funds in

RTD.

• Active Participation of the Bulgarian institutions in EU technology

platforms will provide direct access of Bulgaria to know-how, will result

in stronger positioning in the decision making process and could

increase the utilization of the EU funds for RTDI.

• The strategies and instrumnets in the area RTDI lack an associated multiannual national funding framework (which would include the smart use of structural funds and other related financial resources) and a clear delineation between the bodies in charge of monitoring/implementing the numerous measures planned foreseen. (EC - SEC(2011) 711 final , 2011)

• It could happen that the Bulgarian institutions will further ignore the RTDI priorities while being focused on anti-crisis policy making.

ICT RTD priority

setting, public

policies and actors

• Creation of independent evaluation mechanism with the participation of international and high level group of experts which would rank the most productive research groups in the universities and research institutes, including those of the Bulgarian Academy of Science, following the models of EU countries with a well established evaluation culture as well as through improved linkages with Bulgarian researchers established abroad (adapted from EC - SEC(2011) 711 final , 2011).

• ICT NGOs that support RTDI policy-making and clustering and private business to be involved in the decision making process on a strategic level.

• There is a risk that research measures in the RTDI-related strategies

may not be sufficiently aligned with the innovation measures and that

sectoral R&I priorities are not consistently selected in close consultation

with relevant ministries and stakeholders. This could impede the

selection of the most appropriate R&I areas, namely those in which

Bulgaria has recognized scientific strengths, as identified by

international benchmarking, or which contribute to address societal

challenges and can attract business R&D activities (adapted from EC -

SEC(2011) 711 final , 2011).

• Establishing very complex decisions -making process on a strategic

level could block prioritizing in the RTDI.

ICT RTD sector

features • Ambitious national target of 1.5% of GDP for R&D intensity by 2020

can be reached if vigorous efforts and reforms based on a long-term strategy are put in place and implemented in a sustained and consistent manner (EC - SEC(2011) 711 final , 2011).

• The government proposed new measures within a new Law on innovation, which, if implemented might lead to a significant increase in R&D. Proposed measures include up to 50% subsidy for priority R&D, tax breaks on innovation and R&D expenditures and a tax imposed on non-innovative companies (Yalamov & Bougiouklis, February 2011).

• The RTD career is not attractive in the Bulgarian Public Institutions

that could become a serious barrier to the further development of

fundamental research in Bulgaria and cooperation between different

types of RTDI.

• Stagnating global demand for ICT could push some of the big

international companies to close their RTDI centers in Bulgaria and

could lower the ICT export.

11

Opportunities Threats • Support for creation of innovative clusters could strengthen the

cooperation between the different types of RTDI organizations and as a result to produce synergies for the RTDI development in Bulgaria.

• Further transition from institutional funding to program funding could make the public RTDI more effective and competitive.

ICT RTD cross

cutting issues • Low-tech sectors have demonstrated good potential for absorbing

innovations, including form the ICT sector. (CSD, 2010) If this potential

is utilized the RTDI in the ICT sector would grow and contribute to the

overall competitiveness in the country.

• Creation of clusters could encourage industries to partner with ICT

organizations in RTDI and could promote inter-sectoral cooperation.

• Implementing Digital Agenda could promote intensive ICT use in all

economic sectors in the country.

Global crisis does not stimulate new investments in innovative

products which could decrease the RTDI investment.

12

1.3 Self assessment tool: Features of well performing national and regional research and innovation

This section will be provided by UoM. Please do not fill in.

INDICATORS FOR THE INNOVATION UNION 2010 DATA SOURCE

ENABLERS – Human Resources

New doctorate graduates (ISCED 6) per 1000 population aged 25-34 Eurostat

Percentage population aged 30-34 having completed tertiary education Eurostat

Percentage youth aged 20-24 having attained at least upper secondary level education

Eurostat

ENABLERS – Open, excellent and attractive research systems

International scientific co-publications per million population Thomson/Scopus

Scientific publications among the top 10% most cited publications worldwide as % of total scientific publications of the country

Thomson/Scopus

Non-EU doctorate students 32 per million population Eurostat/OECD

ENABLERS – Finance and Support

Public R&D expenditures as % of GDP Eurostat

Venture capital (early stage, expansion and replacement) as % of GDP EVCA/Eurostat

FIRM ACTIVITIES – Firm Investments

Business R&D expenditures as % of GDP Eurostat

Non-R&D innovation expenditures as % of turnover Eurostat

FIRM ACTIVITIES – Linkages & entrepreneurship

SMEs innovating in-house as % of SMEs Eurostat

Innovative SMEs collaborating with others as % of SMEs Eurostat

Public-private co-publications per million population Thomson/Scopus

FIRM ACTIVITIES – Intellectual Assets

PCT patents applications per billion GDP (in PPS€) Eurostat

PCT patent applications in societal challenges per billion GDP (in PPS€) (climate change mitigation; health)

OECD

Community trademarks per billion GDP (in PPS€) OHIM/Eurostat

Community designs per billion GDP (in PPS€) OHIM/Eurostat

OUTPUTS – Innovators

SMEs (more than 10 employees) introducing product or process innovations as % of SMEs

Eurostat

SMEs (more than 10 employees) introducing marketing or organisational innovations as % of SMEs

Eurostat

High-growth enterprises (with more than 10 employees) as % of all enterprises3

Eurostat

OUTPUTS – Economic effects

Employment in Knowledge-Intensive Activities (manufacturing and services) as % of total employment

Eurostat

Medium and High-tech manufacturing exports as % total product exports UN/Eurostat

Knowledge-Intensive Services exports as % total service exports UN/Eurostat

Sales of new to market and new to firm innovations as % of turnover Eurostat

Licence and patent revenues from abroad as % of GDP Eurostat

13

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