Agencies Play Key Role in Innovation Measurement Initiatives

An initiative announced Jan. 18 by Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez calls for new measurements of innovation that would be devised by federal data agencies over the next several years.  The recommendations for these measures came out of a report by the Advisory Committee on Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis, a Commerce Department agency, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is part of the Labor Department, would be involved in creating these new measures.  Some new funding may be needed for the initiative, but agencies said they are assessing current programs and funding levels to see if that will be the case.

“Innovation has proven an essential driver of growth for the U.S economy,” Gutierrez said in announcing the program.  Commerce said that the United States is more than 75 percent wealthier in terms of real gross domestic product per capita than it was 30 years ago, largely due to productivity gains driven by innovation.

Among the measures that BEA and BLS will focus on are:

• A comprehensive accounting of the effect of high-tech goods and services on growth and productivity.  “This will set the stage for the development of integrated estimates for major sectors and detailed industries,” according to Commerce. 
• BEA would design a supplemental innovation account by January 2009, which would be “a framework for directly measuring how much of the overall increase in productivity is due to increased investments in innovation.”  The account would include investments in intellectual property and human capital.
• Partners at the National Science Foundation were asked to expand their efforts to collect data on research and development and innovation-related inputs.
• Commerce will work with other agencies to achieve benefits through “better statistical coordination and data synchronization.”   This effort will include the Council of Economic Advisers, the Office of Management and Budget, the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Congress.
• Commerce will work with the advisory committee to conduct workshops on the drivers and impediments to innovation.

A copy of the full report of the Advisory Committee on Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century is available at: http://www.innovationmetrics.gov/Innovation%20Measurement%2001-08.pdf