Indicators used to measure the innovation process: defects and possible remedies

Some diverse indicators used to measure the innovation process are consider ed, They include those with art aggregate, and often national, focus, and r ely on data from scientific publications, patents and R&D expenditures, etc . Others have a firm-level perspective, relying primarily on surveys or cas e studies. Also included are indicators derived from specialized databases, or consensual agreements reached through foresight exercises. There is an obvious need for greater integration of the various approaches to capture m ove effectively the richness of available data and better reflect the reali ty of innovation. The focus for such integration could be in the area of te chnology strategy, which integrates the diverse scientific, technological, and innovation activities of firms within their operating environments; imp roved capacity to measure it has implications for policy-makers, managers a nd researchers.