What is Innovation?
Innovation as a concept was first introduced in 1934 by Joseph Alois Schumpeter, a Harvard University professor of Economy, and since then has been defined as fundamental driver of wealth creation in the world, bringing value with economic importance to the market. The Oslo Manual, defines innovation as “the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), or process, a new marketing method, or a new organizational method in business practices, workplace organization or external relations”.
How is Innovation measured?
There is more than one indicator to measure innovation, however one of the most common indicators is to measure the contribution made by Reserach and Develpmetn (R&D) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. Using this indicator the US Government, though the Census Bureau, ranks the states and its contribution. By 2008 the overall contribution of R&D to the GDP 2.6% and only the states shown in the following chart reached this value as its individual contribution.
Which industries innovate?
According to National Science Foundation (NSF), the economic activities in the country are divided by sectors, where innovation is also measured based on the total investment performed by each sector. This chart shows a comparison of the Wood Industry to the largest industry sectors. It is observed that the major investment is done at the Computer and Electronic billion business sector ($56.8 billion), followed by Pharmaceutical and Medical business sector ($38.9). Meanwhile the lowest investments are done by Wood Industry ($2.365 billion), which ranks its business sectors at the bottom of the R&D measurement scale indicating a large gap to close in order to place Wood Industry as an innovative business sector.
