UK Innovation Survey, 1994-2016: Secure Access

The <i>UK Innovation Survey</i> (UKIS) provides the main source of information on business innovation in the UK. The survey data is a major resource for research into the nature and functioning of the innovation system and for policy formation. It is used widely across government, regions and by the research community. The UKIS also represents the UK's contribution to the Europe-wide <i>Community Innovation Survey</i> (CIS). Like many innovation surveys across Europe, the UKIS follows general guidelines set out in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) publication known as the Oslo Manual (OECD 2005). This manual provides guidelines on the conduct of innovation surveys, including statistical procedures and a review of the range of concepts that fall together under the umbrella term "innovation".<br>
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<i>Geographical references: postcodes</i><br>
The postcodes included in the first edition of these data (i.e. data files prior to 2008-2010) are pseudo-anonymised postcodes. The real postcodes were not available due to the potential risk of identification of the observations. However, these replacement postcodes retain the inherent nested characteristics of real postcodes. In the dataset, the variable of the replacement postcode is 'new_PC'.<br>
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The first two editions only include the first half of an observation's anonymised (or real) postcode (sometimes referred to as the postcode district). Researchers who are interested in analysing data by more disaggregated geographies (e.g. ward, output area) are advised that this is not possible using the first half of the postcode. Full postcodes are available from the third edition onwards.<br>
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<i>Linking to other business studies</i><br>
These data contain Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.<br>
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For the sixth edition (July 2018), data and documentation for UKIS10 (also known as UKIS2017, covering the period 2014 to 2016) were added to the study.<br>
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