Innovation and R&D innovation in the ICT sector surpassed the total sector average

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, with 2,175 companies and 24,277 employees, generated 3.9% of the GDP of the A.C. of the Basque Country in 2006, according to Eustat data. These companies and their personnel represented 1.3% and 2.5% respectively of the Community total.

This sector also achieved a turnover of 4,931.3 million euros and generated wealth, in added value terms, of 2,146.8 million euros in 2006, after growing around 11% as regards the previous year.

Table 1: Evolution of the main figures of the ICT sector, by province and activity sector 2005-2006

(1) EUR million

Source: Eustat

The proportion of companies from the ICT sector that carry out R&D and are innovators is much higher than that of other sectors

In the ICT sector, 8.1% of companies carried out R&D activities, a much higher figure than that seen for all sectors, 0.7%. In addition, this sector alone accounted for 14.8% of the total number of companies that carried out this activity.

Internal spending on R&D in the ICT sector in 2006 was 73.5 million euros, after a 7.5% increase as regards the previous year. This figure represents 10.2% of total internal R&D spending by companies.

As for the number of personnel dedicated to R&D in this sector, it came to 1,423 full-time equivalent employees in 2006, an increase as regards 2005 of 12.0%, compared to a 6% increase for total companies.

Going into greater detail as regards employment, this sector employed 772 full-time equivalent researchers, 12.2% more than in 2005, of which 170 were women, an advance of 17.4% in comparison to the previous year.

Graph 1: R&D&I in ICT sector companies and in the Total number of sectors in 2006. (%)

Source: Eustat

Turning to innovation, important differences can be seen, as was the case with R&D, between total sectors and the ICT sector. In 2006, 38.3% of establishments from the ICT sector were innovators compared to 16.6% of all sectors. If the size of the company is taken into account, in those with 10 or more employees, we see percentages of 48.1% among the former and 32.7% in all sectors.

As for expenditure on innovation, ICT establishments earmarked 144.2 million euros, 129.3 of which corresponded to establishments with 10 or more employees.

As regards the amount of expenditure made on innovation and on R&D in relation to turnover (innovation and R&D internal intensity ratios), it is also clear that the ICT sector allotted a greater proportion of resources to R&D&I than the other sectors.

Table 2: Innovation and Internal R&D Intensity in the ICT sector, by province, activity sector and employment stratum. 2006.

Source: Eustat

Whereas there is a widespread use of ICT technologies, e-commerce, especially on the side of sales, is also scarce in this sector

While ICT technologies are widely employed in this sector, the practice of e-commerce, although higher than in other sectors, still lacks a high degree of acceptance. Establishments that sold via this method came to 5.5% and those that made purchases, 44.5%. If the size of these companies is taken into account, in those with 10 or more employees we see figures of 10.9% on the side of sales and 42.9% on the side of purchases.

Graph 2: Companies with 10 or more employees that use ICT employees in the A.C. of the Basque Country and Spain. 2006. (%)

* % of establishments with access to the Internet.

Source: Eustat and INE

In the ICT sector, if we compare data from the A.C. of the Basque Country with that of Spain in companies with 10 or more employees, we can see slight differences depending on which indicator we observe.

Elsewhere, the repercussion of the ICT sector on foreign trade of goods is of little significance. While exports accounted for 186 million euros out of a total of 16,647 million, imports came to 430 million out of the total of 17,478 million.

Turning to the products imported by the companies of the ICT sector, most notable was telecommunications equipment, which accounted for 26% of all imports. On the side of exports, electronic components stood out, representing 40%.

Methodology note:

The ICT sector is made up of the manufacturing and services sectors whose main activity is linked to the development, production, commercialisation and intensive use of Information and Communication Technologies.

The ICT sector is defined according to the criteria adopted by the OECD, including all those economic activities, whether industrial or services, whose common denominator is their relationship to the information and communication industry. The list of activities of CNAE93 Rev.1 included in this sector are as follows: 3001, 3002, 3130, 3210, 3220, 3230, 3320, 3330, 5160, 5167, 6420, 7133, 7210, 7221, 7222, 7230, 7240, 7250 and 7260.

This statistical operation was carried out using the information obtained from the following surveys conducted by Eustat:

- Directory of economic activities

- Economic Accounts

- Industrial Statistics

- Trade and Repairs Survey

- Professional and Business Services Survey

- Survey on Scientific Research and Technological Development (R&D)

- Technological Innovation Survey -EIT.

- Survey on the Information Society in Companies.

- Foreign Trade Survey