Only 6% apply for at least one type of intellectual property right or licence
Just 27.1 per cent of Maltese businesses employing at least 10 people undertook business innovation activities between 2014 and 2016, according to a survey published this week by the National Statistics Office.
The survey, carried out amongst 1,888 enterprises, revealed that 511 of them undertook business innovation activities.
85 of those enterprises were engaged solely in technological innovation, 148 enterprises were engaged in non-technological innovation and the remaining 278 were involved in both technological and non-technological innovation.
Those businesses that carried out technological innovations spent a total of €192.8 million on the area of operations in 2016, according to the NSO's estimates. Zeroing in on that expenditure, the acquisition of machinery and equipment was the predominant factor, with a total expenditure of €128.4 million (66.6 per cent of the total), followed by intramural research and development, which amounted to €32.4 million (16.8 per cent of the total).
The NSO's survey also showed that 9.1 per cent of all technologically-innovative enterprises found that it was highly important to have cooperation agreements with suppliers of equipment, materials, components or software.
The survey also revealed that 426 of the 511 enterprises were engaged in organisational and/or marketing innovations, with organisational innovation predominant over marketing innovation.
Organisational and/or marketing innovation was predominant in wholesale and retail trade activities, manufacturing, accommodation and food service activities; and professional, scientific and technical activities.
The two main obstacles found to be hindering non-innovative enterprises from engaging in innovative activities are, according to the survey, a low market demand for innovation and a lack of need to innovate due to previous innovations.
Only six per cent of enterprises applied for at least one type of intellectual property right or licence. Along these lines, registering a trademark and applying for a patent were the main types of intellectual property rights and licences applied for.
202 innovative enterprises had introduced at least one logistic innovation activity, with the main factors driving this type of innovation being inventory management systems, e-procurement and digital supply chain management.