Finland Times

 

Environmental benefits produced by innovations in 2012 to 2014, share of those that adopted innovations in 2012 to 2014. Source: Innovation 2014, Statistics Finland.

Over one-half of enterprises that adopted innovations in 2012 to 2014 reported that they had adopted innovations with environmental benefits, according to Statistics Finland’s data.

 

In manufacturing, the share was 71 per cent and in services, 50 per cent of innovations.

 

Most commonly, enterprises mentioned more efficient energy use and a smaller carbon footprint as the environmental benefits produced by innovations as per the data based on a survey on enterprises’ innovation activity in 2012 to 2014.

 

In practice, environmental benefits during production were reported as often as environmental benefits during end use.

 

The main reasons for adopting innovations with environmental benefits were high energy, water or material costs, environmental regulations and improving the enterprise's reputation, finds the survey which was part of an extensive EU survey.

 

The total share of enterprises with innovation activity of the examined industries and size categories was 55 per cent. A majority of them had adopted innovations.

 

The survey’s mapping of the importance of digitalisation in enterprises’ business activity proved that digitalisation was clearly more important for enterprises that reported innovation activity than for enterprises that did not report activities related to innovations.

 

Of all surveyed enterprises, around one-third felt that the importance of digital products in business activity was high or moderate. The corresponding share among enterprises that reported innovation activity was 47 per cent and among other enterprises 21 per cent, according to the findings.

 

A majority of the surveyed enterprises did not feel they had utilised big data or public sector open data in the enterprise’s business activity.

 

Seventeen per cent of enterprises considered the importance of data use high or moderate in marketing, while, for example, 15 per cent of enterprises estimated that the use of data in managing the production process was of high or moderate importance.

 

Altogether, one-third of all enterprises had procurement contracts in 2012 to 2014 to produce products for public sector organisations.

 

Six per cent of them or two per cent of all enterprises, reported innovation activity related to the implementation of the contracts in cases where the contract required innovations.

 

By contrast, it was somewhat more commonplace that enterprises had innovation activity related to the implementation of the contract without the contract requiring innovation activity as reported by seven per cent of all enterprises.