National Survey of Research and Experimental Development - Statistical Report (2016/17)

This Statistical Report presents data tables from the 2016/17 South African National Survey of Research and Experimental Development (R&D Survey). The report provides key findings of the survey with commentary and standard summary tables of 2016/17, along with time series data from previous iterations of the survey. The Statistical Report is published together with the Main Analysis Report, which provides selected analyses of survey data.
The survey covers the following institutional sectors that perform R&D in South Africa:
• The business enterprise sector, comprising all industries and size classes of enterprises, including state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
• The government sector, comprising departments in the three spheres of national, provincial and local government with an R&D component, government research institutions, and museums.
• The not-for-profit sector, comprising non-governmental and other organisations formally registered as not-for-profit institutions.
• The higher education sector, comprising all public higher education institutions and private higher education institutions with an R&D component.
• The science council sector, comprising the nine science councils established through Acts of Parliament.
This approach is followed in order to maintain consistency with the institutional sector categories recommended by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities: Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys on Research and Experimental Development, known as the Frascati Manual (OECD, 2015). It adjusts
for the South African situation, which demands a split of government into a government sector and a science council sector.