Introduction

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) conducts and publishes the National Survey of R&D in Singapore annually. The National Survey of R&D in Singapore collects comprehensive data on Research and Development (R&D) activities in the private sector, higher education sector, government sector and the A*STAR research institutes. The purpose of this survey is to collect data which are useful measures of the scale and directions of R&D in Singapore.

Data in the survey have been collected and presented based on guidelines provided in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys on Research and Experimental Development, "Frascati Manual" (Sixth Edition).

The National Survey of R&D in Singapore was conducted by the Singapore Science Council on a triennial basis from 1978 to 1987. Since 1990, it has been conducted and published annually by A*STAR, formerly known as the National Science and Technology Board (NSTB).

Research and development (R&D) comprises creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications. This is based on the definition published by OECD in the Frascati Manual (2002). R&D covers the following activities: basic research, strategic basic research, applied research and experimental development. The scope of the definition of R&D for this Survey extends to R&D in science and technology only and excludes the social sciences and humanities.

R&D is related to a number of other activities with a scientific and technological basis, which are often very closely linked to R&D through flows of information or in terms of operations, institutions and personnel. The basic criterion for distinguishing R&D from related activities is the presence of an appreciable element of novelty and resolution of scientific and/or technological uncertainty, i.e. when the solution to a problem is not readily apparent to someone familiar with the basic stock of common knowledge and techniques for the area concerned.

The reporting period of the Survey is one year in length. The actual period might vary across Survey respondents but it would usually be the calendar or fiscal year.

The approach is to survey all organisations that are known to perform R&D. A register of R&D performing organisations is maintained, and the survey questionnaire is sent out to the organisations listed in the register. The register comprises all organisations that had reported previously to the Survey that they performed R&D, after excluding those that subsequently reported that they did not perform R&D or had ceased operations. The register is updated annually through a Preliminary Survey of organisations that are potentially performing R&D but are not on the register. The list of organisations surveyed in the Preliminary Survey is compiled annually from various sources, and includes all companies that are in receipt of government R&D grants.