The impact of ICT on innovation activities: Evidence for UK SMEs
Abstract
There is a continuous commitment of policymakers in the UK to support innovation in small and medium-sized firms. For these policy initiatives to be successful, an understanding of the factors driving innovation activities is required. In this study, the focus is upon the role that information and communication technologies (ICT) play in the innovation performance of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using data drawn from the 2004 Annual Small Business Survey (ASBS) database, it is shown that ICT operate primarily as efficiency-enhancing technologies, although specific market-oriented applications (that is, website development) exhibit the potential to create competitive advantage through product innovation.
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Biographies
Dolores Añón Higón is a Lecturer at the Universitat de València and research fellow at ERI-CES, Valencia, Spain. She received her M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Warwick, U.K. Her research interests include the internationalization of R&D, and the relationship between innovation, trade, information technology and productivity.
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Article first published online: March 14, 2011
Issue published: September 2012
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