The project aims at developing new indicators for measuring networks of innovative firms, using different data sources and employing different methods:

1. Interactions among firms and between firms and other organisations (e.g. universities, research institutes) based on online-data such as websites (e.g. links to other websites of firms and organisations), social media and other web-based platforms (e.g. references to other firms and organisations) - a main focus is laid on platforms that contain information about the employees changing between employers.
2. Data on the innovativeness of firms is provided by another project (TOBI) which analysed the websites of firms with respect to information on product innovations. This data allows to classify all interacting firms, and hence the emerging firm networks, by innovativeness.
3. Networks are characterised by firm characteristics such as sector, location, size and age of the firms, and by network characteristics such as size, symmetry, density, centrality, stability, efficiency, diversity as well as its dynamics.
4. Results on innovative networks of firms are used as a determinant to explain innovation success of firms. For this purpose, data are merged with the Mannheim Innovation Panel.