The Community Innovation Survey (CIS) based innovation statistics are part of the EU science and technology statistics. Surveys are carried out with two years' frequency by EU member states and number of ESS member countries. Compiling CIS data is voluntary to the countries, which means that in different surveys years different countries are involved.

The CIS is a survey of innovation activity in enterprises. The harmonised survey is designed to provide information on the innovativeness of sectors by type of enterprises, on the different types of innovation and on various aspects of the development of an innovation, such as the objectives, the sources of information, the public funding, the innovation expenditures etc. The CIS provides statistics broken down by countries, type of innovators, economic activities and size classes.