Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP)

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the Quarterly Civil Aviation Survey. If you need more information, please call the Statistics Canada Help Line at the number below.

Help Line: 1-877-949-9492

Your answers are confidential.

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act.

Statistics Canada will use information from this survey for statistical purposes.

Table of contents

• Business or organization and contact information
• Statement of Revenues and Expenses, Quarterly - Statement 21 (I, II)
• Scheduled Services, Revenue Operating Statistics, Quarterly - Statement 10 (I, II)
• Charter Services, Revenue Operating Statistics, Quarterly - Statement 12 (I, II)

Business or organization and contact information

This section verifies or requests basic identifying information of the business or organization such as legal name, operating name (if applicable), contact information of the designated contact person, current operational status, and main activity(ies).

Legal Name

The legal name is one recognized by law, thus it is the name liable for pursuit or for debts incurred by the business or organization. In the case of a corporation, it is the legal name as fixed by its charter or the statute by which the corporation was created.

Modifications to the legal name should only be done to correct a spelling error or typo.

To indicate a legal name of another legal entity you should instead indicate it in question 3 by selecting 'Not currently operational' and then choosing the applicable reason and providing the legal name of this other entity along with any other requested information.

Operating Name

The operating name is a name the business or organization is commonly known as if different from its legal name. The operating name is synonymous with trade name.

Designated contact person

Verify or provide the requested contact information of the designated business or organization contact person. The designated contact person is the person who should receive this questionnaire. The designated contact person may not always be the one who actually completes the questionnaire. If different than the designated contact person, the contact information of the person completing the questionnaire can be indicated later in the questionnaire.

Current operational status

Verify or provide the current operational status of the business or organization identified by the legal and operating name in question 1. If indicating the operational status of the business or organization is 'Not currently operational' then indicate an applicable reason and provide the requested information.

Main activity

This question verifies the business or organization's current main activity as classified by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is an industry classification system developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Created against the background of the North American Free Trade Agreement, it is designed to provide common definitions of the industrial structure of the three countries and a common statistical framework to facilitate the analysis of the three economies. NAICS is based on supply-side or production-oriented principles, to ensure that industrial data, classified to NAICS, are suitable for the analysis of production-related issues such as industrial performance.

The target entity for which NAICS is designed are businesses and other organizations engaged in the production of goods and services. They include farms, incorporated and unincorporated businesses and government business enterprises. They also include government institutions and agencies engaged in the production of marketed and non-marketed services, as well as organizations such as professional associations and unions and charitable or non-profit organizations and the employees of households.

The associated NAICS should reflect those activities conducted by the business or organizational unit(s) targeted by this questionnaire only, as identified in the 'Answering this questionnaire' section and which can be identified by the specified legal and operating name. The main activity is the activity which most defines the targeted business or organization's main purpose or reason for existence. For a business or organization that is for-profit, it is normally the activity that generates the majority of the revenue for the entity.

The NAICS classification contains a limited number of activity classifications; the associated classification might be applicable for this business or organization even if it is not exactly how you would describe this business or organization's main activity.

Please note that any modifications to the main activity through your response to this question might not necessarily be reflected prior to the transmitting of subsequent questionnaires and as a result they may not contain this updated information.

If the current NAICS associated with this business or organizations is not correct, please provide a brief description of the main activity and provide any additional information as requested.

Statement of Revenues and Expenses, Quarterly – Statement 21 (I, II)

1. Revenue, Expenses and Income

Operating revenue

Scheduled services

Transportation of passengers or goods, or both, by an aircraft provided by an air carrier that operates the air service and that, directly or indirectly, sells some or all of its seats or part or all of its cargo space to the public on a price per seat, price per unit of mass or price per volume of cargo basis.

Charter services

Transportation of passengers or goods, or both, by aircraft pursuant to a contract under which a person, other than the air carrier that operates the air service, or its agent, reserves a block of seats or part of the cargo space of an aircraft for the person's use or for resale to the public.

Include air ambulance service and the movement of people and goods to logging or heli-logging sites.

Exclude

• firefighting and heli-logging activities and the movement of people and goods to a firefighting site. (A complete list of activities which are specialty and therefore not subject to filing requirements as charter can be found in the Transport Canada document entitled "Starting a Commercial Air Service", TP 8880. This document can be found at Transport Canada - TP 8880 - Starting A Commercial Air Service or at Transport Canada - Starting a Commercial Air Service (PDF).)

Passenger revenue

Refers to the revenue earned from the transportation of passengers on scheduled and charter services. Include revenue from all surcharges (baggage, fuel, seat selection, and so on) that are retained by the air carrier. Exclude amounts such as taxes, navigation fees, security fees, and so on that are collected but passed on to other entities.

Goods revenue

Refers to the revenue earned from the transportation of goods on scheduled and charter services. Exclude taxes such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) or Provincial Sales Tax (PST).

All other operating revenue

Refers to the revenue earned from all other sources. Include air transport activities not included in passenger revenue or goods revenue, revenue from other flying services (such as flying training, recreational flying and other specialty flying), subsidies and net incidental air transport related revenue, that is revenue less expenses from non-flying services incidental to air transport including aircraft fuel and oil sales; maintenance and aircraft ramp handling service and so on for other carriers; commissions (or sales revenue minus payments to the carrier that does the flying) received for the sale of transportation which takes place on other carriers; and revenue received for the provision of aircraft to other carriers from operations under their control.

Total operating revenue

The sum of passenger revenue, goods revenue and all other operating revenue.

Operating expenses

Turbo fuel expenses

Include fuel used in both turboprop and jet aircraft.

Include the expenses for turbo fuel consumed for all scheduled and/or charter operations, regardless of where purchased. Include throughput charges, non-refundable duties and taxes. If the fuel was supplied by a customer, an approximate value may be provided based on prevailing market rates. Expenses should be reported in Canadian dollars, regardless of where purchased.

Employee wages, salaries and benefits

Include the wages, salaries and benefits (employer contributions to pensions, medical benefits, insurance, and so on and layover expenses such as hotels and meals, for flight and cabin crews) for all employees.

All other operating expenses

Include all operating expenses not reported in the two expense categories above.

Total operating expenses

The sum of the previous three expense items.

Income

Net operating income

(a loss should be a negative number)

Total operating revenue less total operating expenses from above.

Net non-operating income

(enter a negative number for a loss)

Include provision for income taxes.

Include

• interest and discount income from all sources, including cash discounts on the purchase of materials and supplies;
• interest on unpaid taxes and all classes of debt, including premiums, discounts and expenses on short-term obligations, as well as amortization of premiums, discounts and expenses on short-term and long-term obligations;
• capital gains (or losses) from retiring operating property and equipment, aircraft equipment, expendable parts, miscellaneous materials and supplies and other assets, when they are sold or otherwise retired from service as part of a general program and not as incidental sales performed as a service to others;
• gains or losses made on investments in securities;
• net miscellaneous non-operating income or loss, which refers to revenue and expenses attributable to financing or other activities that are not an integral part of the air transportation activities undertaken by the carrier, or its incidental services. These could include dividend income, the balance of all income or losses from affiliated companies reimbursed to the carrier, foreign exchange adjustments and special items, such as restructuring expenses, which do not occur on a regular basis;
• provisions for taxes payable on net income for the accounting period and adjustments of income taxes relating to previous years, including the provisions for deferred income taxes resulting from differences between accounting income and taxable income that arise when the time of including items of revenue and expense in the computation of accounting income and taxable income do not coincide.

Exclude

• staff reduction expenses which should be included under all other operating expenses.

Net income

(a loss should be a negative number)

Net operating income plus net non-operating income from above.

2. Average number of employees

Refers to the average number of people employed during the quarter. Include all employees (all categories), temporary or permanent, on the payroll of the air carrier during the quarter being reported. Part-time employees should be included in the total, prorated to the amount of time worked when compared with the time worked by full-time employees (for example two part-time employees working half-time are equivalent to one full-time employee).

Statement of Revenues and Expenses, Quarterly – Statement 21 (I, II)

1. Scheduled services - operating statistics

Include fixed wing and helicopter services.

Sector of operation

Refers to the regions where carriers provide transportation services. There are three breakdowns – domestic, transborder (Canada-US) and other international.

Domestic includes operations between points in Canada.

Transborder (Canada-US) includes operations between points in Canada and points in the United States (including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico).

Other international includes all other operations, (including between points outside of Canada).

Data reported must include both fixed wing and helicopter services, where:

Fixed wing

Means a power-driven, heavier-than-air aircraft, deriving its lift in flight chiefly from aerodynamic reactions on surfaces which remain fixed. An aircraft having wings fixed to the airplane fuselage and outspread in flight – that is non-rotating wings.

Helicopter

Means a rotary wing, heavier-than-air aircraft, supported in flight chiefly by the reactions of the air on one or more power-driven rotors on substantially vertical axes. A helicopter does not have conventional fixed wings, nor is it provided with a conventional propeller for forward thrust.

Scheduled services

Transportation of passengers or goods, or both, by an aircraft provided by an air carrier that operates the air service and that, directly or indirectly, sells some or all of its seats or part or all of its cargo space to the public on a price per seat, price per unit of mass or price per volume of cargo basis.

Enplaned passengers

Refers to revenue passengers^{Footnote 1} who board aircraft and surrender one or more flight coupons or other documents good for transportation over the itinerary specified in these coupons or documents.

Passenger-kilometres

Represents the carriage of one revenue passenger on each flight stage multiplied by the number of kilometres flown on that stage. Passenger-kilometres are obtained by totalling the number of kilometres flown by all passengers.

Let's take an example with two flight stages, where:

Flight stage A to B
Number of passengers = 5
Distance between points (km) = 161
Passenger-kilometres = 805

Flight stage B to C
Number of passengers = 4
Distance between points (km) = 322
Passenger-kilometres = 1,288

The total number of passenger-kilometres for the flights covering A to B and B to C is 2,093.

Conversion factor

To convert nautical miles (6 080 feet) into kilometres (km), multiply by 1.852.

To convert statute miles (5 280 feet) into kilometres (km), multiply by 1.609344.

Available seat-kilometres

Represents the aircraft kilometres flown on each flight stage multiplied by the number of seats available for use on that stage. This represents the total passenger carrying capacity offered. Seats not actually available for the carriage of passengers should be excluded.

Hours flown

Represents the block hours, in other words, the number of hours which elapsed between the time the aircraft started to move to commence a flight and the time the aircraft came to its final stop after the conclusion of a flight. Report the total number of block hours flown to the nearest hour.

Enplaned goods

Refers to all types of non-passenger traffic. It includes priority freight, freight, mail and excess baggage for which revenue is obtained. Enplaned goods should be reported to the nearest kilogram.

Conversion factors

To convert pounds (lbs.) into kilograms (kg), multiply by 0.453592.

Goods tonne-kilometres

Represents the carriage of one tonne of goods on each flight stage multiplied by the number of kilometres flown on that stage. Goods tonne-kilometres are obtained by totalling the number of kilometres flown with all tonnes of goods.

Let's take an example with two flight stages, where:

Flight stage A to B
Tonnes of goods = 5
Distance between points (km) = 161
Goods tonne-kilometres = 805

Flight stage B to C
Tonnes of goods = 4
Distance between points (km) = 322
Goods tonne-kilometres = 1,288

The total number of goods tonne-kilometres for the flights covering A to B and B to C is 2,093.

Conversion factor

To convert nautical miles (6 080 feet) into kilometres (km), multiply by 1.852.

To convert statute miles (5 280 feet) into kilometres (km), multiply by 1.609344.

Available tonne-kilometres

Represents the aircraft kilometers' flown on each flight stage multiplied by the usable weight capacity of the aircraft. This represents the load carrying capacity offered for passengers and/or goods.

2. Scheduled services - revenue

Include fixed wing and helicopter services.

Passenger revenue

Refers to the revenue earned from the transportation of passengers on scheduled services. Include revenue from all surcharges (baggage, fuel, seat selection, and so on) that are retained by the air carrier. Exclude amounts such as taxes, navigation fees, security fees, and so on that are collected but passed on to other entities. Total passenger revenue should equal the passenger revenue from scheduled services from the first screen.

Goods revenue

Refers to the revenue earned from the transportation of goods on scheduled services. Exclude taxes such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) or Provincial Sales Tax (PST). Total goods revenue should equal the goods revenue from scheduled services from the first screen.

Charter Services, Revenue Operating Statistics, Quarterly – Statement 12 (I, II)

1. Charter services - operating statistics

Include fixed wing and helicopter services.

Sector of operation

Refers to the regions where carriers provide transportation services. There are three breakdowns – domestic, transborder (Canada-US) and other international.

Domestic includes operations between points in Canada.

Transborder (Canada-US) includes operations between points in Canada and points in the United States (including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico).

Other international includes all other operations (including between points outside of Canada).

Data reported must include both fixed wing and helicopter services, where:

Fixed wing

Means a power-driven, heavier-than-air aircraft, deriving its lift in flight chiefly from aerodynamic reactions on surfaces which remain fixed. An aircraft having wings fixed to the airplane fuselage and outspread in flight – that is non-rotating wings.

Helicopter

Means a rotary wing, heavier-than-air aircraft, supported in flight chiefly by the reactions of the air on one or more power-driven rotors on substantially vertical axes. A helicopter does not have conventional fixed wings, nor is it provided with a conventional propeller for forward thrust.

Charter services

Transportation of passengers or goods, or both, by aircraft pursuant to a contract under which a person, other than the air carrier that operates the air service, or its agent, reserves a block of seats or part of the cargo space of an aircraft for the person's use or for resale to the public.

Include air ambulance service and the movement of people and goods to logging or heli-logging sites.

Exclude firefighting and heli-logging activities and the movement of people and goods to a firefighting site. (A complete list of activities which are specialty and therefore not subject to filing requirements as charter can be found in the Transport Canada document entitled "Starting a Commercial Air Service", TP 8880. This document can be found at Transport Canada - TP 8880 - Starting A Commercial Air Service or at Transport Canada - Starting a Commercial Air Service (PDF).)

Enplaned passengers

Refers to revenue passengers^{Footnote 1} who board aircraft and surrender one or more flight coupons or other documents good for transportation over the itinerary specified in these coupons or documents.

Passenger-kilometres

Represents the carriage of one revenue passenger on each flight stage multiplied by the number of kilometres flown on that stage. Passenger-kilometres are obtained by totalling the number of kilometres flown by all passengers.

Let's take an example with two flight stages, where:

Flight stage A to B
Number of passengers = 5
Distance between points (km) = 161
Passenger-kilometres = 805

Flight stage B to C
Number of passengers = 4
Distance between points (km) = 322
Passenger-kilometres = 1,288

The total number of passenger-kilometres for the flights covering A to B and B to C is 2,093.

Conversion factor

To convert nautical miles (6 080 feet) into kilometres (km), multiply by 1.852.

To convert statute miles (5 280 feet) into kilometres (km), multiply by 1.609344.

Hours flown

Represents the block hours, in other words, the number of hours which elapsed between the time the aircraft started to move to commence a flight and the time the aircraft came to its final stop after the conclusion of a flight. Report the total number of block hours flown to the nearest hour.

Enplaned goods

Refers to all types of non-passenger traffic. It includes priority freight, freight, mail and excess baggage for which revenue is obtained. Enplaned goods should be reported to the nearest kilogram.

Conversion factors

To convert pounds (lbs.) into kilograms (kg), multiply by 0.453592.

Goods tonne-kilometres

Represents the carriage of one tonne of goods on each flight stage multiplied by the number of kilometres flown on that stage. Goods tonne-kilometres are obtained by totalling the number of kilometres flown with all tonnes of goods.

Let's take an example with two flight stages, where:

Flight stage A to B
Tonnes of goods = 5
Distance between points (km) = 161
Goods tonne-kilometres = 805

Flight stage B to C
Tonnes of goods = 4
Distance between points (km) = 322
Goods tonne-kilometres = 1,288

The total number of goods tonne-kilometres for the flights covering A to B and B to C is 2,093.

Conversion factor

To convert nautical miles (6 080 feet) into kilometres (km), multiply by 1.852.

To convert statute miles (5 280 feet) into kilometres (km), multiply by 1.609344.

2. Charter services - revenue

Include fixed wing and helicopter services.

Passenger revenue

Refers to the revenue earned from the transportation of passengers on charter services. Include revenue from all surcharges (baggage, fuel, seat selection, and so on) that are retained by the air carrier. Exclude amounts such as taxes, navigation fees, security fees, and so on that are collected but passed on to other entities. Total passenger revenue should equal the passenger revenue from charter services from the first screen.

Goods revenue

Refers to the revenue earned from the transportation of goods on charter services. Exclude taxes such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) or Provincial Sales Tax (PST). Total goods revenue should equal the goods revenue from charter services from the first screen.

Integrated Business Statistics Program (IBSP)

This guide is designed to assist you as you complete the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey

Preliminary Estimate for 2017 and Intentions for 2018. If you need more information, please call the Statistics Canada Help Line at the number below.

Help Line: 1-877-604-7828

Table of contents

• Reporting period information
• Definition
• Industry characteristics

Reporting period information

For the purpose of this survey, please report information for your 12 month fiscal period for which the Final day occurs on or between April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2018.

• May 1, 2016 – April 30, 2017
• June 1, 2016 – May 31, 2017
• July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017
• August 1, 2016 – July 31, 2017
• September 1, 2016 – August 31, 2017
• October 1, 2016 – September 30, 2017
• November 1, 2016 – October 31, 2017
• December 1, 2016 – November 30, 2017
• January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017
• February 1, 2017 – January 31, 2018
• March 1, 2017 – February 28, 2018
• April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2018

Here are other examples of fiscal periods that fall within the required dates:

• September 18, 2016 to September 15, 2017 (e.g., floating year-end)
• June 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017 (e.g., a newly opened business)

Dollar amounts

• all dollar amounts reported should be rounded to thousands of Canadian dollars (e.g., $6,555,444.00 should be rounded to $6,555);
• exclude sales tax;
• your best estimates are acceptable when precise figures are not available;
• if there are no capital expenditures, please enter '0'.

Definitions

What are Capital Expenditures?

Capital Expenditures are the gross expenditures on fixed assets for use in the operations of your organization or for lease or rent to others.

Include:

• Cost of all new buildings, engineering, machinery and equipment which normally have a life of more than one year and are charged to fixed asset accounts
• Modifications, acquisitions and major renovations
• Capital costs such as feasibility studies, architectural, legal, installation and engineering fees
• Subsidies
• Capitalized interest charges on loans with which capital projects are financed
• Work done by own labour force
• Additions to work in progress

How to Treat Leases

Include:

• assets acquired as a lessee through either a capital or financial lease;
• assets acquired for lease to others as an operating lease.

Exclude

• assets acquired for lease to others, either as a capital or financial lease.

Information for Government Departments

The following applies to government departments only:

Include

• all capital expenditures without taking into account the capitalization threshold of your department;
• Grants and/or subsidies to outside entities (e.g., municipalities, agencies, institutions or businesses) are to be excluded;
• Departments are requested to exclude from reported figures budgetary items pertaining to any departmental agency and proprietary crown corporation as they are surveyed separately;
• Federal departments are to report expenditures paid for by the department, regardless of which department awarded the contract;
• Provincial departments are to include any capital expenditures on construction (exclude outlays for land) or machinery and equipment, for use in Canada, financed from revolving funds, loans attached to revolving funds, other loans, the Consolidated Revenue Fund or special accounts.

Industry characteristics

Report the value of the projects expected to be put in place during the year. Include the gross expenditures (including subsidies) on fixed assets for use in the operations of your organization or for lease or rent to others. Include all capital costs such as feasibility studies, architectural, legal, installation and engineering fees as well as work done by your own labour force. Include all additions to work in progress.

New Assets, Renovation, Retrofit, includes both existing assets being upgraded and acquisitions of new assets

The following explanations are not applicable to government departments:

• include - Capitalized interest charges on loans with which capital projects are financed
• exclude - If you are capitalizing your leased fixed assets as a lessee in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants' recommendations, please exclude the total of the capitalization of such leases during the year from capital expenditures

Purchase of Used Canadian Assets

Definition: Used fixed assets may be defined as existing buildings, structures or machinery and equipment which have been previously used by another organization in Canada that you have acquired during the time period being reported on this questionnaire.

Explanation: The objective of our survey is to measure gross annual new acquisitions to fixed assets separately from the acquisition of gross annual used fixed assets in the Canadian economy as a whole.

Hence, the acquisition of a used fixed Canadian asset should be reported separately since such acquisitions would not change the aggregates of our domestic inventory of fixed assets, it would simply mean a transfer of assets within Canada from one organization to another.

Imports of used assets, on the other hand, should be included with the new assets (Column 1) because they are newly acquired for the Canadian economy.

Work in Progress

Work in progress represents accumulated costs since the start of capital projects which are intended to be capitalized upon completion.

Typically capital investment includes any expenditure on an asset in which its' life is greater than one year. Capital items charged to operating expenses are defined as expenditures which could have been capitalized as part of the fixed assets, but for various reasons, have been charged to current expenses.

Land

Capital expenditures for land should include all costs associated with the purchase of the land that are not amortized or depreciated.

Residential Construction

Report the value of residential structures including the housing portion of multi-purpose projects and of townsites with the following Exceptions:

• buildings that have accommodation units without self-contained or exclusive use of bathroom and kitchen facilities (e.g., some student and senior citizen residences)
• the non-residential portion of multi-purpose projects and of townsites
• associated expenditures on services

The exceptions should be included in the appropriate construction (e.g., non-residential) asset.

Non-Residential Building Construction (excluding land purchase and residential construction)

Report the total cost incurred during the year of building and engineering construction (contract and by own employees) whether for your own use or rent to others. Include also:

• the cost of demolition of buildings, land servicing and of site-preparation
• leasehold and land improvements
• townsite facilities, such as streets, sewers, stores, schools

Non-residential engineering construction

Report the total cost incurred during the year of engineering construction (contract and by own employees) whether for your own use or rent to others. Include also:

• the cost of demolition of buildings, land servicing and of site-preparation
• oil or gas pipelines, including pipe and installation costs
• all preconstruction planning and design costs such as engineer and consulting fees and any materials supplied to construction contractors for installation, etc.
• communication engineering, including transmission support structures, cables and lines, etc.
• electric power engineering, including wind and solar plants, nuclear production plants, power distribution networks, etc.

Machinery and Equipment

Report total cost incurred during the year of all new machinery, whether for your own use or for lease or rent to others. Any capitalized tooling should also be included. Include progress payments paid out before delivery in the year in which such payments are made. Receipts from the sale of your own fixed assets or allowance for scrap or trade-in should not be deducted from your total capital expenditures. Any balance owing or holdbacks should be reported in the year the cost is incurred.

Include:

• automobiles, trucks, professional and scientific equipment, office and store furniture and appliances
• computers (hardware and software), broadcasting, telecommunication and other information and communication technology equipment
• motors, generators, transformers
• any capitalized tooling expenses
• progress payments paid out before delivery in the year in which such payments are made
• any balance owing or holdbacks should be reported in the year the cost is incurred

Software

Capital expenditures for software should include all costs associated with the purchase of software.

Include:

• Pre-packaged software
• Custom software developed in-house/own account
• Custom software design and development, contracted out

Research and Development

Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge.

For an activity to be an R&D activity, it must satisfy five core criteria:

1. To be aimed at new findings (novel);
2. To be based on original, not obvious, concepts and hypothesis (creative);
3. To be uncertain about the final outcome (uncertainty);
4. To be planned and budgeted (systematic);
5. To lead to results to could be possibly reproduced (transferable/ or reproducible).

The term R&D covers three types of activity: basic research, applied research and experimental development. Basic research is experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in view. Applied research is original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge. It is, however, directed primarily towards a specific, practical aim or objective. Experimental development is systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience and producing additional knowledge, which is directed to producing new products or processes or to improving existing products or processes.