They also come with challenges as to the definitions used and purpose and scope of the analysis, for which there are differences between the development and STI communities. The approach taken in this paper is to assess STI financing based on individual development activities using the CRS as the main data source. As such, the analysis conforms by the available information on the purpose and implementation of development activities and the structure and definitions of the CRS. However, the CRS is neither designed nor tailored to identify development activities according to official STI definitions, such as the definitions of R&D and innovation as described in section 2. The description field in the CRS provide valuable information about the specificities of development activities.