This paper seeks to contribute to the analysis of innovation in the Colombian industry (at group or 3-digit ISIC level) using data from the first two national innovation surveys. This is pursued by means of innovation indices, from which it is sought to identify regional and national special features, while allowing international comparative analysis, along the lines of the Oslo Manual. The work highlights the limitations of the information available to carry out the calculation of innovation indices as proposed in the recent literature on the subject. As an alternative, a methodology based on the importance value indices (IVIs) is applied, which allows the calculation of new innovation performance indicators amenable to international comparisons. By applying multivariate statistical techniques, redundant information of a high number of variables is cleared to construct the IVIs; then, clustering and characterization of the different units of analysis is performed using a model that connects the variables refined. The paper concludes with an exercise of innovation analysis applied to industrial groups in Colombia, using IVIs constructed with data from the first two national innovation surveys.