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This newsletter is published by ONRIS at the Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, and jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology. The views and ideas expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Ontario Government.
Next issue: December 17, 2001
ANNOUNCEMENTS [Table of Contents]
Comdex Fall a success for Canada's technology triangle
Canada’s Technology Triangle (CTT), the regional economic development organization which promotes Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, and the Region of Waterloo, will be heading back to Comdex Fall in 2002 after successful first-time participation at the show in Las Vegas last week. According to CTT’s Randy Ellis, Comdex Fall, the main information technology trade event in North America, ‘gives smaller companies a tremendous opportunity to step out in front of the bigger players in the industry. This year, a small company from Toronto - a first-time participant in the Canada pavilion - won one of the show’s coveted best technology awards.’
CITO Innovation Tree shows links to helping 29 high-technology start-ups
A project mapping the long-term effect CITO (Communications and Information Technology Ontario) and its predecessor organizations have had on innovation in Ontario finds that they have helped create 29 high technology start-up companies across the province. In addition, over 80 existing companies have utilized the intellectual property developed through CITO-supported research to improve their competitive position. Leading companies such as Mitel, Bell, Nortel Networks, IBM and Alcatel have helped move CITO-supported innovations into the marketplace.
EDITOR'S PICK [Table of Contents]
This special addition of Science, Technology and Industry Outlook is a further advance on the OECD’s project “New Determinants of Growth”. It synthesizes and examines in greater depth, key findings in the areas of ICT, innovation and entrepreneurship, presenting new findings on the relationship between economic performance and on the policy implications. A major feature is the discussion of which policy messages should be taken at the national level and which require international organization.
INNOVATION & RELATED POLICY [Table of Contents]
Does Proximity Matter for Knowledge Transfer from Public Institutes and Universities to Firms?
A Arundel, A Geuna, SPRU Working Paper
This paper questions the assumption in national innovation system theories that proximity is a crucial factor to linkages among organization. Though the need to access tacit knowledge could counter the centrifugal features of modern communication technologies, the rapid growth of the internet and email suggest that the role of proximity could be breaking down particularly among the large firms with the financial resources to seek knowledge anywhere in the world. The analysis on the effect of proximity focuses on the sourcing of knowledge by firms from suppliers, customers, joint ventures, competitors and publicly-funded research organizations (PROs). According to the results from the ordered logit model, proximity effects decline with an increase in the firms R&D expenditures, as well as with the importance attached to basic research results in publications, but increase with the quality and availability of outputs from domestic PROs.
Maryland Incubator Impact Study
This study, commissioned by The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), reveals how significant Maryland’s incubators have been to the local economy. Using three different estimation procedures, the study finds that that incubator tenants and graduates generate between $184 and $530 million in gross state product and between $31 and $96 million in taxes annually. In terms of employment, this translates to between 2,210 and 6,852 jobs for a total personal income generated from $88 million to $274 million. “Simply put, comments Ed Sybert, director of the Technology Advancement Program (TAP) at the University of Maryland, “business incubation matters. A company going through an incubator has a far greater chance of growth and survival than a company going it alone without the help of an incubator.”
The Structuration of Organizational
Learning
Eindhoven H. Berends, et al.,
Centre for Innovation Studies
Unclear how notions like learning,
knowledge and cognitive activities can be applied to organizations, these
authors attempt to develop a social account of organizational learning based
upon structuration theory. This results in a comprehensive account of the
relationship between individual and organizational learning and an analysis
of organizational learning. This analysis, the authors note, need not to be
interpreted as a metaphor nor falls prey to the fallacies of reification and
antropomorphization.
Building Entrepreneurial Networks
National Commission on Entrepreneurship
This provides a "how-to guide" on building entrepreneurial networks for entrepreneurs, community leaders, policy makers, and others. The report is based in part on case studies of five organizations – in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Texas – which have succeeded in seeding or supporting such networks. Using these case studies and additional research, the report details how and why local business networks help nurture entrepreneurship. Next, it offers practical tips on how to start and grow such networks. It concludes with a review of best practices linked to general experience with entrepreneurial networks and is highlighted by five detailed case study examinations.
Innovation Indices
This year’s innovation indices from three states, Massachusetts, California (Southern) and Mississippi are now available as is a new index from the tri-city region of Washington state (Richland-Kennewick-Pasco). For a list of review articles of many these innovation profiles, see SSTI weekly digest.
BIOTECHNOLOGY [Table of Contents]
Biotechnology Statistics In OECD Member Countries: Compendium Of Existing National Statistics
B. van Beuzekom, OECD
The principal aim of this compendium of biotechnology statistics was to highlight the types of biotechnology data that are currently available and to encourage the future collection of internationally comparable statistics on biotechnology. Along with country profiles, is a set of comparative statistics on patents, trade, bibliometrics, alliances, government funding, agriculture and venture capital. No analysis is given with the figures, apart from insight into some of the statistical and methodological problems that exist in the current data.
European Biotechnology Innovation Systems
Here are some case studies from The European Biotechnology Innovation System (EBIS), a project that seeks to identify whether the development of biotechnology in Europe is mainly influenced by national or sectoral factors and what the policy implications are as a result. The national case studies of three sectors - bio-pharmaceuticals, agro-food and research equipment and supplies - show great differences in innovation patterns between the eight countries studied. Partial explanations for these differences are provided by national systems of innovation, confirming that the R&D system, the role of the public sector including public policy, interfirm relationships, the financial system, and the national education and training system are important elements of a NSI
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY [Table of Contents]
The ICT Sector in Canada: A Profile
According to the latest figures on the Canadian ICT sector from Industry Canada, the sector contributed $47.8 billion to Canada's GDP ($1997) in 2000, representing 5.1% of the total economy. Annual growth in this sector has been 19.5% since 1997, compared to growth of 4.4% economy-wide. Sector employment also grew strongly rising from 347,509 in 1993 to 542,322 in 2000, an increase of 56.1% (7.2% annual growth, compared to 2.6% economy-wide). By 2000, 3.6% of all Canadian workers were employed by the ICT sector.
For more detailed statistics the ICT sector (R&D and capital expenditures, GDP, employment, revenues), please visit New Data (Strategis).
Canada’s Information & Communications
Technologies Trade Performance, 1993 -2000
This second report from Industry Canada presents the trade performance of Canada’s ICT sector. From 1993 to 2000, Canadian ICT exports increased by an impressive 36%, reaching $44 billion (including re-exports), while ICT imports reached $64.9 billion, up 18.1% from 1999. Goods accounted for 90% of ICT exports and 95% of ICT imports. In 2000, the ICT trade deficit shrank to $20.9 billion, a decrease of 6.3% over 1999. This is the first decrease of the deficit since 1996.
Here is a report summarizing the dialogue of a policy forum between
Canadian and American business leaders on the impact of the Internet on the
economy. The forum, carried out in May 2001, focused discussions among panel
members on two topics: the role of the internet in raising economic growth
and, competition policy, e-commerce, and the global economy.
EVENTS [Table of Contents]
Creating and Applying Vision in the Regions: Towards Agile and Networked Regions through Foresight
Dublin, 13 December 2001
This EC Conference focuses on
regional foresight and seeks to explain how such activities may help regional
policies achieve their major objectives (e.g. improvement of competitiveness,
job creation, sustainable development). It will examine what good practice is
in Foresight, and will unveil a practical guide for regional foresight
developed through the FOREN initiative. FOREN is an EC-supported network,
under the STRATA program, which has brought researchers and policymakers
together to share experiences in regional foresight and to learn from each
other. The conference will also showcase keynote speeches and in-depth
presentations by leading figures in regional futures thinking and action.
2002 Incubation and New Ventures
Conference: How Incubators Fit In
Calgary,
21 –22 January, 2002
This Conference Board of Canada event focuses on how incubators fit in with innovation, the economy, technology, regional cities, universities and colleges, research parks, the community, major corporations and entrepreneurship. The session topics discussed by the panels include: ‘Financing New Ventures, Angel Investors and the Role of Incubators’, ‘Incubators in Health, the Life Sciences and Biotechnology’, ‘Incubators in Rural Communities and Mid-Sized Cities’ and, ‘Making Incubation Work: Incubators, Research Parks and Regional Economic Development’.
Regional Governance in an Age of Globalization
Stuttgart, 8-9 March, 2002
This conference aims to examine and advance theories and practices in understanding regional governance in an age of globalization. The focus will be on globalization and its impact on subnational governments around the world with a particular interest in the intersection of the international with the local and regional and how this phenomenon is affecting the development of international and transnational relations on the one hand, and governance internationally, nationally, and subnationally on the other. The influence of unprecedented technological change on globalization and governance is also of interest to the conference organizers.
Rethinking Science Policy: Analytical Frameworks for Evidence-based Policy
Brighton, 21-23 March, 2002
This conference focuses on new
models for science policy, exploring the European context where traditional foundations
for science policy have been increasingly questioned during the last few
decades of science policy research as policymakers search for new methods of
harnessing scientific investigation. Twenty-six new papers, including eight invited papers by leading
authorities in the field of science policy, will be presented. Final date for acceptance of
abstracts November 1, 2001.
Innovation in an Evolving Economy
Ottawa, May 6-7, 2002
Statistics Canada’s Economic Conference 2002 will be focusing on the
investments required to meet the challenges of rapidly changing economic and
social realities. The event will
include several plenary sessions featuring invited guest speakers who are
leading authorities in their fields. It will also include presentations in
which participants will discuss research providing new perspectives on topics
related to one of the following sub-themes: ‘Investing in a competitive Canada’,
‘Investing in the global context’, ‘Investing in infrastructure’ and,
‘Investing in an innovative work force’.
Raleigh, (North Carolina), 6-8 June, 2002
In an effort to establish a critical dialogue on the social and ethical dimensions of ICT, ISTAS'02 will bring together ICT professionals, computer science and engineering educators, scholars in the humanities and social sciences, students and policymakers to discuss several important and topical themes. These include electronic publishing, ICT and democratic processes, intellectual property rights in the digital era, social implications of wireless technology and gender issues in ICT. Among the plenary session speakers will be Dr. Lucy Suchman from the Department of Sociology, Lancaster University. Proposal deadline for sessions, panels, or individual papers is December 13, 2001.
WILL YOU BE ONE OF OUR REGIONAL REPORTERS? [Table of Contents]
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