Issue #189
April 1, 2009
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This newsletter is published by ONRIS at the Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, and sponsored by the Ministry of Research and Innovation. The views and ideas expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Ontario Government.
ANNOUNCEMENTS [Table of Contents]
Ontario Government Creates New Fund to Support Green Tech Companies and Jobs
Ontario is creating a new fund to drive start-up investment in green technology companies and other high-tech businesses. The move is a response to the challenges emerging technology companies are experiencing in raising venture capital due to tightening credit markets. The long-term goal of the fund is to create a dynamic, vibrant venture capital community that will help Ontario companies grow and compete globally. Starting in July, the Emerging Technologies Fund would invest $250 million dollars over five years together with qualified venture capital funds and private sector investors. The fund would match small to medium private sector investments and receive an interest in companies it supports.
EDITOR'S PICK [Table of Contents]
From Industrial Policy to Innovation Strategies: The Global and the Local
The depth of the current recession and its impact on leading Canadian and multinational firms in the automotive, information technology and other sectors are raising critical questions about the appropriate role for government responses. ONRIS members David Wolfe, Neil Bradford and Meric Gertler have all given recent presentations outlining some of the implications of their ongoing research for addressing these questions. The key insight emerging from these presentations is that local economic development strategy and planning must be afforded a more significant place in such efforts than has traditionally been the case.
INNOVATION & RELATED POLICY [Table of Contents]
Insight: The Rise of the Service Class
Martin Prosperity Institute
In 2006, an astounding 46% of Ontario’s workforce was employed in low wage, low autonomy service occupations – those not normally associated with demonstrating creative thinking skills as part of their job. Findings show that this multifaceted group has generally less formal education, is more likely to work part-time, have a higher proportion of women holding these jobs, and earn significantly less than the other major occupational groups. On average they earn only 60% of the wage earned by creative class occupations. But does this have to be the case? Is the economy being short changed by this trend? Traditional views of low wage service work have suggested that it is low skill and thus does not warrant further investments in human capital or skill development. This begs the question: if the economy is shifting to require more creative inputs, can the creative contributions be increased for these low wage service jobs? Can employers take the “high road” and invest in skill development for these jobs and achieve higher returns to their customers or clients? Is there potential to share the gains from this investment with the employee in terms of pride in work, reduced precariousness, and career development? Along with uncovering four examples of employers taking the “high road”, the two working papers have helped us build a comprehensive picture of who holds these occupations, the quality of these occupations, the burdens shouldered by these occupations, and the opportunities for increasing the returns for the employee, the organizations they support, the clients they serve and ultimately the economy they are a vital part of.
Revitalizing Rural Economies Through Entrepreneurship Development Systems
The Aspen Institute
This publication summarizes the findings from a three-year, W. K. Kellogg-funded demonstration involving partnerships at six sites that created Entrepreneurial Development Systems (EDSs) aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship and encouraging economic revitalization in their community. The publication explains the theory behind an EDS; examines the effects the funded EDSs had on entrepreneurs, their local economies and the policy environment surrounding them; and explores some of the challenges encountered and lessons learned through the demonstration.
Demanding Growth: Why the UK Needs a Recovery Plan Based on Growth and Innovation
James Meadway and Jian Mateos-Garcia, NESTA
Recovery from the recession will require an imaginative approach from government. Traditional intervention policies have sought to prop up old industries. But such short-term fixes will not produce long-term growth. Instead, government policy should focus on innovation and growth, supporting innovative sectors that have the potential for strong growth once the recovery begins. It is a move away from corrective intervention towards creative intervention. Acting decisively and intelligently is necessary to transform an economy that had become unduly reliant on financial services. This is not about a return to post-war industrial policy, where government tried to ‘pick winners’. Rather it is about being willing to create the conditions in which innovation can flourish. These conditions will include the development of networks and may mean a degree of cooperation rather than competition initially.
OECD
The recent financial crisis is having important repercussions on OECD countries. As the crisis has taken hold globally, domestic and foreign demand has fallen sharply and investments have slowed down, also because financing has dried up. World trade has collapsed, partly due to lower consumer and business confidence in future economic development. Most governments initially have launched policies to stabilise the financial system followed by actions to stimulate short term demand, and many have also launched policies that aim to strengthen long-term economic growth. This seminar focused on policies to strengthen growth in the medium or long term, called “innovation” policies for the context of this seminar. Such policies typically aim at strengthening the economic structure of OECD economies and thus reinforcing the potential for long-term economic growth. However, some policies in this area may also have more immediate effects, e.g. if they help in addressing barriers to growth or if they help tap into unexplored sources of demand. This seminar examined this long-term perspective, with a particular focus on the role of innovation
policies.
CITIES, CLUSTERS & REGIONS [Table of Contents]
The Place of Design: Exploring Ontario's Design Economy
Tara Vinodrai, Martin Prosperity Institute
Design has become a celebrated and central aspect of today’s economy. Academics, policymakers and business leaders increasingly recognize that design – an inherently creative activity that sits at the intersection of art, business and technology – is a critical input into the production of goods and services in both emerging and traditional sectors. This report provides a comprehensive review of international best practices in the development and promotion of the design economy, as well providing an overview and analysis of Ontario’s design workforce
Enabling or Inhibiting the Creative Economy: The Role of the Local and Regional in England
Caroline Chapain and Roberta Comunian, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS)
This paper addresses issues regarding the development of creative and cultural industries (CCIs) in England from a local and regional perspective. London and the South East are widely regarded as the centre of the national creative economy. In recent years large investments and support have tried to bridge the gap between the capital and other English regions in developing CCIs. Integrating findings from two separate research projects in Birmingham and Newcastle-Gateshead, this paper explores factors that enable or inhibit the creative industries outside of the Capital. One of the crucial issues relates to the specific position of each urban and regional context in relation to London and the possibility of building a critical mass of CCIs outside of the South-East. The paper discusses the importance of idiosyncratic factors relevant to creative individuals in their location decision. In addition, an important dimension of CCIs’ dynamic lies in the multi-scale nature of the geographical supply-chain and collaborating work undertaken by companies. Our findings question current regional policies and their understanding of the local and regional dimension as being limited to the idea of geographical clusters. Therefore, the paper calls for a wider approach which takes into account the importance of the regional infrastructure and the “knowledge pool” necessary
to the development of CCIs, but also personal and operational connections of the CCIs within and outside their region.
The Wealth of Cities: Agglomeration Economies and Spatial Equilibrium in the United States
Edward L Glaeser and Joshua D. Gottlieb, NBER
Empirical research on cities starts with a spatial equilibrium condition: workers and firms are assumed to be indifferent across space. This condition implies that research on cities is different from research on countries, and that work on places within countries needs to consider population, income and housing prices simultaneously. Housing supply elasticity will determine whether urban success shows up in more people or higher incomes. Urban economists generally accept the existence of agglomeration economies, which exist when productivity rises with density, but estimating the magnitude of those economies is difficult. Some manufacturing firms cluster to reduce the costs of moving goods, but this force no longer appears to be important in driving urban success. Instead, modern cities are far more dependent on the role that density can play in speeding the flow of ideas. Finally, urban economics has some insights to offer related topics such as growth theory, national income accounts, public economics and housing prices.
Metro Potential in ARRA: An Early Assessment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Mark Muro et. al., The Brookings Institution
America’s national economic crisis is also a metropolitan crisis, because metropolitan areas are the true engines of the national economy. Therefore, it is a matter of both national and local concern to consider how ARRA, aka the “stimulus” package, will affect U.S. metropolitan areas, and to assess how easily—or not—its multiple funding flows may be utilized to bolster metro efforts to get the economy moving. This report probes those questions by providing an initial overview of the intent, approach, and content of ARRA from the point of view of metropolitan America. From that perspective, this policy paper finds that ARRA usefully directs billions of dollars towards significant investments in the four key drivers of prosperity that concentrate in metropolitan areas. At the same time, the paper concludes that ARRA does very little to actively support metropolitan leaders’ efforts to bundle and align ARRA resources to foster local and national recovery. This lack of attention means that the burden of optimizing ARRA’s implementation falls squarely on states, which control significant amounts of ARRA funding, and local and regional actors, who will have a number of opportunities to craft coordinated approaches to implementing the law and sparking recovery.
Building the Pool of (Creative) Talent: The Case of Calgary
Cooper Langford, Ben Li and Camille D Ryan, ISRN
Attracting and retaining talent is widely regarded to be a key factor in innovation systems from the level of an industrial cluster to the regional system, to national systems and to global centres of excellence . In innovation studies the presumed role of talent is as the source of creative acts leading to innovation. Various hypotheses have been advanced as to the characteristics of a region that attract and retain such key players in innovation. Theories range from the idea that a rich and diverse culture plays a central role to the recognition of simple market factors . Among Canadian cities, the city of Calgary (the CMA1) has experienced nearly unique rapid internal migration growth in the 1996-2005 period. This paper reports a qualitative examination of the factors that attract and retain creative talent in Calgary.
STATISTICS & INDICATORS [Table of Contents]
OECD
Well over one-third of the total economic output of OECD countries was generated by just 10% of OECD regions in 2005. This means the performance of regional economies and the effectiveness of regional policy matter more than ever. This publication is the one-stop guide for understanding regional competitiveness and performance, providing comparative statistical information at the sub-national level, graphs and maps. It identifies new ways that regions can increase their capacity to exploit local factors, mobilize resources and link with other regions. Measuring such factors as education levels, employment opportunities and intensity of knowledge-based activities, this publication offers a statistical snapshot of how life is lived – and can be improved – from region to region in the OECD area. This third edition provides the latest comparable data and trends across regions in OECD countries, including a special focus on the spatial dimension for innovation. It relies on the OECD Regional database, the most comprehensive set of statistics at the sub-national level on demography, economic and labour market performance, education, healthcare, environmental outputs and knowledge-based activities comparable among the OECD countries. This publication provides a dynamic link (StatLink) for each graph and map, which directs the user to a web page where the corresponding data are available in Excel®.
Getting Current: Recent Demographic Trends in Metropolitan America
The Brookings Institution
This brief provides a look at recent key population trends viewed primarily from the perspective of the nation’s real centers of demographic change: its 100 largest metropolitan areas—city and suburban regions with at least half a million people in 2007—which together account for more than two thirds of U.S. population. It draws heavily on work by the Metropolitan Policy Program over the last few years charting metropolitan transformation in areas including migration; immigration; racial and ethnic change; aging; educational attainment; and poverty. It concludes with some short reflections on what these changes might imply for efforts to make federal policy more responsive to how we live today, and what we might become in the future.
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey partnered with the World Economic Forum to create an “Innovation Heat Map,” by identifying factors that are common to successful innovation hubs. As part of this effort, it examined the evolution of hundreds of such clusters around the world and analyzed over 700 variables, including those driving innovation (business environment, government and regulation, human capital, infrastructure, and local demand) along with proxies for innovation output (for example, economic value added, journal publications, patent applications) to identify trends among the success stories. The process found patterns that suggest the critical ingredients required to grow, nurture, and sustain innovation hubs. At the same time, the report compiles thousands of data points that may be used to identify bottlenecks and benchmark the performance of cities, regions, and countries by measuring how they are evolving.
POLICY DIGEST [Table of Contents]
The Innovation Imperative in Manufacturing: How the United States Can Restore its Edge
James P Andrew et. al., The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
This study assesses the current state of innovation at US companies to determine how the country ranks as an innovation leader. In particular it concentrates on what factors make companies successful at innovation? And what role does government play in supporting more innovation in manufacturing? This innovation assessment includes a survey of corporate members on the use of innovation tools and process, results, and the impact of public policy. It also includes a comparison of innovation "friendliness" of 110 countries and benchmarks the US at all of the states on the basis of their government policies and performance. The findings find a strong link between innovative performance and GDP per capita, as well as concerted government support for innovation in manufacturing. The results suggest that the US may be falling short in its commitment to innovation and to innovation performance.
High and Low Performers
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts and New York scored above average in terms of innovation inputs and performance. A handful of states were recognized as above average performers, although their innovation inputs were fairly low: Idaho; Montana; Oregon; and, Texas.
The report also ranks national economies on their International Innovation Index. Consistent with numerous other reports taking a global view, the US is slipping. Singapore takes the top spot, followed by (in rank order): South Korea, Switzerland, Iceland, and Ireland. The US falls into the 8th spot overall in these rankings--5th in terms of actual performance and 15th in terms of inputs. Canada ranks 14th overall (6th in large country rankings).
An Agenda for Action
Given the tremendous importance of innovation to companies and countries alike, it is critical that they do all they can to encourage, support and advance it. And while companies are still the main drivers of innovation, national and local governments play a major role in enabling and supporting the innovation activities of the businesses within their borders. Countries and states/provinces can take concrete actions in six areas.
Action in these areas is in the mutual interest of companies and governments., helping them to serve their constituents more effectively. It is time for all levels of government to make innovation a top priority and to prove their commitment with concrete action. The stakes couldn't be higher - nothing less than the global competitiveness of countries and companies, secure jobs, and a higher quality of life.
EVENTS [Table of Contents]
Leuven, Belgium, 6-8 April, 2009
Many topics will be discussed such as regional policy and evaluation, regions as innovative hubs, economic restructuring and regional transformation, and local and regional economic development.
Creative Industries, Scenes, Cities, Places: Idiosyncratic Dimensions of the Cultural Economy
Cardiff, UK, 22-23 April, 2008
This seminar will focus on the relationship between places (cities, neighbourhoods, and quarters) and the development of creative industries. The range of papers should cover both theoretical perspectives and practical examples of the issues and challenges faced by researchers in trying to capture the economic, social and cultural dimensions of the creative economy. The conference will focus on four themes and questions: How to study the relationship between creative industries and city-regions. What are the methodologies which address the way creative industries produce and interact with their markets? What is the role of place at various levels (city, neighbourhood, regions) in fostering creativity and creative production? What is the importance of public support policies and frameworks in developing the creative industries sector? Does fostering creative industries mean enabling regional growth?
Regional Excellence in Innovation: Case Studies from Around the World
Thessaloniki, Greece, 22-24 April, 2009
Faced with today’s challenge of sustaining competitiveness in a world of global competition, Europe’s regions are required to improve their own regional innovation system and adapt the offer of innovation support services to the rapidly changing needs of local companies and, in particular, SMEs. The recent slow-down of the world economy and the spectre of recession make this challenge all the more urgent as the need for new, tried and tested approaches becomes indispensable.TII’s 2009 annual conference will showcase examples of programs, schemes and models which can demonstrate their real impact on raising regional innovation performance through facts, figures and anecdotal evidence or success stories.
Toronto, 28-29 April, 2009
This three day event brings together key industry players interested in investment opportunities and issues affecting companies in the life science and cleantech sectors. Presenting companies will span a range of industries including biologics, medical devices, drug delivery, vaccines, diagnostics, bio-energy, agriculture and food, industrial biotech, alternative energy and clean technologies.
11th Annual Innovation Systems Research Network Conference
Halifx, 29 April - 1 May, 2009
This conference brings together researchers from across the country around the theme of "Social Dynamics and Economic Performance: Innovation and Creativity in City-Regions". The Policy Day meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 29th. The objective of this meeting is to provide a forum where the members of the research team, including co-investigators, domestic collaborators and our distinguished Research Advisory Committee members who come from various disciplines in Europe and the United States, can meet with federal, provincial and municipal officials who have an interest in the outcomes of our current major research initiative. The focus of the Policy Day this year is the contribution of physical, research and cultural infrastructure to innovation and creativity in urban city regions. The ISRN National Meeting takes place on Thursday and Friday, April 30th and
May 1st. During these sessions, our project researchers will be presenting the results of our ongoing research and discussing the broader themes involved in our national research project. You are more than welcome to join us for this part of the meeting and you can register online for these sessions. Breakfast and lunch is included. There is a registration option to join us for the Annual ISRN Dinner on Thursday evening.
Community Engagement and Service: The Third Mission of Universities
Vancouver, BC, 18-20 May, 2009
The conference will showcase research and practice of what in North America is called 'service to the community'. Although newly discovered by some universities, service to the community has long traditions in others, and in many cases is recognized as an explicit mandate in the university charter. Service is understood to be the Third Mission alongside teaching and research. Service and community engagement take many different forms. Examples are community based research and learning, assistance in regional development, continuing and community engagement, technology transfer and commercialization, and other forms of knowledge sharing and linkages.
Photonics North 2009: Closing the Gap Between Theory, Development, and Application
Quebec City, 24-27 May, 2009
This conference is an international event dedicated on the latest accomplishments, future directions and innovations exclusive to optics/ photonics technologies. Presentations will explore advances in Science and technology that will impact the use of photonics in the 21st century. Photonics North will provide you with the knowledge and competitive intelligence you need to keep up in the industry that changes and evolves at break-neck speed.
Intellectual Property Rights: Innovation and Commercialization in Turbulant Times 
Toronto, 29 May, 2009
Effective IPR protection is essential to capitalize on innovation and encourage investment in research and development facilities and services. Canada needs world-class intellectual property policy and practices to compete globally. Policymakers and business leaders need to recognize IPR’s crucial role in fostering innovation and enabling businesses to capitalize on development investments and successfully commercialize their innovations. What is the role of IPR in helping companies continue investing in research and development (R&D)? How does this investment affect their ability to emerge even stronger and better able to compete in a recovering and knowledge-based economy? What’s being done now and what can be done by educators, regulators, and business organizations to help companies develop intellectual property to drive business success? Learn from industry experts and intellectual property thought leaders how you can capitalize on innovation and benefit from more effective intellectual property protection.
The Innovation Economy: Getting New Ideas, New Partners and New Growth for the Global Economy
Brussels, 2 June, 2009
This international policy dialogue will be held on June 2, 2009 in Brussels. Topics to be discussed include: high-growth entrepreneurship, university research, international R&D collaboration, the innovation agenda of the next European commission, open innovation, joint programming of research.
Madrid, Spain, 4-6 June, 2009
The European Urban Research Association (EURA) and the Urban Affairs Association (UAA) hold their second Joint Conference on City Futures in 2009. By building on the success of the first such conference, held in Chicago in 2004, the conference aims to focus sharply on international exchange. Urban scholars on both sides of the Atlantic have created a five-track structure for this forward-looking conference: Climate change, resource use and urban adaptation; Knowledge and technology in urban development; Community development, migration and integration in urban areas; Urban governance and city planning in an international era; Architecture and the design of the public realm
Glasgow, Scotland, 17-19 June, 2009
Triple Helix VII offers a multi-disciplinary forum for experts from universities, industry and government. The Conference is designed to attract leading authorities from across the world who will share their knowledge and experience, drawing a link between research, policy, and practice in sustainable development. The Conference will bring together policy-makers, academics, researchers, postgraduate students, and key representatives from business and industry. The theme for Triple Helix VII - “The role of Triple Helix in the Global Agenda of Innovation, Competitiveness and Sustainability” - reflects the interaction between academia, the private and the public sector.
Innovation, Strategy and Knowledge: 2009 DRUID Summer Conference
Copenhagen, Denmark, 17-19 June, 2009
The DRUID Summer Conference 2009 intends to map theoretical, empirical and methodological advances, further contribute with novel insights and stimulate civilized controversies in industrial dynamics. The conference will include targeted plenary debates where internationally merited scholars take stands on contemporary issues within the overall conference theme. This year's conference will bring together researchers from around the world to exchange research results and to address open issues. The plenary program will include, among others, contributions from Juan Alcacer, William Barnet, Adam Brandenburger, Russell Coff, Wes Cohen, Massimo Colombo, Phil Cooke, Giovanni Dosi, Jan Fagerberg, Andrea Fosfuri, Tim Foxon, Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Michael Jacobides, / /Rene Kemp, Thorbjørn Knudsen, Mike Lenox, Dan Levinthal, Will Mitchell, Paul Nightingale, Laszlo Poloz, Laura Poppo, Michael Ryall, Dan Snow, Bart Verspagen, Sidney Winter
Experience the Creative Economy
Toronto, 23-25 June, 2009
This is a unique conference which allows scholars new in their careers to experience notions of the creative economy in a small and focused setting. This conference will bring together up to 25 individuals with similar research interests to share their work, receive feedback, foster the development of effective research methods and to establish an ongoing framework of collaborative learning and mutual exchange for years to come.
TEKPOL: 3rd International Conference on Innovation, Technology and Knowledge Economics
Ankara, Turkey, 24-26 June, 2009
The main objective of this workshop is to bring together researchers and policy makers from new member states and candidate counties in order to discuss the following topics: links between innovation, R&D and economic performance; innovation and technology diffusion; knowledge management and learning in organizations; systemic nature of innovation (national, sectoral and local); science, technology and innovation policies; issues concerning developing countries and technological change; economic impact of new technologies.
Global Science and the Economics of Knowledge Sharing Institutions
Torino, Italy, 28-30 June, 2009
This conference – held within the context of the EU-funded project COMMUNIA, the European Thematic Network on the Digital Public Domain - aims to bring together leading people from a number of international scientific research communities, social science researchers and science, technology and innovation policy analysts, to discuss the rationale, policy support and practical feasibility of arrangements designed to emulate key public domain conditions for collaborative research. Initiatives and policies have been proposed that go beyond “open access” to published research findings by aiming to facilitate more effective and extensive (global) sharing of not only data and information, but research facilities, tools, and materials. There is thus a need to examine a number of these proposals’ conceptual foundations from the economic and legal perspectives and to analyze the roles of the public domain and contractually constructed commons in facilitating sharing of scientific and technical data, information and materials. But it is equally important to examine the available evidence about actual experience with concrete organizational initiatives in different areas of scientific and technological research, and to devise appropriate, contextually relevant methods of assessing effectiveness and identifying likely unintended and dysfunctional outcomes.
12th Annual Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation - ICTPI09
Porto, Portugal, 13-14 July, 2009
The theme and motto of the 12th ICTPI Conference - Science, Technology and Knowledge Networks – long term growth strategies to face the financial crisis – will seek to challenge the participants in developing strategic responses to the crisis that integrate long-term concerns, by involving research and development, higher-education and science-based innovation.
4th European Conference on Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Antwerp, Belgium, 10-11 September, 2009
n the light of the European Lisbon goals, the importance of the conference topics cannot be underestimated. Entrepreneurship and innovation should be the driving force in the transition of the Western economies towards knowledge-intensive economies – a necessity to maintain our current living standards. Knowledge creation and dissemination to society are indispensable to advance into the next era. The conference welcomes academics, researchers and industrial delegates to join this innovative program.
Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2009
Atlanta, 2-3 Oct, 2009
Governments seek new strategies and are turning to the science, technology, and innovation policy research community for models and research results to tell them what works, what doesn’t, and under what circumstances. Test models of innovation. Explore emerging STI policy issues. Share research results. The online process for paper submission is now closed.
Stimulating Recovery: The Role of Innovation Management
New York, 6-9 December, 2009
Organised by ISPIM and hosted by The Fashion Institute of Technology this symposium will bring together academics, business leaders, consultants and other professionals involved in innovation management. The symposium format will include facilitated themed sessions for academic and practitioner presentations together with interactive workshops and discussion panels. Additionally, the symposium will provide excellent networking opportunities together with a taste of local New York culture.
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This newsletter is prepared by Jen
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A. Wolfe.
