Issue #204
December 15, 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]
New NSERC Programs Help Build Industry Ties with University Research
As part of the new Strategy for Partnerships and Innovation, NSERC has introduced two new programs and modified existing programs to make it easier for industry and universities to establish productive research partnerships. The Engage Grants Program will support the creation of a new university-industry partnership to undertake a fully funded, short-term research project that addresses a company-specific problem. It awards up to $25,000 over a maximum of six months to cover direct project costs. The Interaction Grants program will help establish new contacts between companies and NSERC-eligible researchers to identify a company-specific problem that could be solved through a subsequent R&D partnership. Up to $5,000 over three months covers such expenses as travel and meetings needed to set up the partnership.
Biomedical Centres Put Alberta on the Leading Edge
A $7.4 million provincial investment will establish the Biovantage - Alberta Ingenuity Centre to deliver biomedical technologies through collaboration with researchers, business people and clinicians. In addition, a combined investment of $7.3 million from the University of Calgary and the Canada-Alberta Western Economic Partnership Agreement will establish a second centre, the Bose Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Technology Development Centre.
France Unveils the "Big Loan" Plan
French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently unveiled details of a euro35 billion ($52 billion) government-backed spending program aimed at boosting France's investments in its universities as well as in fields such as electric cars and renewable energy. Sarkozy said the plan, known as the "Big Loan," was needed to get France ready for the future, although critics contend it will significantly worsen France's already stretched public finances. France's universities are to see the biggest share of the euro35 billion, with euro11 billion earmarked for a plan to create between five and 10 world-class campuses "with the size (and) the links to business that will allow them to rival the best universities in the world". The plan also calls for euro8 billion in investment for France's research institutes, with a large share going to research into biotechnologies and health care.
Energy Alliance of Southwestern Pennsylvania Launched in Pittsburgh
The recent creation of the Energy Alliance of Southwestern Pennsylvania is intended to advance the energy-related economy of the Pittsburgh region by funding companies, coordinating projects, devising policies, and marketing the region's assets. While staff for the Energy Alliance will come primarily from the Allegheny Conference and Innovation Works, other partners of the effort include the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, and various energy-related firms in the region. Specific sectors within both the traditional and alternative energy fields have been targeted by the Alliance, including the advancement of natural gas extraction, in part due to Pittsburgh's proximity to the Marcellus Shale – one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world.
EDITOR'S PICK [Table of Contents]
21st Century Cities in Canada: The Geography of Innovation
David Wolfe, Conference Board of Canada
This report summarizes the key insights and findings of a multi-year national study on urban industrial clusters, led by David Wolfe, Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto. Professor Wolfe’s monograph delineates the innovation dynamic, based on in-depth analysis of the experiences of 16 Canadian cities. 21st Century Cities in Canada explores the ways in which the economic shock of the past year has dramatized the changing nature of Canada's economy, and it looks at the challenges that lie ahead. The monograph also sheds new light on the role of cities as the dominant sites of economic activity—the places where leading-edge innovation generates new ideas, new products, and new industries.
INNOVATION & RELATED POLICY [Table of Contents]
Strategies for Research Prioritization: A Comparison of Six Small to Medium-Sized Economies
Royal Swedish Academy for Engineering Sciences
The purpose of “Prioritising research and innovation” was to learn from the processes abroad for prioritizing strategic research areas and to provide these areas with the appropriate resources.The economies selected for closer analysis are the Netherlands, Finland and Switzerland (approx. the same size as Sweden), and two ambitious economies with a high growth rate (Taiwan and Korea). All of these economies are faced with the same challenges, with few exceptions. However, there are marked differences in the urgency perceived in meeting these challenges and this influences strategic decision making and structures of prioritization. This report details trends and lesson from each economy with respect to research prioritization and innovation policy.
Knowledge for Growth: Prospects for Science, Technology and Innovation
EU Research Commission Expert Group
The challenges of the financial and economic crisis, climate change, energy and food security and the H1N1 pandemic have raised awareness of two things: how interconnected and interdependent our world has become; and how important it is to find sustainable solutions for them. Knowledge is central; both for a deeper understanding of these challenges and, through research and innovation, for finding the best solutions, which not only help solve problems, but also give us an edge in this globally competitive world. In thinking about research and innovation, both central parts of the Lisbon strategy, the EU should consider how it can integrate its actions and policies on research and technology better. This group of papers compiles a series of perspectives on the prospects for science, technology and innovation in Europe.
Evalutation of the Finnish National Innovation System: Policy Report
Finnish Ministry of Education
According to this report Finland's celebrated innovation system is in need of a radical overhaul. A panel of experts concluded that the landscape for innovation in Finland has become "fragmented and suffers from weak international links". The Finnish example, often cited a case study to be followed by other nations, has turned the Nordic country into a high-tech knowledge economy. This report calls for a rethink of the current model, which experts say has become too complicated. Companies, especially SMEs and start-ups, find the system difficult to use because support schemes for entrepreneurship are dispersed across several organizations. The report argues that growth in businesses should be promoted through both individual and corporate tax incentives.
Jens Laage-Hellman, Maucreen McKelvey and Mattias Johansson, VINNOVA
This report presents the results of an Effect Analysis carried out on behalf of VINNOVA. The analysis concerns the effects of public research financed by by VINNOVA and its two predecessors – that is, Styrelsen för Teknisk Utveckling (STU) and Närings- och teknikutvecklingsverket (Nutek) – in two fields of life science, namely, Innovative food and Medical technology. The present study deals with two ‘areas of effect’– effects on research and effects on industry respectively. The main focus is on how and why public policy can induce changes over a long time period within these two research and industry. Another contractor has carried out a study of the effects on the society from a health economics point of view.
Luc Soete, Bart Verspagen and Das ter Weel, UNU-MERIT
This paper reviews the literature on national innovation systems. First, it focuses on the emergence of the concept of innovation systems, reviews its historical origins and three main branches. It then discusses the relationship between the concept of innovation systems and its role in shaping innovation policy. It concludes with some perspectives on the future of the literature.
CITIES, CLUSTERS & REGIONS [Table of Contents]
Capitalizing on the Opportunity for Greater Economic Cooperation between Ontario and Quebec
Martin Prosperity Institute
Ontario and Quebec form the economic engine of Canada and together represent on of the most competitive and prosperous regions in North America and the world. Yet these two provinces have the opportunity to develop into an even stronger economic powerhouse. This will require greater cooperation between the provinces, to which both governments are committed.
In November 2007, the two governments signed an agreement that set out their intent to “to prepare a modern, comprehensive economic and trade agreement that will build on existing bilateral procurement and construction labour mobility agreements and the two Provinces’ co-operation agreements. The agreement will focus on the specifics of bilateral trade between the two provinces and opportunities for improving economic activity on a day-to-day basis”. The Martin Prosperity Institute identifies in this report the priority areas for collaboration between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
STATISTICS & INDICATORS [Table of Contents]
Innovation in Firms: A Microeconomic Perspective
OECD
Innovation has become a key factor for economic growth, but how does the process take place at the level of individual firms? This book presents the main results of the OECD Innovation Microdata Project -- the first large-scale effort to exploit firm-level data from innovation surveys across 20 countries in an internationally harmonized way, with a view to addressing common analytical questions. Through the use of common indicators and econometric modeling, this analytical report presents a broad overview of how firms innovate in different countries, highlights some of the limitations of current innovation surveys, and identifies directions for future research.
NESTA
Two thirds of private sector productivity growth between 2000 and 2007 was driven by innovation. These findings are revealed in NESTA's Innovation Index - the most ambitious attempt yet to measure the contribution of innovation to the UK's economic growth. This report presents the pilot version of NESTA's Innovation Index. The pilot Index was launched in November 2009; the Index will be ready in its final form in the autumn of 2010.
Biotechnology Industry Organization, BIO
University research and research-related activities contribute in many important ways to the national economy, notably through increased productivity of applied R&D in industry due to university-developed new knowledge and technical know-how, provision of highly valued human capital embodied in faculty and students, development of equipment and instrumentation used by industry in production and research, and creation of concepts and prototypes for new products and processes. These benefits are enabled primarily through publications, conferences, information exchange via consulting and collaborative research, and hiring of trained students. This report develops estimates of the economic impact of just one of these research-related activities, licensing of university intellectual property, clearly an impact of major significance for the economy but by no means the largest source of the total impact of university research.
POLICY DIGEST [Table of Contents]
Designing Local Skills Strategies
OECD
Higher-level skills are increasingly demanded by the knowledge-based economy. But with rising mobility and demographic change, it is no longer so simple to invest in a skilled workforce for the future. Actions are needed on a variety of fronts, including attracting and retaining talent, better integrating disadvantaged groups into the labour force, and upgrading the skills of low-paid workers. Much of the responsibility for these actions falls squarely on the shoulders of local policy makers. Drawing from a wide array of case studies, this book analyzes best-practice local strategies for increasing workforce skills. And it also takes a close look at the opportunities and challenges presented by international migration. The in-depth case studies in this report range from Shanghai’s “Highland of Talent Strategy” to new “career ladders” which help immigrants escape low-skilled, low-paid employment in New York. National and local-level recommendations on local skills development are provided, for both OECD and non-OECD countries.
In order to prosper in today's economy, local communities increasingly need to ensure that they adequately invest in education and skills. Higher level skills, such as the ability to analyze and process complex information, be creative and communicate effectively, are all increasing in importance in the context of the knowledge based economy.
Establishing Priorities
Competing demands and concers preset a major challenge to local communities seeking to develop local skills strategies and invest in their future labour force. With limited resources, local policy makers need to establish priorities to ensure that concerted local action can have a real impact on the labour market. However, what should these priorities be? The attraction and integration of new talent? The retention of existing skilled workers? The education and traiing of future generations of young people in the needs of the local labour market? The integration of disadvantaged groups who are currently outside of the labour force? Or "upskilling" the curret labour force and working with employers to move towards more knowledge-intensive forms of production? While national policy will have a role to play much of the responsibility will fall on the shoulders of local and regional agencies.
Overall Conclusions: Five Strategic Emerging Issues
Access to relevant information and data: Local actors need to understand and correctly define the local "skills ecology" to develop the appropriate tools required for evidence-based skills strategies. The Shanghai case illustrates the value of collecting annual data on skills demand and skills supply to ensure that training is being well targeted. In other localities struggling with a lack of disaggregated data, partnerships with regional and national actors are essential in mapping local supply and demand, and understanding how it fits withn the wider economic fabric.
Balanced and long term strategies: The review of local practice shows that, when developing strategies to improve the skills base, localities should strike the right balance between attracting talent, integarting the disadvantaged, and upgrading the skills of the low-qualified. In many cases it is clear that only certain aspects of the local skills ecology are receiving adequate attention. There are many factors, including short termism and a lack of resources, which prevent communities from dealing with more intractable skills problems, such as a low-skilled workforce, or pockets of local people without basic skills. Developing a strong skills strategy may therefore require providing incentives for local actors to work together towards longer term obhectives and invest in sustainable productivity growth.
Better mapping skills provision: Education and training is often delivered in a piecemeal fashion at the local level, with few connections between courses, and a lack of reference to employer needs. Joining up disparate education and training systems locally is crucial to helping people to build on their learning over time whilst in and outside of employment. In New York, career ladders have proved a very good way of linking up education and training provision into a coherent system in certain sectors, so that people can see how a basic course in retail can ultimately lead to a management position in a local department store. Such schemes link basic skills training with higher-level training, while also offering better career advice for adults, an element which is lacking in many OECD countries.
Building strong relationships with employers: In order to produce real change in the local labour markets, skills strategies need to address problems of both skills supply and skills demand. This require close working between public sector actors and employers. While the private sector can be an invaluable partners in highlighting the more immediate skllls demands, governmental actors can play a crucial role in encouraging employers' to think about longer-term skills needs, and improve the way that they use skills in the workplace. This would be crucial to improving the quality of employment locally and avoiding problems of low-skill equilibrium. Public sector actors should also have a primary responsibility for ensuring the inclusion of disadvantaged groups.
Look to the future and anticipate change: The success of local skills strategies depends on the ability of actors to foresee future growth and skills demands. Skills strategies need to be subject to regular review and adjustment as economies and industries evolve. In particular, localities need to develop "flexible specialization", building on specific strengths and local comparative advantage but adapting these to new forms of market demand as they emerge.
EVENTS [Table of Contents]
Innovation, Knowledge and Entrepreneurship: DRUID-DIME Academy Winter Conference
Aalborg, Denmark, 21-23 January, 2010
The conference is open for all PhD students working within the broad field of economics and management of innovation and organizational change. We invite papers aiming at enhancing our understanding of the dynamics of technological, structural and institutional change at the level of firms, industries, regions and nations. DRUID is the node for an open international network - new partners are always of interest (we of course encourage DRUID Academy PhD students and students connected to the ETIC PhD program to submit an abstract as well). Do not hesitate to apply even if you have not been in contact with DRUID previously.
Clusters in Europe II - Mibilizing Clusters of Competitiveness 
Budapest, Hungary, 27-28 January, 2010
The conference will discuss the European cluster development practice and will give a worldwide overview, as well. The main objective of the conference is to share the different local challenges and responses of the national cluster policies regarding the economic crisis. In addition to the representatives of the European Commission, speakers from the following countries will share their experience: UK, Germany, Czech Republic, China, Greece, Japan, Russian Federation among others.
CALL FOR PAPERS - The Organization, Economics and Policy of Scientific Research
Torino, Italy, 23-24 April, 2010
The aim of the workshop is to bring together a small group of scholars interested in the analysis of the production and diffusion of scientific research from an economics, historical, organizational and policy perspective. The workshop does not have a narrow focus; it aims to include papers form the various streams of research developed in recent years in and around the area of public and private scientific research. To submit a contribution and for further information contact: Aldo Geuna (aldo.geuna@unito.it)
and Francesco Quatraro (brick@carloalberto.org).
Pecs, Hungary, 24-26 May, 2010
An increasingly complex array of actors is involved in today‟s regional development agendas. They range from private firms and labour organizations to government and non-government institutions. Despite the growing awareness in the public and academic domains of the multi-actor nature of regional development, we still often struggle to fully comprehend the mutually interactive strategies and practices which cut across regions and countries. In light of recent upheavals in the global economic and financial system, such an understanding will be critical to future studies of regional development. Indeed this interest in actors, institutions and organizations in regional development needs to be properly grounded in the wider contexts of global change in economic imperatives, transnational working and cooperation and environmental concerns. To some regions, these contexts provide favourable and timely frameworks for action and initiatives. Other regions may find these contexts increasingly challenging and threatening. Taken together, understanding better these broader contexts can provide important insights into regional development potential, planning and practices and establish the agenda for research and policy. We welcome papers from all – academics, students and those working in policy and practice. The event is inclusive and offers major networking opportunities for scholars in our field.
Opening Up Innovation: Strategy, Organization and Innovation
London, 16-18 June, 2010
The DRUID Summer Conference 2010 intends to explore new theoretical, empirical and methodological advances in industrial dynamics, contributing novel insights and stimulating a lively debate about how economic systems and organizations evolve. The conference will include an exciting programme of plenary debates where internationally leading scholars take stands on contemporary issues within the overall conference theme. Both senior and junior scholars are invited to participate and contribute to the conference with a paper.
Madrid, Spain, 20-22 Oct, 2010
Innovation is understood as a resultant of a complex and dynamic process related to interactions between University, Industry and Government, in a spiral of endless transitions. The Triple Helix approach, developed by Henry Etzkowitz and Loet Leydesdorff, is based on the perspective of University as a leader of the relationship with Industry and Government, to generate new knowledge, innovation and economic development. The main theme of our conference is “Triple Helix in the Development of Cities of Knowledge, Expanding Communities and Connecting Regions”. Submissions on Triple Helix related topics are encouraged and shall focus on the following subthemes: S1 Economic growth and social development in knowledge-based cities and connecting regions: challenge and future; S2 Triple Helix study; S3 Triple Helix in action: unlocking economic and social crises; S4 University in regional innovation and social development; S5 Government and public policy in the Triple Helix era; S6 Enterprises and industrial development in a knowledge-based city or region.
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