Issue #222
November 1 , 2010
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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]
Government of Canada Supports Auto Innovation
The government of Canada recently announced $3.6 million in new funding over five years for the University of Waterloo. The funding, announced under the Automotive Partnership Canada initiative, will help address the challenges hindering widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Research will focus on reducing environmental impacts while accelerating fabrication of Canadian-made electric vehicles and related systems.
Canadian Government Takes Action to Better Support Business Research and Development
Recently, the Minister of State (Science and Technology) launched an independent expert panel to solicit the advice of Canadians and business leaders on how the federal government can cultivate its support of business research and development. The panel will conduct a comprehensive review of all existing federal support for business R&D to see how this support could be enhanced to make sure federal investments are effective and delivering maximum results for Canadians.
Canadian Government Invests in Community Jobs and Growth
Eleven colleges will work with their communities and local businesses to get new innovations from campuses into the marketplace, as a result of investments announced today by the Canadian Government. These new partnerships will develop a number of diverse, environmentally-friendly technologies, and strengthen industry community and academic relationships. Projects funded today include improving the performance of renewable energy technologies, finding sustainable solutions to the pollutants and wastes generated by industries and municipalities, and producing innovative biobased products such as biofuels.
Alberta Centre for Advanced Microsystems and Nanotechnology Products Funding Announced
Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently announced funding for Alberta’s high-tech sector that will promote innovation and help bring new products to market. The investment in the Alberta Centre for Advanced Microsystems and Nanotechnology Products (ACAMP) will help promote growth and increase opportunities for Western Canadian firms. The Government will provide support to ACAMP, a not-for-profit organization that provides specialized business services to microsystems and nanotechnology (MNT) clients. The investment will help the organization acquire and install new equipment needed for growth, as well as extend its marketing and business development, product development, and packaging and assembly services.
EDITOR'S PICK [Table of Contents]
S&T Strategies of Six Countries: Implications for the United States
National Academies Press
The U.S. will need to shift from a national S&T strategy predicated on the 1950s paradigm of "control and isolation" to a global innovation environment focused on "engagement and partnerships," according to this report. S&T Strategies of Six Countries: Implications for the United States provides an overview of national science and technology strategies in Japan, Singapore, Brazil, China, India and Russia, and concludes that the U.S. should focus on improving its balance of "top-down" and "bottom-up" innovation. The report also suggests that the U.S. should improve its global exchanges in education and R&D talent, international and national recruitment of R&D talent, and multinational corporate collaborations.
INNOVATION & RELATED POLICY [Table of Contents]
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly of Innovation Policy
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Innovation has become the central driver of economic growth and thus a key focal point of countries’ economic development strategies as they seek to gain competitive advantage. Accordingly, countries are increasingly designing national innovation strategies that seek to coordinate their policies toward skills, scientific research, information and communications technologies (ICTs), tax, trade, intellectual property, government procurement, standards, and regulations in an integrated approach designed to drive economic growth through innovation. While a focus on innovation is positive, countries can implement policies that are either, good, ugly, bad or seld-destructive.
Europe 2020 Flagship: An Industrial Policy for the Globalization Era
European Commission: Entreprise and Industry
In this era of intensifying globalization, the concept of national sectors and industries is obsolete. Coordinated European policy responses are needed. Europe also needs an approach that looks at the whole value chain, from infrastructure and raw materials to after-sales service. Promoting the creation and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises has to be at the core of EU industrial policy. Moreover, the transition to a sustainable economy has to be seized as an opportunity to strengthen competitiveness. Only a European Industrial Policy targeting competitiveness and sustainability can muster the critical mass of change and coordination needed for success. This report outlines ten key actions to stimlate European industrial competitiveness.
CITIES, CLUSTERS & REGIONS [Table of Contents]
The Next Economy: Economic Recovery and Transformation in the Great Lakes Region
The Brookings Institution
This report provides a roadmap for federal, state and local stakeholders to transition the Rust Belt into a forward thinking economy. It replaces the old economy, which was driven by highly-leveraged, domestic consumption, with an export-oriented Next Economy powered by a low-carbon energy strategy and driven by innovation that benefits all Americans.The report outlines the many resources that can position the Great Lakes region as an economic leader. The report also highlights the challenges faced by the region due to its declining economic health. To achieve this economic transformation, the region will have to address the deficient transportation infrastructure for trade, the concentration of energy-intensive industries, the lack of seed capital and the low educational attainment levels. To resolve these challenges, the report provides three key Next Economy drivers that will help federal, state and metropolitan leaders to maximize the region's promise.
Clusters, Convergence and Economic Performance
Mercedes Delgado, Michael E. Porter and Scott Stern
This paper evaluates the role of regional cluster composition in the economic performance of industries, clusters and regions. On the one hand, diminishing returns to specialization in a location can result in a convergence effect: the growth rate of an industry within a region may be declining in the level of activity of that industry. At the same time, positive spillovers across complementary economic activities provide an impetus for agglomeration: the growth rate of an industry within a region may be increasing in the size and “strength” (i.e., relative presence) of related economic sectors. Building on Porter's previous work the paper develops a systematic empirical framework to identify the role of regional clusters – groups of closely related and complementary industries operating within a particular region – in regional economic performance. It exploits newly available data from the US Cluster Mapping Project to disentangle the impact of convergence at the region-industry level from agglomeration within clusters. It finds that, after controlling for the impact of convergence at the narrowest unit of analysis, there is significant evidence for cluster-driven agglomeration. Industries participating in a strong cluster register higher employment growth as well as higher growth of wages, number of establishments, and patenting.
Mercedes Delgado, Michael E. Porter and Scott Stern
This paper examines the role of regional clusters in regional entrepreneurship. It focuses on the distinct influences of convergence and agglomeration on growth in the number of start-up firms as well as in employment in these new firms in a given region-industry. While reversion to the mean and diminishing returns to entrepreneurship at the region-industry level can result in a convergence effect, the presence of complementary economic activity creates externalities that enhance incentives and reduce barriers for new business creation. Clusters are a particularly important way through which location-based complementarities are realized. The empirical analysis uses a novel panel dataset from the Longitudinal Business Database of the Census Bureau and the U.S. Cluster Mapping Project. Using this dataset, there is significant evidence of the positive impact of clusters on entrepreneurship. After controlling for convergence in start-up activity at the region-industry level, industries located in regions with strong clusters (i.e. a large presence of other related industries) experience higher growth in new business formation and start-up employment. Strong clusters are also associated with the formation of new establishments of existing firms, thus influencing the location decision of
multi-establishment firms. Finally, strong clusters contribute to start-up firm survival.
STATISTICS & INDICATORS [Table of Contents]
Best-Performing Cities 2010: Where Jobs are Created and Sustained
The Milken Institute
The 2010 Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities Index ranks U.S. metropolitan areas by how well they are creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth. The components include job, wage and salary, and technology growth. In most years, these give a good indication of the underlying structural performance of regional economics.
Communities in Boom: Canada's Top Entrepreneurial Cities
Canadian Federation for Independent Business
Entrepreneurship matters, particularly at the local level. Looking at a wide range of indicators on the presence, growth, health and policy environment for small business ownership, Western Canadian cities dominate the list for 2010. Alberta metropolitan areas occuoy five of the top ten, including top ranking Grande Prairie. Lloyminster, on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border is close behind, followed by two more Saskatchewan communities, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
POLICY DIGEST [Table of Contents]
The Action Plan: 10 Steps to Boost Productivity, Create Jobs and Raise Canadian Incomes
Innovation: Coalition for Action on Innovation in Canada
Canada has a lot going for it in today’s global economy. Its traditional resource base is in high demand. Its population is among the best educated in the world. Canadian communities are beacons of diversity, filled with global citizens. Its public finances are relatively strong. Its tax rates are increasingly attractive. Its markets are open. Canada's businesses are moving more confidently into a wider range of international markets. As a result, Canadians today enjoy an enviable standard of living and quality of life. But it cannot afford to be complacent. The country's future prosperity is threatened on three fronts:
1. Global competition. The global economy is being transformed by the rise of China, India and other
emerging markets. This creates opportunities for Canadian exporters and investors. But the continuing
spread of information and communications technologies means that high-value knowledge work can be
done anywhere. Beyond traditional role as hewers of wood and drillers of oil, every single Canadian
enterprise is faced with a relentlessly intense new level of competition. In this dynamic economic
environment, the country must seek to understand what it can do better than others, and how it
can maintain a competitive edge.
2. Demographics. As in other developed nations, Canada’s population is aging. The growing proportion of
seniors will add to the demand for public services, especially health care. Fewer working, taxpaying Canadians
will carry the load, and employers will find it increasingly difficult to recruit skilled labour. The only way to avoid a
future of slower economic growth and higher taxes is to enable each and every Canadian to create more value
and earn more money for each hour of work.
3. Productivity. A prosperous future therefore requires rapid growth in productivity, the basic measure of
how much value each worker creates. Recent performance leaves much to be desired. Over the past
decade, productivity grew at an annual pace of just 0.7 percent. That is well short of the pace in the
United States, and half the pace Canada itself recorded in the previous two decades. If this does not improve
dramatically, the potential for economic growth will shrink and prosperity will suffer.
The October 2009 roundtable identified seven key themes for action on innovation: improving tax policy; nurturing start-ups; strengthening business-academic links; building the innovation talent pool; reshaping framework policies; developing innovation clusters; and ensuring effective ongoing advocacy for innovation.
Ten Steps Toward a More Innovative Canada
Reform tax support for research and development.
As pointed out by the Council of Canadian Academies, Canada is unique in its high degree of reliance on tax-based incentives to support research and development, primarily through the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SRED) tax credit.
The current system of tax credits is a powerful tool, but is inconsistently applied across industries and sizes of companies. Three key issues have been identified: the lack of refundability except for enterprises that meet the narrow definition of “Canadian-Controlled Private Corporations” (CCPCs) makes the credits useless to unprofitable, publicly traded companies; the definition of eligible research is restrictive and excludes much innovation-related investment; and the administration of the program by the Canada Revenue Agency is often adversarial and unpredictable.The federal government should launch an immediate and thorough review of the SRED criteria, definitions and administration to make the credits more broadly, consistently and predictably accessible..
Expand the pool of risk capital.
While there are thousands of technology companies in Canada, the vast majority are small businesses. Roughly 200 companies headquartered in Canada account for the vast majority of private sector R&D spending. This group of companies represents the future of business innovation in Canada, yet the base is extremely fragile. One major impediment to growth is a persistent shortage of risk capital through the funding cycle, from seed capital through the venture stage to mature growth. The result is that better-funded foreign companies often become acquirers of financially weak Canadian counterparts, even where Canadian enterprises have the better and more innovative intellectual property. Building a larger pool of risk capital in Canada is essential if we are to create and grow tomorrow’s successful enterprises. One approach that is gaining favour in Canada and other jurisdictions is the establishment of government-sponsored co-investment funds that invest in innovative companies alongside private-sector investors.
Adopt the world’s strongest intellectual property regime.
A robust climate for innovation is only possible if Canada’s regulatory processes encourage the development and launch of innovative products and if our laws ensure that inventors and those who invest in their ideas can fairly reap the rewards of their work. Canada should aim for a reputation as the best place in the world in which to research, develop and bring to market new products and processes. To achieve that goal, it is imperative that Canada seize current opportunities to improve its protection of intellectual property and thereby create a more attractive environment for investment in innovation.
Strengthen business-academic links.
Canadian businesses and educational institutions engage in a wide variety of cooperative ventures, but their efforts to collaborate often have been stymied by barriers ranging from “hard” issues of funding and intellectual property ownership to less tangible considerations such as differences in expectations, culture and behaviour between academia and the private sector. Several mechanisms for bringing academic researchers and companies together already exist, such as the Strategy for Partnerships and Innovation at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Networks of Centres of Excellence and the College and Community Innovation programs of the three major granting councils. In particular, business and academia should consider a pilot program that would identify up to 25 partnerships that would be nurtured through access to top coaches and other support.
Tap private-sector expertise when spending public money.
The federal government alone spends billions of dollars annually to support research and innovation through granting councils, agencies, direct grants and tax expenditures. In recent years the government has sought to increase private-sector representation at the granting council level – an excellent example being the Private Sector Advisory Board established by the Networks of Centres of Excellence Secretariat. We strongly endorse this approach and encourage more members of the business community, as well as retired executives, to volunteer their time and expertise in support of these activities.
Speed adoption of innovative products and services.
Canadian companies cannot hope to succeed in the 21st century global economy by relying on 20th century technology. Yet Canada ranks only middle of the pack by OECD standards in business investment in new machinery and equipment as a share of GDP. Larger companies that compete internationally tend to be the leaders in adopting new productivity-enhancing technologies. Smaller firms and those facing less intense competition are often slower to invest in new equipment and processes, including advanced information and communications technologies (ICTs) that would allow them to seize new business opportunities. Selective tax incentives to improve private-sector uptake of ICTs would clearly help, but cannot be the only solution. Even more important is
heightened private sector recognition of the need and potential for productivity improvement – and, conversely, of the dangers of being left behind as global markets become increasingly integrated, driving new products, services, processes and business models. Governments in Canada must become partners in innovation by giving innovative new products and services,
particularly those developed in Canada, a trial platform and helping them to achieve the scale and stature needed to penetrate global markets.
Launch a National Learning and Innovation Initiative.
Developing the skills, talent and innovation capacity of individual Canadians is the best way to promote longterm sustainable economic growth. While education is a provincial jurisdiction, improved learning outcomes are a national imperative. Canada has a strong record in ensuring access to basic education for all, and one of the best in the world in terms of participation at the post-secondary level – yet too many children fail to complete high school, and too many young people lack the literacy and numeracy skills required to function in the workplace. The federal, provincial and territorial governments should agree on ambitious goals for learning that could include: a 90 percent high-school graduation rate with tracked programs to age 21 for the remaining 10 percent; expanding post-secondary enrolment in science, engineering and business education programs; ensuring that all researchers and inventors have access to people with the entrepreneurial skills and commerce competencies needed to drive successful commercialization; and increasing per capita graduation rates at the Master’s and Ph.D. levels to match or exceed those in the United States.
Seek out the best and brightest
To innovate and prosper within a competitive global economy, Canada must continue to grow as a champion of diversity, aiming to be a country in which people from all nations can live, learn and work together.Through the Canada Excellence Research Chairs program, the federal government has taken important steps to attract the world’s top researchers in four priority areas: environmental sciences and technologies, natural resources and energy, health and related life sciences and information and communication technologies. The research conducted by these global leaders will both spur innovation in Canada and help to make it a magnet for high-potential students from around the world.
Nurture and strengthen innovation clusters
Strong and growing clusters of interrelated industries and institutions are a driving force behind innovation and rising productivity. There is no single or simple recipe for creating and developing innovative clusters; some emerge from local networks of small- and medium-sized firms, while others rely on a keystone company or post-secondary institution that acts as an anchor by spinning off new businesses and attracting investment. A strong business and research environment, a plentiful supply of specialized labour and a range of government policies all are important. But local factors play key roles in cluster development, and framework policies therefore must be flexible. Federal and provincial governments should align their existing policies and spending to support the development of both regional and local clusters.
Ensure ongoing advocacy for innovation
Innovation must reflect an ongoing commitment and effort by individuals and organizations in every sector of society. Government policy should support innovation and avoid creating barriers to creative behaviour, but innovation will be driven in the end by what researchers discover and what businesses do with their discoveries.
EVENTS [Table of Contents]
Making Innovation Work for Society: Linking, Leveraging and Learning GLOBELICS 8th Annual Conference
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1-3 November, 2010
Global Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems (GLOBELICS) is an international network of scholars who apply the concept of "learning, innovation, and competence building system" (LICS) as their framework and are dedicated to the strengthening of LICS in developing countries, emerging economies and societies in transition. The research aims at locating unique systemic features as well as generic good practices to enlighten policy making relating to innovation, competence building, international competitiveness, regional development, labour market and human capital development. In an increasingly global and knowledge‐based competition, management strategies need to be based upon an understanding of these framework conditions and the public policies which seek to regulate the environment.
The Entrepreneurial University and thte Academic Enterprise
Washington, DC, 12-13 November, 2010
The theme of the 2010 conference is The Entrepreneurial University and the Academic Enterprise. Conference presentations should focus on the potential commonalities and/or conflicts of interests among government, university, and industry participants in technology transfer. The sessions will emphasize also the assessment of technology transfer activities, especially how to examine the objectives and processes of technology transfer activities (beyond the immediate needs of the participants), including both formal and informal transfer mechanisms (Link, Siegel & Bozeman, 2007; Abreu et al, 2008). Special focus will be placed on papers which evaluate the aspects of academicuniversity research relationships beyond their immediate outputs (Georghiou & Roessner, 2000; Vonortas & Spivack, 2005, Carayannis and Provance, 2007), including intellectual property issues (Feller & Feldman, 2009), modes of commercialization (Kenney & Patton, 2009), and economic impact (Roberts & Easley, 2009).
Knowledge Cities World Summit 2010
Melbourn, Australia, 16-19 November, 2010
‘Knowledge’ is a resource, which relies on the past for a better future. In the 21st century, more than ever before, cities around the world rely on the knowledge of their citizens, their institutions, their firms and enterprises. Knowledge assists in attracting investment, qualified labour, students and researchers. Knowledge also creates local life spaces and professional milieus, which offer quality of life to the citizens who are seeking to cope with the challenges of modern life in a competitive world. This conference will offer a range of innovative presentation formats aimed at facilitating interaction and accessibility for all members of the Knowledge Summit community. The Summit will attract a range of multidisciplinary participants including: practitioners, managers, decision and policy makers of non-government organisations, technology solution developers, innovators, urban planners, urban designers and developers, academics, researchers and postgraduate students.
Liverpool, UK, 18-19 November, 2010
First established in 2002 this annual conference has developed into a renowned international event in which incubators, science parks, investors, universities, governmental organizations and industry discuss and evaluate their strategy on how best to support young start-ups on the road to succes. Be a part of this inspiring event!
Calgary, 25-26 November, 2010
The companies worst hit in western Canada during the recession tended to be those with undifferentiated products with many competitors, where price competition became severe. By contrast, the companies who did reasonably well tended to have unique products and fewer competitors. InnoWest 2010 tells the story of some of these companies, and how innovation helped them to live through the recession relatively unscathed, and position themselves for growth in the recovery. InnoWest 2010 will not focus on the very large companies [such as Suncor] or on very small companies [for example, a 10 employee company] but will focus on the large middle ground where the bulk of Canada’s GDP is generated. Keynote speakers include Sir Terry Matthews.
CALL FOR PAPERS - Space and Flows: An International Conference on Urban and Extraurban Studies 
Los Angeles, 4-5 December, 2010
This conference aims to critically engage the contemporary and ongoing spatial, social, ideological, and political transformations in a transnational, global, and neoliberal world. In a process-oriented world of flows and movement, we posit, the global north and global south now simultaneously converge and diverse in a dialectic that shapes and transforms cities, suburbs, and rural areas. This conference addresses the mapping of, the nature of, and the forces that propel these processural changes.
Ottawa, 5-7 December, 2010
Globally, innovation is recognized as the driving force towards lasting sustainable prosperity in the coming decades. The federal government’s S&T strategy promotes action to grow the translation of knowledge into commercial applications that generate wealth for Canadians and support a high quality of life. We have the opportunity to build a world-class innovation ecosystem in Canada. The challenge is to foster increased partnerships and collaboration among public, academic and private sectors to ensure we improve knowledge mobilization and commercialization for world-class next generation products and services. In keeping with these challenges and opportunities, ACCT Canada, Federal Partners in Technology Transfer (FPTT) and the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) are pleased to present their first national joint conference on innovation and competitiveness in Canada: INNOVATION 2010.
Managing the Art of Innovation: Turning Concepts into Reality
Quebec City, 12-15 December, 2010
Organized by ISPIM in collaboration with local partner INO, a leading non-profit R&D center in Optics/Photonics in Canada, 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 French Canadian culture.
CALL FOR PAPERS - DRUID/DIME Academy Winter Conference
Aalborg, Denmark, 20-22 January, 2011
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.
Woods Hole, MA, 15-18 May, 2011
Applications are sought from teachers and researchers who are interested in moving beyond their current disciplinary and academic boundaries to explore concepts and practices that help us work in the arena bordered on one side by critical interpretation of the directions taken by scientific and technological research and application and on the other side by organizing social movements so as to influence those directions. Participants are encouraged, but not required, to submit a manuscript or sketch related to the workshop topic that would be read by others before the workshop and be subject to focused discussion during the workshop. There is also room for participants to develop--either before or during the workshop--activities or interactive presentations to engage the other participants.
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This newsletter is prepared by Jen
Nelles.
Project manager is David
A. Wolfe.
