The IPL newsletter: Volume 1, Issue 5

INTRODUCTION

This newsletter is published by The Innovation Policy Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, 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.

Ottawa-Hull, Edmonton, and Toronto Forecast to lead Canadian cities in Economic Growth through 2000

 According to The Conference Board of Canada’s latest Metropolitan Outlook  Ottawa-Hull, Edmonton, and Toronto remain Canada’s strongest metropolitan economies

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/press/2000/Metro%20Outlook%20Spring%202000.htm

Regional Economic Observer

Industry Canada’s Regional Economic Observer, First Quarter 2000 is now available.  The report highlights economic developments in British Columbia, the Prairie region, Ontario,Quebec and the Atlantic region.

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_ecnmy/mera/engdoc/09.html?he=y

MICRO Spring 2000

Industry Canada’s Micro-Economic Policy Analysis Branch’s latest Quarterly Bulletin is now available. The issue examines the topic of productivity .

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ra01766e.html?he=y

Monthly Trade Bulletin

Industry Canada’s Monthly Trade Bulletin for April, May and June are now available.  The May edition includes a special report “A Profile of Canadian Exporters.”  The June edition included a special report titled “Canadian Trade by Manufacturing High-Technology Industries.”  The reports are available in PDF format.

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_ecnmy/mera/engdoc/06.html?he=y

Monthly Economic Indicators

Industry Canada’s Monthly Economic Indicators for July is now available. The report presents a variety of analysis and data on the Canadian economy.

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_ecnmy/mera/engdoc/03.html?he=y

New Report on Technology Change and Innovation in Canada

“Challenges of Rapid Technological Change: Catching up with the Jetsons” analyzes the impact that technology change and innovation is having on different industries in Canada with comparison to the US and Europe.  The report is available at:

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_ecnmy/mera/engdoc/04.html?he=y

Building Trust and Confidence in Electronic Commerce:  A Framework for Electronic Authentication

This consultation paper describes authentication and certification services and provides some background on the related policy framework.  It identifies the need to provide a coordinated approach to building trust and confidence in authentication and certification services in Canada.   It proposes that a framework be established for these services in Canada.

http://e-com.ic.gc.ca/english/authen/631e10.html#prog

New Industry Canada Working / Discussion / Occasional Papers

“Are Canadian-controlled manufacturing firms less productive than their foreign-controlled counterparts?” This paper by Someshwar Rao and Jianmin Tang analyses the multi-factor productivity (MFP) gap between Canadian- and foreign-controlled manufacturing firms. The evidence from micro (firm-level) data suggests that Canadian-controlled firms, on average, were 25 percent less productive than their foreign-controlled counterparts over the 1985-88 period. The MFP gap, however, narrowed to about 16 percent during the 1989-95 period.

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ra01756e.html?he=y

“The Canada-U.S. Productivity Growth Paradox.”  This paper by Serge Coulombe, University of Ottawa, analyzes productivity data on the business sector, which covers around 75 percent of the economy.  It also provides important information on the evolution of living standards.

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ra01757e.html?he=y

“Is Canada Missing the “Technology Boat”? Evidence from Patent Data.”  This paper was prepared by Manuel Trajtenberg, Tel-Aviv University, National Bureau of Economic Research, and Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.  The paper examines innovation in Canada over the past 30 years with the aid of highly detailed patent data. The author uses all Canadian patents taken in the United States (over 45,000), as well as U.S. patents and patents from other countries for comparative purposes.

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ra01760e.html?he=y

“A Regional Perspective on the Canada-U.S. Standard of Living Comparison.”  Prepared by Raynald Létourneau and Martine Lajoie of Industry Canada, this paper presents a comparison of standards of living between Canadian provinces and U.S. states. Most comparisons with the United States focus on the national perspective, while provincial analyses are essentially restricted to the domestic context.  The comparison focuses on standards of living with a special emphasis on labour productivity.

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/ra01761e.html?he=y

Information and Communications Technologies Statistical Overview

The Information and Communications Technologies Statistical Overview web site contains the latest data available for the ICT sector (including 1999 data on trade, GDP and R&D), detailed industry tables, new charts, historical data and related reports. This site also contains the 2000 edition of the Information and Communications Technologies Statistical Review (ICTSR).

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/it00957e.html?he=y

The Dynamics of Technology-Based Economic Development: State, Science And Technology Indicators

This report was prepared by the U.S. Office of Technology Policy and the Department of Commerce.  “The primary purpose of this report is to assemble a consistent set of state-level data that approximates the technology infrastructure of the states.”

http://tapreview.nist.gov/PRel/tapub.pdf

Science and Engineering Indicators 2000

The National Science Foundation recently released its latest report on science and engineering indicators.  “The report describes growing evidence of how fundamental science has contributed to a stronger U.S. economy, and how IT has had a major impact on all facets of society. It also says that the impact is unequal within many segments of the national economy and in education, leaving these parts of American society bereft of IT’s advantages, and creating a ‘digital divide.'”  The two-volume edition of S&E Indicators 2000 also includes a CD-ROM that provides access to the entire report and data tables in a spreadsheet format.  The report is also available on-line at:

http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind00/start.htm

Digital States Survey

Arizona, Illinois, and Washington top the rankings of the Digital States Survey for information technology (IT) infrastructure and policy and digital democracy. In the July 2000 issue of Government Technology magazine, the survey by the Center for Digital Government and the Progress and Freedom Foundation provides scores for the top ten states in each area.  The survey s categories for evaluating state performance in the technology infrastructure and policy arena focused on IT management and administration issues such as creating high-level chief  information officer (CIO) positions, building statewide intranets, establishing IT architectures and developing web portals.

http://www.govtech.net/publications/gt/2000/july/DigitalStates/DigitalStates.shtm

Commercialization and Business Planning Guide

The National Institute of Standards and Technology in the United States has recently published a new report, Commercialization and Business Planning Guide for the Post-Award Period to help small entrepreneurial firms refine and improve their business plans.  The guide offers detailed information and advice on financing options, how venture capitalists and “angels” work, licensing agreements, corporate partnering, and how to make them work for your company.  It includes sections on how best to present a company to potential investors, strategies for effective presentations, and describes strategies for the most effective presentations.  Although the Commercialization and Business Planning Guide was created as an aid to companies in attracting additional private funding to commercialize and launch the technologies they develop under the Applied Technology Program, non-ATP participants and entrepreneurs starting new companies also may find it useful.  Copies of Commercialization and Business Planning Guide for the Post-Award Period (NIST CGR 99-779) are available from the ATP, (301) 975-4332. Additional information on the ATP is available on the web at

www.atp.nist.gov.

Developing High-Tech Communities

A recent report released by the Office of Advocacy at the Small Business Administration, highlights the transformation of the San Diego economy. The report focuses on the emergence of the city’s high technology cluster and the factors instrumental in nurturing its development.   “Some of the major lessons that can be drawn from San Diego’s success are:  The role of a research university is a valuable resource for technology firms. However, the       extent of success depends on the university’s willingness to actively facilitate linkages with the private sector.  Research universities are not only an important source for R&D, but perhaps more importantly, also as a source of future skilled labor for growing technology firms.  Local and state governments can make a difference by creating a “business friendly” environment for technology firms.  State policies, such as R&D tax credits or investment tax credits, can help foster growth in high-tech clusters.”

http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs198tot.pdf

Growing Pains: Quality of Life in the New Economy

This report issued by the National Governors’ Association tackles problems associated with suburban expansion and urban decay.  The report presents examples of successful efforts by governors to address these problems and is a culmination of a year-long study by NGA’s Center for Best Practices.

http://www.nga.org/Releases/PR-05June2000Growth.asp

OECD National Innovation Systems Phase III:  Focus Group on Clusters

The objective of the OECD focus group is to “explore to what extent and in which respects clusters differ in their innovation performance and mechanisms of knowledge sharing and transfer.”   Working papers from the 8-9 May workshop are available on-line at:

http://www.ocde.org/dsti/sti/s_t/inte/nis/Clusters/clusters.htm

The Impact of Public R&D Expenditure on Business R&D

This OECD report attempts to quantify the effect of government funding on business R&D in 17 OECD Member countries over the past two decades.

http://www.ocde.org/dsti/sti/prod/wp2000_4e.htm

Talent, Not Technology: Publicly Funded Research and Innovation in the UK

This report was prepared by members of the Science and Technology Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex  for the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).  The report brings together three aspects of this debate over the link of university research and innovation. It examines the empirical evidence about the role of publicly  funded research in innovation in the UK, it gives a comparison of the UK s research investment in relation to that of other leading countries, and it places this evidence in the context of an integrated research-innovation framework.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/news/talent.html

Innovating Routines in the Business Firm: What Matters, What’s Staying the Same, and What’s Changing

Prepared by Keith Pavitt for the Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at Sussex University, UK, this report examines firm behavior patterns that lead to successful innovation.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/publications/imprint/sewps/sewp45/sewp45.pdf

Measuring the impact of science on innovation

Since 1995, a new indicator that claims to measure the impact of scientific research on innovation has been developed, based on the number of citations of scientific articles in patents. For recent appraisals of this indicator see:

M. Meyer, Does Science Push Technology? Patents Citing Scientific Literature, Research Policy, 29 (2000): 409-434,

R.J.W. Tijssen et al., Technological Relevance of Science: An Assessment of Citation Linkages Between Patents and Research Papers, Scientometrics, 47 (2000): 389-412.

HYPERLINKS

The Spadina Bus Census

Spadina Bus (http://www.spadinabus.com) is developing a comprehensive survey of the area in order to better understand the size, growth and composition of the e-cluster. The Spadina Bus Survey aims to create a picture of the new economy companies in the Greater Toronto Area and, more specifically, within the King & Spadina neighbourhood. The survey will enable us to better understand the needs of new economy companies located in the area and to promote this sector of the economy, both nationally and internationally. This information will be made available to all participants in an easy-to-use form, and will help in promoting the cluster to recruits, investors, partners, and clients.

If you would like to participate just go to the following link:

http://www.thepowertoknow.com/ottis/spadinabus

Electronic Commerce in Canada

This new site brings together information from the Canadian E-Business Opportunities Roundtable.

http://e-com.ic.gc.ca/eteam?he=y

Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU), Sussex University, UK

The SPRU site contains numerous working papers and other publications.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/

Association of European Regions of Industrial Technology

RETI is an association of industrial regions in Europe. In 1984 these regions, having found themselves facing similar economic and social challenges, created a common forum to share experience, ideas and know-how; and to serve as a strong and coherent voice in the arena of European Community policy.

http://www.association-reti.org/