News from the IPL
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.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Reminder: Come Join Us at the 12th Annual ISRN Conference!
The twelfth and final meeting of the Innovation Systems Research Network begins with Policy Day in Toronto on Wednesday, May 5th. This is to provide a forum where the members of our research team, including co-investigators, domestic collaborators and Research Advisory Committee members from Europe and the United States, can meet with provincial and municipal officials who have an interest in the outcomes of our current major research initiative entitled: Social Dynamics of Economic Performance in City-Regions. The ISRN National Meeting continues on Thursday and Friday, May 6th and May 7th. During these sessions, our project researchers will be presenting the results of our ongoing research with cross city comparisons and overall perspectives on the five year research project. Limited registration is available for non-ISRN members. Register using one of the guest registration options for any or all of the three days. Breakfast and lunch is included with your registration, with a cash bar reception on Policy Day. There is a registration option to join us for the Annual ISRN Dinner on Thursday evening. A cost recovery fee is charged to Non-Members …more
Government of Canada Invests in Tomorrow’s Scientific Discoveries
The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, recently announced funding for high caliber scholars at the master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral levels, as well as investments in a wide range of research projects in areas such as computer science, environmental sciences, life sciences and engineering. Nearly 5,000 Canadian students and researchers based at universities across the country will share $472 million in grants and scholarships, distributed through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Some 2,815 scholarships at the master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral levels will be awarded through various NSERCscholarship programs.
New Video Series “ON CLUSTERS” Released by the European Cluster Observatory
Today, the Center for Strategy and Competitiveness launched a new video series “ON CLUSTERS” in cooperation with the European Cluster Observatory. “This series of three programs covers the most important aspects of cluster dynamics, cluster policy and management of cluster organizations”, says program host Professor Örjan Sölvell. The series features a range of cluster experts, including Dr Christian Ketels, Dr Göran Lindqvist, Ifor Ffowcs-Williams and many others. In addition to the video series, the European Cluster Observatory also offers the accompanying free book – “Clusters: Balancing Evolutionary and Constructive Forces”, also known as the “Redbook” – which can be downloaded together with the program series. The series will also be available on a DVD, which can be ordered free of charge. The free video series can be viewed at the Observatory’s Classroom, which is part of the recent “facelift” of the Observatory website. “The Classroom videos, the extended Cluster Library and the enhanced Cluster Mapping function will improve the Observatory website in anticipation of the major upgrade to be released this autumn” says Göran Lindqvist, project manager of the Observatory.
Editor's Pick
The Matrix: Post Cluster Innovation Policy
Arne Eriksson, Verna Allee, Philip Cooke, Vesa Harmaakorpi, Markku Sotarauta and Johan Wallin, VINNOVA
This report documents and presents a synthesis of five workshops arranged by VINNOVA in 2009. The purpose was to address policy issues concerning internationalization of clusters and innovation systems; an issue of growing concern for cluster managers as well as for development agencies like VINNOVA. Six papers explore cluster collaboration and glocalized value creation, the regional development platform method as a tool for innovation policy, how value is really created through networks, the role of business orchestration in regional competitiveness, leadership and governance in regional systems of innovation, and rationales and examples of matrix policy.
Innovation Policy
Facilitating the Commercialization of University Innovation: The Carolina Express License Agreement
Joseph M DeSimone and Lesa Mitchell, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
A new licensing process for commercializing university research will support American universities’ startup companies and enable long-term economic growth. As universities are debating how best to expedite commercialization of research, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has developed the Carolina Express License Agreement, a standard licensing agreement to commercialize academic discoveries that promises to ease the formation of new companies and maintain American competitiveness by promoting new firm formation. As the paper outlines, accelerating the process by which university researchers license innovations to a startup company is a way to drive economic growth and create jobs—but at many universities, this will require systemic changes to the commercialization process. The groundbreaking agreement allows potential startups to select an appropriate standardized licensing agreement rather than undertake a customized negotiation with the university that can take considerable time with unpredictable results.
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Financial Market Cycles
Josh Lerner, OECD
While hard data is difficult to find, the financial crisis appears to have had a substantial negative effect on investors’ willingness to finance innovative entrepreneurship. This dearth of capital is particularly worrisome in light of the widely recognized need for innovative ventures—the so-called “green shoots”— to reignite economic growth after the world-wide recession. A growing body of evidence suggests a strong relationship between entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic growth. This document first reviews the evidence concerning the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship. It then turns to understanding the consequences of market cycles for these activities. It explores the way that financial considerations impact the innovation investment, decision and innovation in entrepreneurial ventures specifically.
Re$earch Money Conference Proceedings: Industrial R&D – Is Canada Really Lagging?
The large industrial research lab is no longer the norm. Multinational firms now globally distribute their R&D and collaborate with partners in public and private sector institutions. How has this dramatic change affected public policies and how have policies affected private sector R&D and the corporate environment? Does the “new normal” offer opportunities to a country like Canada? Three presentations from the Re$earch Money conference held in Ottawa on March 25th, 2010 address these core questions.
SSHRC International Research Collaborations: Strengthening Quality, Connections and Impacts
Garth Williams and Mireille Losier, SSHRC
This report is the result of discussions and presentations that took place during the course of a workshop on international research held at the 2009 Congress of Social Sciences. Among the important questions addressed in this report are: the importance of performing international research, in particular North-South dialogue; the challenges associated with language and cultural differences; the increase in the demand for funding for international research collaboration relative to available funding; and the need for Canada to play a more active role in international research.
Cities, Clusters & Regions
America COMPETES: Regionalize It
Mark Muro, The Brookings Institution
In this commentary Mark Muro argues that Congress should give America COMPETES a regionalist cast by adopting two key ideas: funding for competitive grants to stimulate regional innovation clusters and for a truly region-oriented network of energy discovery-innovation institutes (e-DIIs) or consortia. The nation needs to address the growing fragmentation and diffusion of its innovation processes as recasts its innovation policies and reauthorizes America COMPETES. Part of the push should entail a more direct attack on some of the specific institutional problems that hobble commercialization. But another portion of a reinvigorated U.S. innovation campaign ought to be a true regional strategy. Regions are where it’s at as far as linking and aligning disparate inputs and actors. Regions concentrate and combine what matters through powerful agglomeration effects. In short, innovation clusters and related regional strategies hold out a powerful way to address the fragmentation, conflicting interests, and diffusion of actors and institutions that currently undercuts U.S. innovation and commercialization efforts.
Report on Economic Development Organizations in Arizona
Governor’s Commerce Advisory Council
Arizona needs a game change and a team effort like it has never seen before. The state’s massive population influx has masked its lackluster performance in job creation, economic diversification and global competitiveness. Today’s economic realities underscore how Arizona can no longer rely on population growth as its primary industry. Arizona’s 20th century approach to economic development needs to be revamped and modernized. To be competitive in this 21st century economy and provide Arizonans with high quality, well paying jobs and career opportunities, it needs a new game plan. In response to concerns related to leadership, focus, productivity and dwindling state funding, Governor Jan Brewer created the Governor’s Commerce Advisory Council to recommend a new statewide economic development delivery structure to advance Arizona’s global competitiveness and provide much needed leadership. This report outlines the issues and outcomes involved in the creation of this new structure.
Statistics & Indicators
Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
Massachusetts ranks first in the country in patents per capita, SBIR awards and in R&D spending as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Though the report finds that the state’s innovation economy is growing and, in many ways, suffered less than others during the economic crisis, it recommends taking action to increase student interest in STEM careers and to help launch new businesses. Published annually since 1997, the index evaluates Massachusetts’ performance in innovative and growing industry compared to its peer states, including California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. International comparisons are used throughout this year’s edition to reflect the global nature of the state’s innovation economy and peers. The 2009 report provides data on 11 key industries within the innovation economy using 25 economic indicators. Key industries include advanced materials, bio-pharma and medical, business services, computer and communications hardware, defense manufacturing and instrumentation, diversified industrial manufacturing, financial services, healthcare delivery, postsecondary education, “scientific, technology and management services” and software and communications services.
Gerd Meier zu Koecker and Joergen Rosted, PRO INNO EUROPE
The challenge today is not to create more clusters but rather to strengthen the better ones in order to foster innovation and competitiveness. Consequently, many European countries are already focusing their national cluster initiatives on the most competitive and innovative clusters in order to further strengthen them. So there is no doubt that cluster excellence matters, but the key question is how to measure and benchmark the performance of clusters and cluster organizations: What are the most appropriate approaches to be followed? Many different benchmarking methodologies are currently applied, focusing on cluster framework conditions, clusters and cluster organizations. This paper aims to provide an overview of existing good practice examples and benchmarking methods in order to assess clusters and their organizational performance. In addition, the paper reflects future trends in good cluster management as discussed during the workshop, and it looks into the question of how to make better use of excellent clusters.
The Australian Innovation System Report 2010
Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
The Australian Innovation System Report 2010 is the first of a new annual series of reports on the performance of Australia’s national innovation system and builds on the commitment by the Australian Government in Powering Ideas: An Innovation Agenda for the 21st Century to produce an annual report on innovation. The report outlines metrics and baseline indicators which compare Australia’s innovation performance to other OECD countries and tracks progress against the Government’s innovation priorities and targets – these metrics are presented under the four policy themes identified in Powering Ideas: skills and research capacity, business innovation, links and collaboration and public sector innovation.
Policy Digest
OECD Territorial Reviews: Toronto, Canada
OECD
The Toronto Region in Perspective
Toronto is one of the chief economic powerhouses of Canada. The Toronto metro-region is Canada’s biggest metropolitan economy. It generates almost a fifth of national GDP, and 45% of Ontario’s GDP. It is home to 40% of the nation’s business headquarters.
Toronto is an international centre for business and finance. Toronto is also a main manufacturing hub with major companies in the automotive, biomedical and computers/electronics sectors. The Toronto region is one of the most diverse metropolitan regions in the world. Half of its population is foreign born versus 28% in cities like New York and London. It hosted 40% of all immigrants to Canada during 2001-2006.
The Toronto region’s current economic development model is under pressure. Population growth boosted demand in construction, sales and retail, professional and financial services. However, the recent decline in the area’s manufacturing jobs has illustrated the structural difficulties of some of its traditional industries, such as the automotive and electronics sectors.
This review therefore proposes a new agenda for sustainable competitiveness, in order to enhance productivity. This agenda could focus on innovation, cultural diversity and infrastructure, and apply a green lens to policies. This could solve challenges such as mixed scores on innovation output indicators, under-utilisation of immigrants’ skills and relatively underdeveloped public transport infrastructure. To implement such an agenda, the review proposes improving the current governance framework by intensifying strategic planning at the level of the Toronto region.
Recommendations
1. Enhance productivity and Innovation
– Productivity in several economic sectors in the Toronto region might be improved by focusing on more high value-added activities in the value chain.
– Boosting innovation would create more value-added functions and thus increase productivity.
– Government policies have stimulated innovation through tax reforms and programs, but could focus more on the formation of networks between SMEs and academic institutions. For instance, the federal and provincial governments have initiated fiscal reform, including reductions in business tax rates and a provincial announcement in 2009 harmonizing the provincial sales tax with the federal general sales tax. Innovation policies could focus on strengthening the formation of networks of SMEs and universities, harassing bottom-up initiatives and creating conditions for these initiatives to succeed.
– Phasing out of tax credits should be considered for sectors that benefit from subsidies and tax credits, as should the redevelopment of cluster policy strategies where they might be needed.
– To promote synergies that encourage innovation governments could take a more active role in stimulating sectoral inter-linkages. Inter-linkages between firms play an essential role in incremental innovation in metropolitan regions.
2. Leveraging cultural diversity to maximize productivity and innovation
– Ethno-cultural diversity is one of the Toronto region’s most unique assets.
– While the region manages to attract a large share of highly skilled immigrants, many face challenges gaining employment in their given profession and their skills are sometime underutilized as a result. To maximize the benefit of such a diverse population and workforce the region will have to grapple with challenges such as (1) helping highly skilled immigrants obtain jobs commensurate with their education and experience, (2) addressing a lack of affordable housing, and (3) ‘internationalizing’ the business acumen and networks of the immigrant entrepreneur.
– Evolve successful policies that are already in place: The principal policy interventions in the Toronto region have aimed at improving language skills, increasing the recognition of foreign credentials and providing ‘bridging’ programs to provide newcomers with fast and effective training that address gaps in skills, education and work experience and help them to obtain licensure and employment in their field. Despite the recent implementation of these programs and a lack of systematic evaluation, there are indications that several bridging programs and internships have had positive results, including high job-placement rates.
– More could be done to advance the application for credential recognition of prospective immigrants before they arrive in Canada.
– Social integration could be further promoted – over the past decade the concentration of immigrants in certain residential areas has increased. This residential concentration is not always connected with neighbourhood poverty, and in many cases reflects a choice rather than a constraint, but it underlines the importance of having a transport infrastructure in place that can provide quick access from residential areas to employment opportunities across the region.
– Affordable housing is an issue that also needs attention. Demand for rental housing will continue to grow thanks to a consistent flow of immigrants. In order to increase the affordable housing mix in the region, agreements could be made within the whole region on the share of affordable housing to be included in new developments.
– Immigrants’ external networks could be used to diversify trade relations. Targeted support for the design of export strategies of small and medium enterprises , many of which are run by immigrant entrepreneurs, could be considered. A pro-active strategy, such as that pursued by the City of Madrid, could perhaps borrow from the tri-level arrangements set up and funded by the governments of Canada, Quebec and Montreal in the 1990s to pursue such a strategy in the Montreal region (Montreal International) and could expand market share in foreign markets, partly by using cultural diversity to diversify trade relations.
3. Improving sustainable transportation infrastructure
– Due to population increases as well as underinvestment and limited regional coordination in the pas, the Toronto region’s transit services and transportation networks are poorly integrated and less well developed than several OECD metropolitan regions.
– Regional coordination could be strengthened. A more integrated regional approach to marketing and travelers’ information for which Metrolinx could set standards. Land-use and transit planning might also have to be further integrated to stimulate public transit.
– Additional revenue sources for Metrolinx should also be considered. Regional transportation bodies in other metropolitan regions in the OECD have various revenue sources in addition to transit fares and government subsidies.
– In order to reduce congestion, fiscal incentives for reducing car use (such as congestion charges, high-occupancy toll lanes, local fuel taxes and parking taxes) could be considered.
– Flexible transit solutions, such as rapid bus transit, could be expanded in low-density areas, since they would provide the most cost-effective public transit.
– Transport investment has increased, but the need for predictable sources of infrastructure finance remains. A mix of budget transfers and project based contributions supports the goal of enhancing a region’s competitive position through addressing its infrastructure needs.
4. Applying a green lens to existing policies
– Public actors in the Toronto region could use their commitment to sustainability as an economic opportunity by applying a green overlay to a region-wide competitiveness agenda. Ontario’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act provides a useful basis for the provincial co-ordination on this, given that it makes use of the strengths of the economic sectors in the region’s various urban nodes.
Implementing a sustainable competitiveness agenda for the Toronto region
Enhancements in governance
More coordination of program design and implementation, both within a single order of governance and vertically between orders of government, is needed to achieve a series of commonly defined policy objectives based on a common understanding of the policy challenges, as well as on a commonly defined agenda.
Three main governance challenges remain unresolved: (1) inadequate local fiscal architecture and lack of predictable, adequate government funding to finance infrastructure and to promote more sustainable urban development; (2) the lack of specific coordination mechanisms for economic development and environmental policies within the Toronto region; and (3) the lack of inter-sectoral bodies or mechanisms that could ensure that integrated and cross-sectoral approach needed to formulate and implement a robust, region-wide sustainable competitiveness agenda.
Fiscal incentives for compact development:
Existing urban finance mechanisms do not stimulate compact urban development throughout the region. While the City of Toronto has recently implemented a modest Personal Vehicle Tax on car ownership by its residents, it does not apply outside of the City; other vehicle-related charges common in other OECD metropolitan regions, such as charges on road use and parking taxes, are not applied.
Less dependence on property taxes:
The experience of other OECD metropolitan regions indicates that a broad mix of revenue sources is needed to support adequate investment in infrastructure. These might include an increased share of the local property tax base or fuel tax base, road pricing revenues, or a share of income or sales tax revenues, in addition to the current shares of federal and provincial gas tax revenues.
A redesign of the municipal fiscal architecture:
To stimulate compact development several elements in the current fiscal design could be better aligned to land use goals. Municipalities could more widely implement neighbourhood-specific rather than municipal-wide development charges and exempt high-density projects. Higher property tax rates on business in the City of Toronto may be a factor in the disproportionate levels of business development outside of the City boundaries, which in turn might contribute to sprawl. To remove this incentive, property tax ratios for businesses (vs. residential rates) in the City of Toronto are being reduced to levels more in line with those in surrounding suburban regions. Several proposals for a resolution of the provincial-municipal fiscal imbalance should also be considered.
Extending coordination mechanisms at the regional scale:
Coordination exists for transit, but could be strengthened with regards to economic development, social integration and environmental sustainability. Several challenges are associated with the lack of coordination: competition for investment among local governments, lack of an economic strategy for the region as a whole, fewer housing opportunities and integration services for immigrants in several suburban municipalities, and environmental challenges that cross-jurisdictional boundaries.
Creating cross-sectoral regional coordination:
The province could consider facilitating greater inter-sectoral coordination within the region. It might consider using using such initiatives as the Growth Plan and Regional Transportation Plan of Metrolinx to coordinate land use and transport and to link actors and policies in areas of economic development and sustainability with those of transport and land use.
Federal support:
Federal organizations such as FedDev could help coordinate and support cluster policies in the region. The federal government also has a range of infrastructure programs, some managed in partnership with provincial governments, as well as specific agreements aimed at supporting green municipal projects. Fed Dev would be in a good position to partner with the province and municipalities to develop and implement a coherent tri-partite development and competitiveness agenda.
Events
Toronto, 5-7 May, 2010
The twelfth and final meeting of the Innovation Systems Research Network begins with Policy Day on Wednesday, May 5th. This is to provide a forum where the members of our research team, including co-investigators, domestic collaborators and Research Advisory Committee members from Europe and the United States, can meet with provincial and municipal officials who have an interest in the outcomes of our current major research initiative entitled: Social Dynamics of Economic Performance in City-Regions. The ISRN National Meeting continues on Thursday and Friday, May 6th and May 7th. During these sessions, our project researchers will be presenting the results of our ongoing research with cross city comparisons and overall perspectives on the five year research project. Limited registration is available for non-ISRN members. Register using one of the guest registration options for any or all of the three days. Breakfast and lunch is included with your registration, with a cash bar reception on Policy Day. There is a registration option to join us for the Annual ISRN Dinner on Thursday evening. A cost recovery fee is charged to Non-Members …more
The Rightful Place of Science?
Tempe, Arizona, 16-19 May, 2010
This conference will address the challenges facing a society that is at once utterly dependent on science and technology and yet equally unprepared to govern the implications of that dependence. In his inaugural address, President Obama promised to “restore science to its rightful place” in U.S. society, but that location is far from obvious. How can we understand this provocative formulation in the context of the complexity, uncertainty, and political, social and cultural diversity that mark our world?In this conference – amid art, music, literature, media, humor and more – we will explore the place of science in society and how science and technology can most effectively contribute to an improved quality of life for all. The transformative potential of science and technology challenges our ability to understand and shape our common destiny. What inquiries, communities, networks, and institutions can improve our ability to effectively engage this challenge?
Ontario Centres of Excellence Discovery 10
Toronto, 17-18 May, 2010
Connect with dynamic business leaders, investors, researchers and entrepreneurs at Discovery 2010 – Canada’s foremost innovation and commercialization event. Learn about exciting successes and emerging trends in advanced health, clean technology, digital media, manufacturing and the green economy. Meet the people whose cutting-edge ideas and technologies are driving Ontario’s innovation economy.
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.
BioEnergy Conference & Exhibition 2010
Prince George, BC, 8-10 June, 2010
The International BioEnergy Conference and Exhibition is the Canadian leader in the global dialogue on bioenergy. Our sponsors, speakers, exhibitors and delegates are key influencers and opinion shapers from around the world on the new technologies and processes that will bring about a global change in the way we perceive and use energy. With the addition of the BC Bioenergy Network as Conference Co-Host, the tradition of leadership and excellence will continue in 2010. We are also happy to announce that the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade will once again co-host the 2nd International Partnerships Forum and Business to Business Meetings. And 2010 will also mark the introduction of a parallel conference on Emerging Clean Technologies.
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.
Aalborg, Denmark, 21-24 June, 2010
Schumpeter 2010 serves as an opportunity for both established scholars and young researchers to present research that has a Schumpeterian perspective. The major topic of the conference is “Innovation, Organisation, Sustainability and Crises”. But the conference more generally embraces micro-studies of the innovation, routine and selection as well as studies of the macro-problems of Schumpeterian growth and development as a process of “creative destruction”. The broad range of issues implies that both economists, business economists, and other social scientists can contribute to the conference and that evidence may be provided by statistical and historical methods as well as other methods.
Experience the Creative Economy
Toronto, 22-24 June, 2010
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.
CALL FOR PAPERS – Partnerships in S&T Policy Research
Waterville Valley, NH, 8-13 August, 2010
The 2010 Gordon Conference on Science and Technology Policy will focus on a wide range of research at the intersection of science, technology, policy and society. The 2010 Conference will focus in particular on further developing partnerships between North American and European researchers. Invited speakers represent a variety of scientific disciplines in the policy sciences, social and natural sciences as well as the humanities. The Conference will bring together a collection of investigators who are at the forefront of their field, and will provide opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work in poster format and exchange ideas with leaders in the field. The collegial atmosphere of this Conference, with programmed discussion sessions as well as opportunities for informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings, provides an avenue for scholars from different disciplines to brainstorm and promotes cross-disciplinary collaborations in the various research areas represented.
Toronto, 30 September, 2010
Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area ICT cluster, comes together for a celebration of technology as an engine of economic growth at the Allstream Centre at Exhibition Place in downtown Toronto. We live in a new world without borders. Two out of every three people in the world own a mobile communications device….and Toronto is leading the way to this borderless future. Technicity brings together technology leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and representatives of the region’s economic development agencies for a day of panel discussions, displays and an evening to remember, to celebrate, to brainstorm, network and create economic opportunity. It also serves as an opportunity to leverage our talent pool, infrastructure, and geographic location
to broaden the base of our already powerful ICT cluster.Technicity will highlight breaking technologies such as wireless data connectivity that will make up in next-generation cars to predictive analytics that is the next-generation for business intelligence.
Triple Helix in the Development of Cities of Knowledge, Expanding Communities and Connecting Regions
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”.
Entrepreneurship and Community: 26th Annual CCSBE Conference
Calgary, 28-30 October, 2010
The theme this year is Entrepreneurship and Community. We are seeking to explore the multifaceted impact entrepreneurs and small businesses have on their communities through their new ventures, business and community outreach. There is growing recognition by policy makers, members of society, business leaders and youth, that creative approaches are needed to address environmental, economic, and societal issues. The conference program highlights the research, educational methods, and community practices pertaining to venture sustainability and social entrepreneurship. In support of the theme we have attracted an array of plenary and guest speakers, and developed workshops which will contribute to the dialogue.
Reshaping Europe: Addressing Societal Challenges Through Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Liege, Belgium, 27-29 October, 2010
Over the past couple of years, Europe, and the rest of the world, has faced an unprecedented crisis affecting all sectors of the economy. The crisis and the recovery that is now taking place in most Member States provide experiences that can be used to reshape Europe and to ensure that it is stronger and better prepared for the challenges of the 21st century. The Europe 2020 Strategy is designed to improve the business environment. It is vital that this environment offers the framework conditions to turn ideas into products and services more quickly and easily, whilst addressing environmental concerns and making efficient use of resources. At this important turning point, the Europe INNOVA conference will provide a timely opportunity to determine how innovation policy and innovation support can help Europe and its enterprises, both large and small, to best face these challenges.The conference will unite the Europe INNOVA Community with key innovation stakeholders from the worlds of politics, academia and business. Together they will discuss three approaches that are crucial if Europe is to respond to the societal challenges with which it is currently confronted.
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.
CALL FOR PAPERS: 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.
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.
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This newsletter is prepared by Jen Nelles.
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