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
Government of Canada Invests in Innovation, Jobs and Growth in Southern Ontario
FedDev Ontario recently announced a $20–million investment in innovation funds that will support small– and medium–sizedbusinesses in southern Ontario. The $20–million contribution comes through FedDev Ontario‘s Prosperity Initiative. This investment will support two funds, known as the Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation (SOFII) projects. SOFII will provide a $12–million fund in the west and an$8–million fund in the east. These two funds will be delivered by southern Ontario’s two regional Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) networks: the WesternCFDC Association and the Eastern CFDC Network Inc. to both smaller rural and larger urban communities.
Canadian companies will soon gain more access to international markets with EUREKA – a European-based network raising productivity and competitiveness of business through technology. In an agreement signed this month in Budapest, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) has been designated the country’s National Project Coordinator Office for EUREKA. EUREKA focuses on coordinating existing national funding for industrial innovation. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program will play a key role in advising, partnering and supporting companies, as well as providing funding where appropriate. The goal is to secure networking opportunities between Canadian and EUREKA firms, to develop joint research and development projects, and gain access to international markets. Canada’s EUREKA National Office will provide Canadian innovators with a single contact point for EUREKA. Through its network of partners, the National Office will facilitate the start-up and operation of EUREKA projects and lead companies through their next stages of development. Once a project is approved, the internationally recognized EUREKA label adds value by endowing participants with a competitive edge in their dealings with financial, technical and commercial partners.
Government of Canada Kick-Starts Canadian Entrepreneurs in British Columbia
The Government of Canada will partner with Canadian entrepreneurs from British Columbia to buy and test five new innovations through the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP). Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) will work to match new innovations with the right departments to test them. This will facilitate moving Canadian innovations into domestic and international markets, while at the same time helping the Government of Canada serve Canadians in the most cost-effective manner possible. Launched in 2010, the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program has already shown encouraging results, connecting Canadian companies with federal departments and agencies that have a need for new products and services. By selling to the federal government, businesses can demonstrate the value of their products and services, and potentially generate future sales to non-federal customers.
Editor's Pick
Report to the President on Capturing Domestic Competitive Advantage in Advanced Manufacturing
President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
This by a national committee of U.S. industry and university leaders details 16 recommendations aimed at reinventing manufacturing in a way that ensures U.S. competitiveness, feeds into the nation’s innovation economy, and invigorates the domestic manufacturing base. The recommendations include a call to establish a national network of manufacturing innovation institutes; an emphasis on investment in community college training of the advanced manufacturing workforce; an approach to evaluate platform manufacturing technologies for collaborative investment; a plan to reinvigorate the image of manufacturing in America; and proposals for trade, tax, regulatory, and energy policies that would level the global playing field for domestic manufacturers.
Innovation Policy
National Governors Association Reports on Job Creation and Strategies for Business Growth
NGA
The National Governors Association (NGA) has convened several meetings around the themes of job creation and economic development. These themes play a prominent role in Gov. Heineman’s (Nebraska) initiative, Growing State Economies, which focuses on providing governors and other state policymakers with better policy options to assess the economic environment in their state and strategies to foster business growth. Another report, entitled A Policy Framework, highlights six issues and activities that can be refined to improve the conditions for job creation. The second is a Twelve Actions report and accompanying pocket card that aims to provide governors and other state policymakers with better policy direction and strategies for business growth. Additionally, each governor received an individualized state economic profile of their state.
The Big and Small of Tax Support for R&D in Canada
Kenneth J. McKenzie, SPP University of Calgary
Innovation is critical in the knowledge-based economy. It is generally accepted that governments have an important role to play in promoting innovative activity and R&D. Both the federal and provincial governments in Canada provide tax subsidies, and other forms of support, for R&D. Changes to various programs offered by the federal government were introduced in Budget 2012, most particularly related to the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit program. This paper analyzes the state of tax subsidies for R&D both pre- and post-budget, and at both the federal and provincial level. It is shown that there is a patchwork of effective tax subsidy rates in Canada, which vary both between and within provinces, between small versus large firms, and across sectors and types of R&D activity. The result is a misallocation of R&D resources and a system of government support that is less effective than it could be. On some dimensions Budget 2012 was a move in the right direction, but on other dimensions matters were made worse, resulting in a reconfiguration of tax support across R&D activities that is more distortionary and less efficient. Most particularly, the post-budget tax system heavily favours small firms over large firms, and labour intensive R&D over capital intensive R&D. This paper offers a lucid examination of R&D tax support pre- and post-budget, and argues persuasively that Canadian governments should adopt a more uniform, less distortionary approach to tax subsidies for R&D if they are truly interested in setting innovation free.
Cities, Clusters & Regions
British Columbia’s Technology Strategy: Building B.C.’s Economy
BC Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation
As jobs in the technology sector continue to grow twice as fast as any other, B.C.’s Technology Strategy predicts by 2014 there will be over 100,000 high-tech jobs supporting British Columbian families. In order to build on that momentum and support the sector, the strategy focuses on four key action items: accelerate technology commercialization and adoption; build on regional strengths and create new opportunities; develop talent for a knowledge-based economy; and expand markets for B.C.’s technology. The strategy builds on the competitive advantages and investments in B.C.’s main technology subsectors, which include clean technology; information and communication technologies; wireless, digital and screen-based media; and health and life sciences.
Compact City Policies: A Comparative Assessment
OECD
This book examines the concept of the compact city and the implication of the current urban context for compact city policies. It explores their potential outcomes, particularly in terms of how it can contribute to Green Growth and looks at developing indicators to monitor compact city and track policy performance. It reviews compact city policies currently being implemented across the OECD in relation to the pursuit of Green Growth objectives and provides ideas to achieve better outcomes. And it assesses the key governance challenges faced by decision-makers as they seek to implement practical compact city strategies. This report is thus intended as “food for thought” for national, sub-national and municipal governments as they seek to address their economic and environmental challenges through the development and implementation of spatial strategies in pursuit of Green Growth objectives. It also illustrates best practices (which present key elements of successful compact city policies) based on empirical evidence that can be shared across OECD member countries.
Rise Revisited: Exploring America’s Regional Creative Class Breakdown
The Martin Prosperity Institute
In the original version of Rise of the Creative Class , Richard Florida described the growing emergence of people sorting geographically in accordance to their class. Geographic regions that are able to attract and retain larger percentages of Creative Class individuals are consequently expected to have an economic advantage, leading to an increased possibility of success. Regions with larger Working and Service class shares generally do not share the same prospects. When looking at geographic growth, population is generally referred to, but as Rise Revisited explains, population growth does not necessarily contribute to economic success.
Statistics & Indicators
INSEAD
The GII recognizes the key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity and acknowledges the need for a broad horizontal vision of innovation that is applicable to both developed and emerging economies, with the inclusion of indicators that go beyond the traditional measures of innovation (such as the level of research and development in a given country). The GII has evolved into a valuable benchmarking tool to facilitate public-private dialogue, whereby policymakers, business leaders and other stakeholders can evaluate progress on a continual basis.
Canada’s ICT Industry: A National Perspective
Darren Anderson, Branham 3000
This report provides an in-depth analysis of Canada’s leading ICT companies based on Branham300 aggregate data that was collected from 2008-2010. The report is broken down into four major sections, including: an overview of the Canadian ICT industry, an extensive analysis of each of Canada’s provinces and regions, an in-depth examination of each Canadian ICT Industry sub-sector, as well as a detailed breakdown of each of the quintiles comprising the Branham300’s Top 250 listing. This report includes 90 figures and 15 tables, as it provides comprehensive intelligence on key industry metrics (key industry players, revenue, revenue growth, revenue per employee, research & development investment, general & administrative costs, sales & marketing expenses, national and international revenue sources) along with extensive discussion on the happenings within the Canadian ICT industry during the past three years.
Investment Activity by Canadian Angel Groups: 2011 Report
National Angel Capital Association
This report, the second of its kind, examines 2011 activity levels and highlights trends such as a significant increase in levels of Angel activity. The report also presents an initial analysis of the mode of exit and the returns generated by Angel-backed companies.
University Innovation, Local Economic Growth and Entrepreneurship
Naomi Hausman, Harvard University
Universities, often situated at the center of innovative clusters, are believed to be important drivers of local economic growth. This paper identifies the extent to which U.S. universities stimulate nearby economic activity using the interaction of a national shock to the spread of innovation from universities – the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 – with pre-determined variation both within a university in academic strengths and across universities in federal research funding. Using longitudinal establishment-level data from the Census, this paper finds that longrun employment and payroll per worker around universities rise particularly rapidly after BayhDole in industries more closely related to local university innovative strengths. The impact of university innovation increases with geographic proximity to the university. Counties surrounding universities that received more pre-Bayh-Dole federal funding – particularly from the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health – experienced faster employment growth after the law. Entering establishments – in particular multi-unit firm expansions – over the period from 1977 to 1997 were especially important in generating long-run employment growth, while incumbents experienced modest declines, consistent with creative destruction. Suggestive of their complementarities with universities, large establishments contributed more substantially to the total 20-year growth effect than did small establishments.
Policy Digest
The Condition of Higher Education in Ohio: Advancing Ohio’s Innovation Economy
Ohio HigherEd
This report is intended to provide a blueprint for dramatically improving the collective execution of research commercialization activities among Ohio’s 14 research universities, 24 regional branch campuses and 23 community colleges. To produce the report, the Regents have assembled a Technology Transfer and Commercialization Task Force made up of higher education and industry leaders, including university presidents, corporate CEOs, financial investors, industry advocates, and entrepreneurial intermediaries.
Current conditions
Board of Regents’ Technology Transfer and Commercialization Task Force has studied Ohio’s Innovation Continuum and determined that a multipronged strategy is required for the state to successfully compete with other states nationally and in the global innovation economy. Task Force members found Ohio must develop and promote a robust technology commercialization pipeline and the ecosystem to support it. In order to understand how best to accomplish this, the Task Force believes it important to understand the differences between “technology transfer” and “commercialization”:
• Technology transfer refers to the process of transferring a technology or product developed at a university to an outside entity, usually a company;
• Commercialization refers to the process of taking a technology or product to market.
The Task Force found that at several of Ohio’s HEIs the function of technology transfer does not clearly differentiate between these two functions, which leads to ineffi ciencies, confusion and less than optimal deployment and monetization of Ohio’s technology assets.
Ohio’s Challenges
The Task Force has identified a major problem that dramatically reduces the State of Ohio’s effectiveness in job creation. Specifi cally, it is generally agreed that a vast majority of Ohio’s HEI research is not monetized through commercialization of its resulting technologies. The Task Force’s research relies on the most recent annual licensing survey data from all U.S. universities collected by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) demonstrating clearly that Ohio’s universities rank well below the average for universities in other states when comparing both the gross return of commercialization revenue relative to the volume of research expenditures as well as the efficiency in which invention disclosures are converted into commercial applications.
Ohio’s Strengths
Although Task Force members found a number of challenges to promoting higher education technology commercialization, they also noted that Ohio has signifi cant capacity which they believe must be more effectively leveraged. The AUTM data cited above further showed Ohio’s “innovation” activity above average in terms of: a) the total annual volume of external funding garnered for academic research activities; b) the annual volume of university research funded exclusively by industry; c) the annual number of invention disclosures fi led with university technology transfer offi ces; d) the annual number of patent applications filed; e) the number of U.S. patents issued to Ohio universities each year; and f) the annual number of new business start-ups spun off of university intellectual property.
Recurring themes
The Task Force identified seven recurring themes, which they believe inform this Condition Report’s findings and recommendations and need to be addressed if the Regents and Chancellor’s goal of increasing technology commercialization activity through industry and higher education collaboration is to be achieved. The threads of these seven themes are found in each of the sub-committee reports within this Condition Report. They provide the framework for the Task Force’s summary recommendations. The seven key themes are as follows.
1. Higher education and industry leadership in the 21st century must promote an environment that supports industry-higher education collaboration in order to expand the technology commercialization pipeline;
2. Ecosystems that support technology commercialization are essential and must be built collaboratively by industry, higher education, non-government organizations (NGO) and government leaders;
3. Accelerating technology commercialization requires a robust funding continuum from proofof-concept to seed-stage to later-stage venture capital, and depends on both public and private support to ensure its availability;
4. Formal communication networks and databases are essential for sharing knowledge and identifying collaborative opportunities that otherwise may not be possible due to the complexity of accessing critical information;
5. The next generation of technology innovation will come from today’s students who should be exposed to an entrepreneurial curriculum, co-ops and internships, provided with real life experiences, and supported in promoting their intellectual property ideas;
6. The innovation economy needs more than STEM expertise; the workforce continuum, which is essential to promoting technology commercialization, requires many different skill sets; and
7. To successfully achieve the goal of promoting technology commercialization, industry, higher education and governmental leadership must work together to identify and track measurable outcomes.
Recommendations
(Source: University System of Ohio Board of Regents, 2012. “Fifth Report on the Condition of Higher Education in Ohio: Advancing Ohio’s Innovation Economy”: 20)
Events
Science and Technology Policy in Global Context
Waterville, NH, 5-10 August, 2012
The global context for science and technology policies is changing quickly. Knowledge is flowing around the world ever more freely. International collaboration is growing in every field. Economies that have traditionally grown through innovation face new competition from rising economic powers. Intellectual property regimes are in flux and under attack. Scientists and engineers trained in Europe and North America are returning to their regions of origins more often. Science and technology are embroiled in global regulatory issues like the ground rules for nanotechnology and synthetic biology, renewable and nuclear energy, and access to essential medicines. The 2012 Gordon Research Conference on Science and Technology Policy will delve deeply into this range of issues, asking how the questions and answers of science and technology policy need to change in response to international developments. The program will tap the best recent research on the global dimensions of research, innovation, human resource, and regulatory policies, as well as perspectives from S&T policy practitioners from around the world.
Research Network on Innovation Summer School 2012
Montpellier, France, 29 August – 1 September, 2012
This Summer Schoolaims to update on the works considering the sectoral dimensions of innovation, or using and questioning the concept of Sectoral System of Innovation (SSI). This initiative also proceeds from the perspectives opened by the international symposium held in 2010 in Montpellier on innovation in agriculture and agri-food (http://www.isda2010.net/fr/) and calling for comparative analyses with research on innovation in other sectors. The aim is to question specificities and convergences of innovations in different sectors and to discuss the relevance of the concept of Sectoral Systems of Innovation (SSI).
Brussels, 20 September, 2012
The positive impact of effective regional innovation on economic growth, employment and social stability is recognised everywhere. Yet many European regions are lagging behind and seem unable to “catch up” or engage in a process of full innovation as a critical success factor for their development. Different regional settings, contextual factors and more (or less) local opportunities undeniably play a role. Yet the ability to build capacity for collaborative partnership and to exercise strong leadership in order to bring together a variety of regional stakeholders behind a common regional strategy is “the” critical step for regional success. This one-day conference will focus on the challenges involved in building and sustaining successful cross-sectoral partnerships between academic, business and public agencies to support regional innovation. The conference will draw on lessons learned from the EU-Drivers for a Regional Innovation Platform project, which involved the development of tri-partite partnerships and an international community of practice to support strategically important and transformational projects in a range of European countries, including Spain, Denmark, Greece, England, Finland, Turkey, Portugal and Belgium.
13th International CINet Conference: Continuous Innovation Across Boundaries
Rome, Italy, 16-18 September, 2012
The Continuous Innovation Network (CINet) is a global network set up to bring together researchers and industrialists working in the field of Continuous Innovation. The mission of CINet is to develop into a school of thought on Continuous Innovation. Consistent with this mission, CINet organises an annual conference. This announcement concerns the 13th CINet conference, which will take place in Rome, Italy, on 16-18 September 2012. Furthermore, CINet promotes a PhD Network to foster research collaboration among PhD students and their institutions on innovation in the widest sense of the word. As part of that initiative, a PhD workshop is organised just prior to the 13th CINet conference, on 14-15 September. Besides that a CIYA Workshop will be organized, aimed at young academics working in the field of continuous innovation.
Leuven, Belgium, 27-28 September, 2012
The EPIP (European Policy for Intellectual Property) association will hold its 7th Annual Conference on September 27-28, 2012 in Leuven (Belgium). Scholars and practitioners interested in the economic, legal, political and managerial aspects of intellectual property (IP) rights are encouraged to attend the conference with or without paper presentation. The conference aims to explore and stimulate debate regarding open innovation and creation, and to examine the interaction between open innovation and proprietary IP mechanisms. Is the IP rationale under pressure in view of these changing innovation dynamics? Are IP strategies ‘in motion’ in response to these emerging trends of increased openness?
Porto, Portugal, 11-13 October, 2012
The Regional Innovation Policies seminars place the emphasis on regions, acknowledging its relevant role for constructing sustainable competitive advantages. Previous seminars held at Porto (University of Porto), Salzburg (University of Salzburg), Santander (University of Cantabria), Edinburgh (Napier Edinburgh University), Grimstad (University of Agder, Norway) and Lund (Lund University – CIRCLE, Sweden) have contributed to the discussion on the role of regional policies to promote innovation and economic development. The 7th edition returns to Porto and will be hosted by INESC Technology and Science – INESC TEC – a Portuguese Associate Laboratory coordinated by INESC Porto and internationally recognized for its commitment to science and technology advance. The conference is directed toward researchers, policy makers, and practitioners interested in issues related to regional innovation policy, regional competitiveness and regional development. Although participants are encouraged to present their work in open or organized sessions, it is also possible to attend without presenting a paper.
The Governance of a Complex World
Nice, France, 1-3 November, 2012
In a period of crisis – according to many commentators the most important one since the Great Depression – the governance of an ever increasingly complex world is a major challenge to economics and social sciences, especially in the current stage where no clear consensus has emerged so far in our scientific communities. The aim of the 2012 International Conference on “The Governance of a Complex World” is the identification of major propositions of political economy for a new society, grounded on structural, technological and institutional change. We encourage submissions dealing with different levels of governance (countries, industries, firms, individuals), where innovation is viewed as a key driver to stir our complex world out of the crisis. We especially welcome analyses in the field of knowledge dynamics, industrial evolution and economic development, dealing with key issues of the emergence and persistence of innovation, entrepreneurship, growth of firms, corporate governance and performance, agglomeration/dispersion of industrial activities, skills dynamics, economics of science and innovation, environment as a driver of innovation.
Triple Helix Workshop: Building the Entrepreneurial University
Stanford, CA, 12-16 November, 2012
T he Triple Helix Research Group at Stanford University’s Human Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute (H-STAR) announces a new initiative for 2012: the Triple Helix Workshop Series that starts with the five-day intensive workshop “Building the Entrepreneurial University”. The event is organized to meet a growing demand for learning about the university’s “third mission”, next to education in research – the involvement in economic development and growth creation at regional and national level. The workshop presents the experience of some of the most successful US entrepreneurial universities, including Stanford, MIT, Utah, Arizona State, Berkeley, CalTech, Boston, University of Southern California. We are also discussing various innovation initiatives at the university-industry-government interface, US federal and state policies and mechanisms to support them, the successful trajectory of some high-tech companies emerging from university research, and the role of venture capital and business angel investments in this effort.
London, UK, 23 November, 2012
One of the major impacts of the current economic crisis is the way it is deepening territorial inequalities at a time when the scope for public intervention to tackle inequality is being diminished as a result of widespread austerity measures. These developments pose many challenges for the analysis and management of territorial development strategies, particularly at the scale of cities and regions. Some of the many challenges centre on which regions and industries will suffer and which will show greater capacity to adapt and thrive in an uncertain political and economic environment. How will extant (and classic) forms of urban and regional development policy be affected? Will the current crises expose the failures of these policies or demonstrate their strengths? What alternative models of territorial development are there? Should any of these alternative models be considered, that is, are they likely to redress some of the structural inequalities reinforced in the current context? To address these issues future research is needed interpreting regional inequality trends, combined with an analysis of their impact in particular places. This should take into account both macro-processes and local dynamics as this will be crucial in deepening our understandings of how an international financial crisis and the politics of ‘expansionary austerity’ affect the prospects of cities and regions. We also need to evaluate the opportunities and challenges ahead, reflect on the usefulness of previous approaches, and explore the potential of alternative territorial development strategies. In vogue concepts such as ‘city regions’ and ‘creative places’ need to be re-evaluated while emerging notions of ‘shrinking cities’ and ‘smart specialization’ must be carefully evaluated. Equally, the notion of managing decline, both economic and environmental, is likely to become more relevant as opportunities for significant public investment are reduced.
Madrid, Spain, 10-12 April, 2013
The Conference aims to encourage dialogue betweens academics and practitioners to improve innovation policy design, implementation and evaluation. The conference will offer keynote speeches, parallel thematic sessions, roundtable discussions, special activities for young researchers and ample space for all participants to interact. Visits to research and innovation centres both in public and private institutions will be offered after the conference.
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This newsletter is prepared by Jen Nelles.
Project manager is David A. Wolfe.