News from the IPL
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Deloitte Launches Center for Government Insights
Innovation Daily
Deloitte announced the opening of its new Center for Government Insights, which produces thought-provoking research to help government solve its most complex problems. Through publications, forums and immersive workshops, the center engages with government leaders on a journey of positive transformation to uncover and understand trends, overcome constraints, and expand the limits of what is possible. Led by author and government innovator William D. Eggers, managing director, Deloitte Services LLP, the center is a space for collaboration with government and commercial clients, academicians and former and current public officials. It also is a source of up-to-the-minute insights on the most important issues facing local, state and federal governments.
Editor's Pick
OECD
The indicators presented here of science and innovation in the global economy highlight G20 economies’ performance in a selection of areas, and track discussions and comments made by the G20 Innovation Task Force. They are mainly based on indicators contained in the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2015. The next OECD STI Scoreboard publication will be released in 2017.
Innovation Policy
Blockchain Tech: An Emerging Industry?
Robert Ksiazkiewicz, SSTI
In a special feature this week, SSTI will examine a developing technology advancement that has been increasingly drawing public attention. This is the first of a two-part series examining blockchain and its implications for business and industry, with today’s story focusing on the technology, while the next installment will focus on its applications and challenges. Blockchain, a newly emerging technology that stands as the web-based database platform behind bitcoin, is receiving more attention for the economic benefits it promises. While bitcoin has gobbled up headlines, blockchain has slowly developed a strong group of proponents that include leaders from Wall Street, big banks and investment firms that view the technology as a possible transformative advancement within finance and other tech-influenced industries such as government, supply chain, crowdfunding, telecommunications, gig economy and higher education. Blockchain is the technology that provides the possible secure, efficient pathway for billions of devices to transact and share information across diverse platforms. Proponents contend that if its potential is actualized, a blockchain-based tech sector will need a dynamic system of startups to develop blockchain-based technologies and workers with the skills to develop those technologies.
Making a Success of Digital Government
Emily Andrews et al., Institute for Government
This report is about the organisational challenges that government must tackle to make a success of digital government, and what all government leaders – not just digital leaders – should do to address them. Taking digital government to the next level will require sustained attention. For this report, researchers looked at five public sector organizations at different stages of digital development. It finds many dedicated staff doing good work, and encouraging signs for the future. It also identifies five challenges that need to be addressed across departments to make digital government a success, and these are set out below.
The Architecture of Innovation: Institutionalizing Innovation in Federal Policymaking
McCourt School of Public Policy and Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation
Technology is transforming how we live our lives—from new solutions in health, education, defense and beyond. At the same time, these new technologies and the data they collect have triggered a need for rapid changes in governance and public policy. These broader societal shifts require a subsequent change in government—a government that is more nimble and adaptive to change. The next president has the opportunity to pivot, to transform government from being reactive to proactively driving change.
President-Elect Trump’s Positions on Technology and Innovation
ITIF
Technological innovation has long been and will continue to be critically important to both income growth and national competitiveness. So it is important that we examine President-elect Donald Trump’s policy agenda through that lens. This report is based on information gathered directly from the president-elect’s campaign websites and policy documents, and from media accounts of statements he has made. The report begins with an overview of the general philosophy the president-elect has articulated on technology, innovation, and trade policy, then examines his policy positions across eight specific issue areas: innovation and R&D; education and skills; taxes and budget; trade; regulation; broadband and telecommunications; internet and digital economy; and, life sciences and biotechnology.
Innovating Education and Educating for Innovation: The Power of Digital Technologies and Skills
OECD
The OECD’s Innovation Strategy calls upon all sectors in the economy and society to innovate in order to foster productivity, growth and well-being. Education systems are critically important for innovation through the development of skills that nurture new ideas and technologies. However, whereas digital technologies are profoundly changing the way we work, communicate and enjoy ourselves, the world of education and learning is not yet going through the same technology-driven innovation process as other sectors. This report served as the background report to the second Global Education Industry Summit which was held on 26-27 September 2016. It discusses the available evidence on innovation in education, the impact of digital technologies on teaching and learning, the role of digital skills and the role of educational industries in the process of innovation. The report argues for smarter policies, involving all stakeholders, for innovation in education.
Statistics & Indicators
2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index
Deloitte
Manufacturing related activities among global nations are rapidly evolving. Manufacturing earnings and exports are stimulating economic prosperity causing nations to increase their focus on developing advanced manufacturing capabilities by investing in high-tech infrastructure and education. Nations and companies are striving to advance to the next technology frontier and raise their economic well-being. And as the digital and physical worlds of manufacturing converge, advanced technologies have become even more essential to company- and country-level-competitiveness. In fact, technology-intensive sectors dominate the global manufacturing landscape in most advanced economies and appear to offer a strong path to achieve or sustain manufacturing competitiveness. In the 2016 GMCI, CEO survey respondents were asked to rank nations in terms of current and future manufacturing competitiveness. Top performing nations have each demonstrated strengths across multiple drivers of manufacturing excellence. They also clearly illustrate the close tie that exists between manufacturing competitiveness and innovation. The 2016 study takes a closer look at six focus nations: United States, China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and India. Collectively, these countries account for 60 percent of world’s manufacturing GDP, demonstrating the influence these nations have on global manufacturing trends.
State Technology and Science Index: Sustaining America’s Innovation Economy
Ross DeVol, Joe Lee, and Minoli Ratnatunga, Milken Institute Center for Jobs and Human Capital
The State Technology and Science Index (STSI) endeavors to benchmark states on their science and technology capabilities and broader commercialization ecosystems that contribute to company growth, high-value-added job creation, and overall economic growth.The STSI can be seen as a measure of a state’s innovation pipeline. The index isn’t intended to be a measure of immediate economic impact, but rather to demonstrate that the return on science and technology assets will accrue in future years. Along with deep human capital, individuals who recognize entrepreneurial opportunity and have the knowledge and skills to develop it are among the strongest assets a geographical area can have in today’s innovation-based economy. The STSI’s 107 individual indicators are sorted into five composites: Research and Development Inputs, Risk Capital and Entrepreneurial Infrastructure, Human Capital Investment, Technology and Science Workforce, and Technology Concentration and Dynamism.
Events
Regional Studies Association Winter Conference 2016 – New Pressures on Cities and Regions
London, UK, 24-25 November, 2016
This conference provides an intellectual and policy-relevant platform for scholars around the world to address the new and emerging challenges facing cities and regions. The global economic slowdown poses major concerns to many territories – through shortfalls in employment, household incomes, corporate profitability and tax revenues. The steel industry has been one of the hardest hit, forcing massive plant closures and redundancies from China to the UK. Austerity in public finances threatens the infrastructure required to lay the foundation for future growth and development. Economic uncertainties and uneven development also contribute to growing social unrest and new waves of international migration. Heightened regulation of the banks and other financial institutions is bound to have an impact on the funding of house-building and other real estate development, with uncertain consequences. Meanwhile the accelerating pace of technological change in many industries and occupations means different skills and capabilities are required of the workforce, causing painful adjustments for many communities. And looming concerns about climate change and accelerating environmental degradation complicate the task of urban and regional revitalization. The 2016 Winter Conference of the Regional Studies Association presents a timely opportunity to discuss these issues, to clarify the research imperatives, and to consider the challenges facing policymakers and practitioners. The conference organizers are keen to attract papers and sessions that address a broad research and policy agenda, including contributions from any discipline which can offer relevant insights into the urban-regional-global nexus.
Brussels, Belgium, 30 November – 2 December, 2016
The fifth edition of the European Cluster Conference will be an inspiring event not to be missed by policy-makers from national and regional authorities involved or interested in cluster policies and cluster practitioners. The last edition of the European Cluster Conference in 2014 gathered over 340 cluster stakeholders from across Europe. As the 2016 edition is limited to 250 participants, early registration is advised – once possible; the registration platform is expected to be open in September. This year’s conference will focus on Cluster 4.0 – Shaping Smart Industries and include high-level plenary speeches, panel discussions and interactive sessions where participants will have the chance to share their experiences and challenges. Parallel discussions will take place in four priority areas related to industrial modernization, namely smart manufacturing and digital transformation, the circular economy, key enabling technologies, and creative and data-driven services. The parallel discussions will all cover the same key horizontal topics in different sessions. These include the role of clusters in boosting the innovation uptake and growth opportunities through strengthening cross-sectoral value chain linkages, strategic European partnering, international collaboration and skills towards shaping smart industries.
CFP: 4th PhD Workshop in Economic of Innovation, Complexity, and Knowledge
Turin, Italy, 15-16 December, 2016
The Vilfredo Pareto Doctorate program of the University of Turin and the BRICK, Collegio Carlo Alberto, are pleased to announce the 4th Doctoral Workshop in Economics of Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge. The aim of the workshop is to bring together PhD students from all over the world working in the broad fields of Economics of Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge. The Workshop will provide participants with a great opportunity to network with peers researching on similar topics and to receive feedback from both junior and senior scholars.
CFP: 11th Workshop on the Organization, Economics, and Policy of Scientific Research
Torino, Italy, 15-16 May, 2017
The aim of the workshop is to bring together a small group of scholars interested in the analysis of the production and diffusion of scientific research from an economics, historical, organizational, and policy perspective. The workshop aims at including papers form various streams of research developed in recent years in and around the area of public and private scientific research.
Regional Studies Association Conference 2017: The Great Regional Awakening – New Directions
Dublin, Ireland, 4-7 June, 2017
A ‘Great Regional Awakening’ is underway. There is a growing realization that regional inequalities have both contributed to, and amplified, the ‘Great Recession’ that shook advanced and emerging economies alike. It is also becoming apparent that the crisis has been having very different impacts spatially. This will only help to further exacerbate uneven economic development, fueling more trouble down the line. In Europe, major economic fault-lines are re-emerging between and within national economies; between the core and the periphery; between urban and rural areas; between city-regions and within cities themselves. This pattern is replicated elsewhere – in advanced, emerging and developing world. There is an urgent need to re-examine all aspects of local and regional development and how it relates to national and international economic dynamics; and to social, political, cultural, technological and environmental processes. Having spent over 50 years advocating more balanced regional development, the Regional Studies Association is now spearheading a major effort to address these pressing issues in such challenging times.
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This newsletter is prepared by Jen Nelles.
Project manager is David A. Wolfe.