The IPL newsletter: Volume 2, Issue 17

Canada ranks first in eGovernment survey 
Accenture, formerly Anderson Consulting, has ranked Canada as the global leader in developing mature online government services, ahead of the United States and Singapore.  Canada’s strength, according to the consulting company, lies in its cross-agency approach to e-Government which makes it easier for citizens and businesses to interact electronically with government. 
 

Canada-wide cluster study now underway
The five year, $2.5 million study “The Role of Local and Regional Clusters in Canada” is now underway.  Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the study will examine the impact and importance of cluster-driven innovation by investigating how local networks of firms and supporting infrastructure of institutions, businesses and people in communities across Canada interact to spark economic growth.  The study will be conducted through a collaborative effort of ISRN researchers drawn from five regional nodes based in Atlantic Canada (ACISN), Quebec (RQSI), Ontario (ONRIS and PROMIS), and western Canada (Innocom).

New “Innovation in Canada” portal
This site provides comprehensive listings and links to information, expertise and tools to help firms become more innovative.  The categories of information provided include technology transfer, intellectual property, research services and product development.

Influencing the future of higher education
The National Governors Association has launched its first-ever major initiative on higher education, “Influencing the Future of Higher Education.” The four-year initiative, co-chaired by Kentucky Governor Paul E. Patton and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, seeks to elevate national and state dialogue on post secondary education and to equip governors and their advisors with the ability to diagnose problems, conceptualize issues, identify policy options and implement new public policy.

Knowledge Management: The New Challenge for Firms & Organizations 
Innovation Systems Research Network (ISRN) 
This brief report summarizes some of the major observations offered at an OECD High-Level Forum organised by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) and held in Ottawa, Canada on September 21 and 22, 2000.  Observations are given for each of the five sessions: The Knowledge-based economy and knowledge management; Knowledge management strategies; Knowledge management in education; Knowledge management, commercialization and intellectual property rights; Good practices of knowledge management in firms and organizations. 
 

Innovation, Growth & Competition: Evolving Complexity or Complex Evolution
J. S. Metcalfe, M.D., F.& R Ramlogan, CRIC
This paper reports on the initial investigation into an evolutionary adaptive account of economic growth, innovation and competition. It starts from the premise that the economy is a system comprising of multiple agents, diverse in abilities and capabilities, interacting, adapting, reacting and constantly modifying the patterns in structures that they help create.  This paper provides a critical assessment of the knowledge foundations of endogenous growth theory, a clear statement of the core elements in an evolutionary adaptive theory of growth and the analysis of economic growth through the use of replicator dynamic processes.

US R&D Budget FY 2002: Bush Administration Proposes Cuts to Most R&D Agencies
On April 9, President Bush released a FY 2002 budget request containing overall increases for the federal investment in R&D, but cuts in most of the major R&D funding agencies.  Because DOD and NIH are the two largest funding sources of federal R&D, the special treatment given to them in the budget would allow overall federal R&D to increase in FY 2002. But the other R&D funding agencies would fare slightly worse than other, non-priority discretionary programs and would decline in funding.

The Daily, April 3, 2001: Electronic commerce and technology 
According to Statistics Canada in their latest analysis from the 2000 Survey of Electronic Commerce and Technology, the total value of private sector sales over the Internet, with or without on-line payment, rose dramatically in 2000, while the proportion of businesses selling on-line fell.  Canadian businesses received $7.2 billion in customer orders over the Internet in 2000, up 73.4% from $4.2 billion in 1999.  However, only 6% of businesses reported selling goods and services on-line in 2000, down from 10% in 1999. These 6% of businesses selling on-line accounted for one-quarter of all gross business income. Among the businesses that responded to the survey in both 1999 and 2000, for every two that started selling over the Internet in 2000, five stopped doing so. 

Profile of the Canadian multimedia industry
Interactive Multimedia Producers Association of Canada
Prepared for Industry Canada, this study profiles the multimedia industry bringing together available information about the industry including key studies, surveys and investigations into the multimedia phenomenon and its economic implications for Canada.  According to the study,  multimedia sector sales appear to average between $80,000 and $100,000 per employee. A combination of the studies providing estimates of the industry’s national revenue suggests revenues in the order of $2 billion. A recent survey by Multimediator Strategy Group estimated the industry’s national revenue at $3.5 billion. The sector is undergoing rapid expansion, estimated at 20% per year with some 2,300 companies now operating in the Canadian multimedia industry. 

Five Actions for Higher Education Governance 
From the National Governors Association (NGA) comes five actions that governors can take to strengthen performance and accountability in public college and university governance.  They are to: 1) Create an advisory committee to recruit, screen, and recommend board candidates. 2) Establish a channel for clearly communicating state priorities to governing boards. 3) Promote board orientation and education programs both at the institutional and state level that bring together regents and trustees to discuss their basic responsibilities and to attain a full understanding of state level issues and funding priorities. 4) Encourage public higher education systems and institutions to strategically re-engineer administrative systems and the delivery of academic programs, in support of state policy goals and institutional missions. 5) Work with all stakeholders to strengthen awareness of the unique, evolving role of college- and university-affiliated foundations. 

Higher Expectations
Here are 5 papers commissioned by the NGA’s Center for Best Practices examining the economic, demographic, and technological forces that are driving the need for governors to focus on improving higher education systems.  Among the titles are: “Creating High-Performance Postsecondary Education“, “Economics, Demography and the Future of Higher Education Policy” and “Assessing the Quality of Student Learning“.

Academic Intellectual Property Rights in a Knowledge-Based Economy 
Washington, DC, April 17 2001 
This workshop, organized by the Board on Science, Technology and Economics Policy, focuses on “The Effects of University Patenting and Licensing on Commercialization and Research” and will bring together corporate and academic representatives to address the following topics: 

– The Implications of State Universities’ Claims to Immunity from Current Patent Law;
– Comparing Academic and Industrial Perspectives on University Patenting and Licensing;
– Effects of Patenting and Technology Transfer on Commercialization; and
– Effects of Patenting and Licensing on Research.

CITO/OCRI Techtalk Workshop: On Enhanced Services for Voice-over-IP
Ottawa, April 17, 2001
This TechTalk offers a selection of experts from industry and academia who will explore how to get the most out of Voice-over-IP by examining the issues surrounding the creation and deployment of enhanced services.  Shifting to Voice-over-IP (VoIP) holds the promise of enhanced services that combine voice, data and even video in ways that we have never been able to build easily. The potential of “all IP, all the time” simplifies the management of media, but not necessarily applications. The range of issues to consider runs the gamut from signaling the VoIP network, to managing application features, user configurations, and the impact on people and privacy.

Regionalism in the European Union
Atlanta, April 20, 2001
The Regionalism Policy Network of the European Union Center of Georgia invites proposals for papers to be given at a multidisciplinary conference in Atlanta.  The conference will examine the impact of EU integration on regional patterns of political, economic, and cultural development.  Organizers especially welcome papers addressing one or more of the following themes: promotion and defense of regional political and cultural identities, EU regional policy to combat economic and social disparities and cross-border, inter-regional cooperation (development, commerce, environment).

Half A Century High! IT @2001
Toronto, April 23-24, 2001
Building on the premise that Canadian society is only now beginning to reap the productivity improvements made possible by advances in computer/communications, this conference will focus on developing technologies and the alternative futures they may enable. Internationally known industry leaders, technologists and analysts will be invited to speculate on the further development of information technology and its potential role in the solution of current social problems of concern to Canadians. 

CITO InnoTalk – E-Commerce Executive Tutorial: Internet Business in a Post Dot-Com World 
Toronto, April 26, 2001
This CITO InnoTalk offers an intensive one-day review of the theory and practice of electronic commerce, covering Web and wireless technology, process and market forces. This workshop, aimed at business and technical managers who need a hype-free overview of the field, will include case studies and demonstrations of state-of-the-art Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce systems.

Partners 2001 : Linking Education and the Local Economy
Winnipeg, April 26 – 28, 2001 
Join over 400 leaders and executives from education, business and government at the 12th Annual Partners 2001: Linking Education and the Local Economy Symposium and showcase.  Learn and share how to develop links and partnerships among business, education and communities to ensure economic competitiveness, prosperity and community development. 

The Vital Role Played by Universities in Innovation
Toronto, May 8, 2001
In celebration of Canada’s IT Week (May 4-13, 2001), ITAC Ontario, in partnership the Office for Partnerships for Advanced Skills (OPAS), is pleased to invite you to attend a breakfast meeting with Dr. Robert Birgeneau, President of the University of Toronto, who will be speaking on the vital role played by universities in innovation and the enterprise generated by innovation.  In addition to current examples such as the MARS initiative, he will discuss current and possible future initiatives and their potential impact.

CITO/ToRCHI InnoTalk: Universal Principles of Humane Interface Design
Toronto, May 14
Jef Raskin, father of Apple’s Macintosh computer, and more recently, author of the best selling book, “The Humane Interface” will be exposing the flaws of computer-human interfaces in a day long seminar.  “While we have been mucking about with questions of tailoring interfaces for this or that group and making ever more exotic hardware and software widgets, ” remarks Raskin ” the ugly fact remains that almost every computer-human interface is fundamentally flawed. We are trying to repair cracks in the foundation by painting over them. It is time to do things right from the ground up.” 

21st century policies for sustainable technological innovation: The role of STS higher education
Oslo, Norway, May 20-21, 2001 
Organised by the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture (T.I.K.), University of Oslo, this will be the fourth and final international conference organised as part of the European POSTI project: “Policies for Sustainable Technological Innovation in the 21st Century”. The conference will deal with two different concepts of innovation: sustainability-related objectives and measures incorporated in innovation processes or outputs, and innovation processes or outputs which aim directly at improving the present or future quality of the environment, in a broad sense. 

Strategic Alliances 2001 Conference: Strategy and Partnering Tools 
Ottawa, May 30-31, 2001
This conference will give business leaders the unique opportunity to hear how to form alliances that stimulate growth, and find out the value of having a clear view of what kinds of alliances should be pursued to leverage specific strengths, execute growth strategies or fill capability gaps.  Also, case studies will be discussed that explore the pitfalls and benefits of alliances

Nelson and Winter Conference
Aalborg, Denmark,  June 12-15, 2001
To commemorate the 20 years since Dick Nelson and Sid Winter published their seminal book An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change DRUID (Danish Research Unit of Industrial Dynamics), in collaboration with the journals Research Policy and Industrial and Corporate has organized this conference to address six main themes.  These include, 
‘Growth, Development and Structural Change’, ‘National Systems of Innovation, Institutions and Public Policies’ and, the ‘Production and Use of Knowledge.’

The 5th International Conference on Technology, Policy and Innovation
The Hague, Netherlands Congress Centre, June 26-29, 2001
Theme: Critical Infrastructures
The conference focuses on how infrastructures such as those enabling transportation of goods and people, telecommunications, and the supply and distribution of energy and water have become vital to the daily functioning and security of society.  Proposals are invited for workshops or presentations dealing with vulnerability, institutional management, historical lessons, innovation, and methodologies for interdisciplinary analysis and design, all related to critical infrastructures.

Canadian eBusiness Leadership Forum: Canada’s Internet Future
Toronto, June 26-28
At this Forrester two-day Event, industry leaders and Forrester analysts will focus on what is needed to: compete in the new arena of Canadian eBusiness; build strong and collaborative B2B relationships; and deliver products and services to online Canadians.  Speakers include: Jean C. Monty, Chairman and CEO, BCE, Marty Lippert, Vice Chairman and CIO, Royal Bank of Canada, and John D. Wetmore, President and CEO, IBM Canada.