The IPL newsletter: Volume 2, Issue 27

Canada’s Technology Triangle Winds Up European Mission Promoting the Area for Investment

Randy Ellis, CEO of Canada’s Technology Triangle, wound up a successful 21-day mission to Europe on Friday. The visit focused on promoting investment opportunities in the Cambridge – Kitchener – Waterloo region to key European business people and government contacts in Britain, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Sweden.

Website Link: The Innovation Journal

The public sector innovation journal is an independent Internet-based journal devoted to sharing ideas and discussion of public sector innovation.  In addition to peer-reviewed articles, the journal features a selection of case studies, both Canadian and international, book reviews and information on upcoming seminars, publications, and other related websites.

Local Economic Development e-newsletter – New Zealand based

This is an occasional e-newsletter from Cluster Navigators Ltd for those with an interest in local economic development, particularly from a cluster perspective. Included are experiences in supporting local agencies in the development of clustering programs as well as information on upcoming seminars and other related activities. The company has recently been involved in clustering initiative start-ups in Australia , in a review of 40 clustering initiatives underway in New Zealand , and in the preparation of a Cluster Builders Manual for local economic development professionals.

The Regional Dimension of the European Research Area

This communication from the Commission of European Communities addresses the regional dimension of the European Research Area, focusing on the “motor” role that regions may play in the overall context of economic growth based on research, technology and innovation.  In particular, the paper examines how these regions influence the process by which a real European Research policy is achieved that benefit citizens, attains results, stimulates development and generates wealth and jobs. The paper also examines how to best use the Community’s research and innovation instruments and, how to develop efficient synergies between the Union’s research, innovation and structural policies.

Next-Generation Knowledge Management: Enabling Business Processes

Presentations from American Productivity and Quality Centre’s September 2001 conference in Houston on next-generation knowledge management are now available for viewing.  Speakers included, Ikujiro Nonaka, Professor, Hitotsubashi University, Dr. Josef Hofer-Alfeis, Siemens Medical Solutions and, Jeffrey A. Goldman, Ph.D., General Dynamics Electronic Systems.

Impediments to Advanced Technology Adoption for Canadian Manufacturers

J. Baldwin Z. Lin, Statistics Canada

Using survey data, this paper investigates problems that firms in the Canadian manufacturing sector face in their decision to adopt advanced technology. The data show that while the use of advanced technology is relatively important (users account for over 80% of all shipments), it is not widespread among firms (users represent only about one-third of all establishments). One explanation lies in the fact that while advanced technologies provide a wide range of benefits, firms also face a series of problems that impede them from adopting advanced technology related to cost, institutions, labour, organization, and information.

Building the New West: A Framework for Regional Economic Prosperity

Published by the Canada West Foundation, this framework is the outcome of a multi-year research and public consultation initiative to explore the strategic positioning of western Canada within the global economy.  Outlined are five priorities that must be addressed to ensure that western Canada achieves long-term economic prosperity: the West must create the tools to attract, retain and build human capital, continue economic diversification, strengthen its transportation infrastructure, promote the global competitiveness of its major cities, and develop new ways of facilitating regional coordination.

The European Innovation Scoreboard

European Commission

This yearly innovation scoreboard compares each European state alongside the United States and Japan in four areas: human resources, knowledge creation, transmission and application of new knowledge, innovation finance and output and markets.  Though all Member States have improved their innovation performance, the report finds that there remain substantive national differences. Variations between Member States are particularly high for life-long learning, business R&D, high-tech patenting and the share of SMEs involved in co-operative innovation. The differences are greater in areas directly influenced by private decision-making. In contrast, there is less variability between Member States for most indicators that are strongly influenced by public policy, such as tertiary education or public R&D investments.

Federal Funds (U.S.) for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 1999, 2000, and 2001

Data in the tables of this publication were derived from the American Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development and cover fiscal years 1999–2001. They reflect research and development (R&D) funding levels as reported by 30 US Federal agencies in February through November 2000. All agencies that were identified as conducting R&D programs were surveyed.

Innovations for an e-Society- Challenges for Technology Assessment

Berlin, 17-20 October, 2001

This conference, organized by the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis at the Research Centre Karlsruhe, is concerned with all aspects of society making better and increased use of information and communication technologies, with special emphasis on the roles of knowledge and information. There will be sessions on the following topics: e-Commerce, New Media and Culture, Electronic Governance, e-Health Services and New Approaches of Technology Assessment and Forecasting.

The Private Sector’s Role in Creating Digital Opportunities 

Toronto, 19 October, 2001

This workshop focuses on the challenge that a ‘digital divide’ presents to individuals, businesses, and communities in the new economy. Sponsored by Canadian E-Business Opportunities Roundtable and the Committee for Economic Development, the workshop will be a high-level discussion to learn about and contribute to the creation of digital opportunities, What are the issues? How is the private sector meeting this challenge? What are some sustainable solutions for transforming the many digital divides into digital opportunities?  The Honourable Brian Tobin, Minister of Industry, Government of Canada, and The Honourable Peter Harder, Deputy Minster, Industry Canada will be among the keynote speakers.

Clusters & the New Economy 

Tuscon, 29 October- 2 November

For their 4th Annual Conference, the Competitiveness Institute has organized a global forum for exchanging best practices on cluster development.  The conference will focus on what clustered regions should do differently because of the New Economy, providing ‘the how’ of making clusters an economic driving force of a regional economy. A mixture of short plenary sessions will be included in on such topics as new cluster types resulting from the new economy, how the software industry has impacted clusters and, the Arizona experience.  A heavy emphasis will be given to workgroup activity, and discussion.

CASCON 2001

Toronto, 5-8 November, 2001

The 2001 IBM Centre for Advanced Studies Conference invites researchers and developers from IBM, universities, government agencies, and their industry partners to present their latest technological undertakings.  One of the key components of CASCON is the technology showcase where CASCON provides an interactive forum for researchers and developers to meet and interact in a friendly atmosphere.  The deadline for registering posters and demos for CASCON 2001 is Monday, October 1, 2001.

Meeting Canada’s R&D Challenge: Moving from 15th to 5th in Global R&D

Ottawa, 13 November, 2001

RE$EARCH MONEY, Canada’s leading source of news and analysis for the R&D community, in partnership with NSERC, CFI and others, will bring together some of Canada’s most influential thinkers to debate how Canada can improve its R&D performance over the next decade.  Meeting Canada’s R&D Challenge is a must for anyone who is involved in research, development or policy. If you want to participate in helping Canada become Number Five in Global R&D, this conference is for you.

Implementing Clusters in Practice: Academic and Practical Perspectives

Newcastle upon Tyne, 17 October, 2001

The Regional Studies Association in conjunction with the ESRC is organizing a half-day seminar in Newcastle upon Tyne, as part of the ESRC Cluster seminar series.  The focus of this seminar will be to look at how cluster policies have been implemented in practice.  Particular emphasis will be placed on the way in which academic and practitioner analyses of these policies and the clusters have advanced understandings of local, regional and national economic development.  Speakers will be drawn from academic, practitioner and policy-maker communities, with the opportunity for a lively and engaging debate alongside the main presentations to build on and extend the interim findings of the seminar series.

Regional Innovation Observatories and Technology Watch 

Póvoa de Varzim (Portugal), 8-9 November, 2001

This workshop, organized by TecMinho, the Innovation Relay Centres and Innovating Regions in Europe Central Unit, aims at promoting the exchange of information and presenting good practices on technology watch at two levels.  The first is at the level of policy makers, particularly for enhancing the services that can be provided by Regional Innovation Observatories  The workshop will demonstrate how to set up Innovation Observatories, the methodologies they use and the role they play in guiding regional innovation policies. The second level focuses on technology watch services to companies, particularly SMEs, emphasizing the role that can be played by IRCs.

2001 Innovation Conference: Investing In Innovation

Montreal, 19-20 November, 2001

This Conference Board of Canada event focuses on the critical necessity to increase investment for innovation, presenting helpful tools and lessons learned from practitioners, and discussing what it means for the country, organizations and individuals. The conference will help executives, managers and entrepreneurs in any organization to create the kind of culture that encourages the constant effort to find and invest in new answers, new ideas and new products. Stakeholders for this event include the business community, the financial community, the education system and all levels of government.

5th Annual ‘European Network on Industrial Policy’ (EUNIP) Conference

Vienna, 29 November – 1 December, 2001

This EUNIP Conference will focus on the cutting edge topics in industrial and structural policy, including policies promoting growth, competitiveness and employment. Topics include industrial economics and policy, innovation policy and theory and, regulatory issues in network industries.  A special session will focus on industrial policy in a knowledge-based economy.

Creating and Applying Vision in the Regions: Towards Agile and Networked Regions through Foresight

Dublin, 13 December 2001

This EC Conference focuses on regional foresight and seeks to explain how such activities may help regional policies achieve their major objectives (e.g. improvement of competitiveness, job creation, sustainable development). It will examine what good practice is in Foresight, and will unveil a practical guide for regional foresight developed through the FOREN initiative. FOREN is an EC-supported network, under the STRATA program, which has brought researchers and policymakers together to share experiences in regional foresight and to learn from each other. The conference will also showcase keynote speeches and in-depth presentations by leading figures in regional futures thinking and action.

Regional Governance in an Age of Globalization

Stuttgart, Germany, 8-9 March, 2002

This conference aims to examine and advance theories and practices in understanding regional governance in an age of globalization. The focus will be on globalization and its impact on subnational governments around the world with a particular interest in the intersection of the international with the local and regional and how this phenomenon is affecting the development of international and transnational relations on the one hand, and governance internationally, nationally, and subnationally on the other. The influence of unprecedented technological change on globalization and governance is also of interest to the conference organizers.

Rethinking Science Policy: Analytical Frameworks for Evidence-based Policy

Brighton, 21-23 March, 2002

This conference focuses on new models for science policy, exploring the European context where traditional foundations for science policy have been increasingly questioned during the last few decades of science policy research as policymakers search for new methods of harnessing scientific investigation.  Twenty-six new papers, including eight invited papers by leading authorities in the field of science policy, will be presented.  Final date for acceptance of abstractsNovember 1, 2001.