News from the IPL
RECENT WEBINAR
Policymaking Under Uncertainty
This is a recording of the Oct. 14th, 2020 event focused on Policymaking Under Uncertainty. Policymaking is a challenging endeavour under the best of times, as politicians and bureaucrats seek to juggle the need for rapid and innovative interventions on the one hand with democratic accountability on the other. This trade-off, which can lead to conservative, short-term solutions, is exacerbated during periods of heightened uncertainty, moments when the possible outcomes themselves are unknown. This panel examines how policymakers adapt to extremely uncertain events, focusing on innovation, war, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Speakers:
Uri Gabai, Co-General Manager, Start-Up Nation Central and former Chief Strategy Officer, Israel Innovation Authority, Tel Aviv Israel
Darius Ornston, Associate Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto
Sylvia Schwaag Serger, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Professor of Research Policy at the School of Economics and Management, Lund University; Member of the Swedish Prime Minister’s Innovation Council, Sweden
Dan Breznitz (moderator), Munk Chair of Innovation Studies; Co-Director, Innovation Policy Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto; Co-Director, CIFAR Program on Innovation, Equity & the Future of Prosperity
Editor's Pick
How Effective Are R&D Tax Incentives? New Evidence From the OECD microBeRD Project
OECD
This OECD STI Policy Note summarizes findings from the OECD microBeRD project, which investigates whether R&D tax incentives and direct funding are effective in stimulating additional R&D investment (“R&D input additionality”) by business using a novel, internationally distributed method of microdata-based impact analysis. Results from this project’s Phase I (2016-19) show that the effect of such measures varies across different types of firms and R&D expenditures, and shed light on the mechanisms driving these effects (OECD, 2020). These findings, based on 20 OECD countries, have important policy implications.
Cities, Clusters & Regions
Report Highlights Importance of International Collaboration for Innovation at City Level
Ellie Cosgrave from UCL STEaPP, in collaboration with The Business of Cities and Nesta
This report reviews the innovation benefits for cities and subnational governments of international collaboration. The report explores how cities and subnational governments (SNGs) can improve their capabilities and capacity for innovation by expanding their networks internationally. Combining findings from a literature review, case studies from across the globe and interviews with experts in the field, the report presents an overview of the history of international collaboration between cities and SNGs, the current picture and the potential for these partnerships as a source of innovation. The report concludes with a number of insights, models and recommendations both for UK cities and SNGs, and those around the world.
Statistics
The Innovation Superclusters Initiative – A Preliminary Analysis
Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer
This report analyzes the progress of the Innovation Superclusters Initiative in Canada as of March 6th. Budget 2017 earmarked $918 million over five years for the Innovation Superclusters Initiative (ISI). The federal money will assist with the creation of five “superclusters” across Canada, where the public and private sectors will undertake collaborative research. The Government projects that this initiative will lead to the creation of 50,000 jobs, increase GDP by $50 billion over 10 years, and accelerate innovation. Federal funding is expected to be matched by contributions from non-federal entities, including the private sector, universities and other levels of government. Non-federal partners have announced $1,087 million over the same five- year period. Data shared by the Government as of March 6, 2020 indicate that actual spending is lagging the original budget. The Government originally anticipated that it would have spent $ 104 million(or 11% of its total budget) by that point. In comparison, only $ 30 million wasspent (29 % of the original projection).
Colin Edwards, SSTI
Policy Matters Ohio and Century Foundation report focused on U.S. manufacturing, highlighting the sector’s vulnerabilities in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The report examines annual employment and payroll data going back to 2000, finding that while increasing over the last decade, the number of manufacturing jobs in the four Great Lakes states and the nation had not yet rebounded to pre-Great Recession levels, even before the pandemic. This slow growth is attributed to the continued offshoring of unskilled labor, with reshoring policies falling short and near-shoring failing to deliver jobs.
Innovation Policy
Technology Sovereignty: From Demand to Concept
Jakob Edler, Knut Blind, Rainer Frietsch, Simone Kimpeler, Henning Kroll, Christian Lerch, Thomas Reiss, Florian Roth, Torben Schubert, Johanna Schuler, Rainer Walz, Fraunhofer ISI
Calls for technology sovereignty in Europe were becoming louder even before the current Corona crisis. Growing geopolitical uncertainties and the threat of global trade conflicts are questioning the optimism of recent decades concerning the interdependence of EU economies. In Germany, this is triggering a discussion about how independent a state or a federation of states must and can be with regard to critical technologies. It becomes clear that there is an increasing conflict between the call for technology sovereignty on the one hand, and the dominant economic model on the other, in which global specialization and the division of labor combined with open trade increases the welfare of all. Germany, in particular, as an export nation, and the EU as an economic area must consider the question of technology sovereignty carefully and in a differentiated manner. This paper presents one conception of technology sovereignty and develops the criteria and key analytical steps needed to determine the criticality of technologies and the degree of technology sovereignty. The paper also develops modified strategies to safeguard or to produce technology sovereignty.
US at a Tipping Point in Science & Engineering, New Report Shows
Ellen Marrison, SSTI
This post summarizes the findings of a new report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences titled The Perils of Complacency: America at a Tipping Point in Science & Engineering. The report argues that the U.S. has no coherent strategy for maintaining its high standing as a world leader in science, technology, and innovation, and has watched as China has overtaken the country on many indicators of prowess in R&D and innovation. The report reasserts many of the recommendations of the 2014 report, including calls for an increase in total R&D investment (public and private) as a percent of GDP; increased federal funding for basic research; doubling the number of H1-B visas; implementing mechanisms for more effective university-industry partnerships, and more.
House Democrats Say Big Tech Has ‘Monopoly Power.’ Here’s What They Mean
Emily Birnbaum & Issie Lapowsky, Protocol
This post summarizes the most important findings and recommendations from the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee’s report. The subcommittee has spent over 15 months aggressively investigating the dominance of the country’s largest tech firms. On Tuesday, it published its 449-page final report, which summarizes what Congress has discovered about the inequalities of the digital marketplace and outlines proposals for how to deal with Big Tech’s power.
Policy Digest
Broad-based Innovation Policy for All Regions and Cities
OECD
To deepen the understanding of how OECD countries can move towards a broad-based form of innovation policy, the OECD worked with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy in bringing together academic and policy experts in a series of five high-level expert workshops on “Broadening innovation policy – New insights for regions and cities”. This publication provides a summary of the discussion, building on a series of background papers prepared by academic and policy experts. IPL Co-Director David A. Wolfe was one of the contributing experts, authoring a report titled Experimental Governance: Conceptual Approaches and Practical Cases.
The report highlights the need for a broad-based approach to innovation policy to unlock the innovation potential of all types of regions and cities. A broad-based approach requires taking capacity of the regional innovation system into account and adapting efforts across all levels of government to work with and upgrade that capacity.
This report establishes six principles that help broaden innovation policy to benefit all types of regions and cities:
Build on your regional innovation system, involving everyone. Policy needs a tailored approach that considers and adapts to local assets through engagement with local actors that create, share and distribute knowledge. Successful engagement requires incentives (e.g. regulatory or fiscal) aligned with the aim to support regional innovation, or at least incentives that do not actively discourage collaboration between actors in the innovation system.
Ensure your regional innovation system is adaptive. Even in regions with established economic strengths, there is a risk that economies become stuck during industrial, digital or green transitions, failing to adapt to changing times. Historically, a closed innovation system that aims to internalise competencies and returns from innovation has supported the development of many regions in the OECD. However, as innovations increasingly arise at the intersection of existing technologies and knowledge areas, a closed system might no longer be the most effective approach to regional innovation.
Integrate mechanisms that support learning into policy development. Evaluation and learning how to improve the regional innovation system needs to be an integral part of the policy process. Knowledge sharing networks can help disseminate practices that worked in other places, and mapping and foresight exercises can help learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the regional innovation system. Governance mechanisms, such as experimental governance, can institutionalise the learning process and make it an integral part of the policy cycle. A fundamental challenge in policy learning and experimentation, however, lies in determining the underlying social and institutional criteria necessary to make them successful.
Seek opportunities for local innovation along global value chains. Many different channels support the flow of knowledge to regions that are not themselves at the technological frontier. Foreign direct investment can bring new ideas and competencies to a region if the incentives are such that multinational enterprises are willing to engage locally. Firms can draw on knowledge within their supply chains, which can be particularly valuable if these supply chains cross borders, e.g. as part of global value chains. Ensuring spillovers to the region often requires a proactive role by regional or local governments that have to think beyond simply attracting economic activity and instead focus on embedding it.
Embrace disruption rather than fight it. Disruptive innovations can lead to the displacement of existing industries and job losses. Rather than trying to avoid disruption, policy responses need to prepare and steer disruptive progress towards growth that is inclusive, e.g. through aligning training efforts with expected innovations. Disruption to the way economies function might even be necessary. Without disruptive innovations in transport, energy production and a move towards less wasteful consumption, efforts to mitigate climate change and to transition towards carbon-neutral economies will fail.
Foster links between policy domains and its intermediaries. An innovation system is only as strong as the links that connect the actors in the system. Many of the policies that can foster stronger innovation systems are outside the scope of innovation policy, e.g. training and skills development, business promotion or attraction of foreign direct investment. All of these fields can provide a critical impetus for the upgrading of the regional capacity for innovation, in particular if they embrace innovation as an additional objective.
Links to recent IPL webinars
This is a recording of the Jul 16th, 2020 event focused on exploring the short and long term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Panelists included Catherine Beaudry, Ben Spigel, Tara Vinodrai, and David Wolfe.
Will COVID-19 Bring Us Together or Blow Us Apart? The Global Security Implications of the Pandemic
This is a recording of the July 7th, 2020 event focused on the national and international security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Janice Stein discusses the historical security lessons of previous pandemics and depressions, Jon Lindsay considers emerging military and strategic dangers exacerbated by COVID-19, and Ron Deibert discusses the cybersecurity and surveillance threats associated with the unprecedented relocation of life online.
This is a recording of the June 11, 2020 event focused on how will COVID-19 shape the future of our cities. Join experts Anita McGahan, Shauna Brail (School of Cities), and Nathalie des Rosiers (Massey College), Richard Florida (School of Cities Professor) as they discuss cities after COVID with Marcia Young, host of CBC’s World Report.
This is a recording of the June 11, 2020 event focused on the impact of COVID-19 on higher education. Speakers: Shiri Breznitz, Heike Mayer, Donald Siegel and Elvira Uyarra.
The Future of (Decent?) Work After COVID-19
This is a recording of the May 26, 2020 Munk School / Innovation Policy Lab / CIFAR event focused on the future of work after COVID-19. Speakers: Dan Breznitz, Zabeen Hirji and Peter Warrian.
This is a recording of the May 11th 2020 event focused on “what will the world look like in the wake of COVID-19?” Speakers: Shauna Brail, Anita McGahan, Tara Vinodrai and Shiri Breznitz.
COVID-19 and the World’s Grand Challenges
This is a recording of the May 8th 2020 event focused on “what impact will COVID-19 have on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?” Speakers: Anita McGahan, Joseph Wong and Karlee Silver.
How is COVID-19 affecting global supply chains?
This is a recording of the April 29th 2020 event focused on “how is COVID-19 affecting supply chains in Canada and around the globe?” Speakers: Dan Breznitz, Shauna Brail and Steven Denney.
Events
The European Week of Regions and Cities
5-22 October, 2020
The European Week of Regions and Cities is an annual four-day event during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement European Union cohesion policy, and prove the importance of the local and regional level for good European governance. Sessions are free and open to attend but require delegates to register.
Prospering in the Post COVID Economy: Building a Cooperative Model for Success
Re$earch Money Virtual Conference, 19-21 October, 2020
The COVID pandemic has brought into focus how critical a resilient innovation ecosystem is for our survival, self-sufficiency and sustainability. Join us at the 19th annual R$ Conference: Prospering in the Post- Covid Economy: Building a Cooperative Model for Success and take advantage of networking opportunities through our app with features such as virtual booths, session forums and in-app messaging. Find out more and register here: https://www.researchmoneyevents.com/conference
Canadian Science Policy Virtual Conference
16-20 November, 2020
The program of the 12th Canadian Science Policy Conference is now available. CSPC features exciting panel sessions and programs, with panels from Australia and Asia to countries in Africa, South and Central America, Europe and the U.S., and of course, from coast to coast to coast of Canada. The conference theme is CSPC 2020: New Decade, New Realities: Hindsight, Insight, Foresight, where CSPC decodes the new dimensions of our world and how science and innovation play a role in shaping it.
Regional Innovation Policies Conference
Aalborg, Denmark, 25-26 March 2021
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak the conference has been postponed to March 25 and 26, 2021 in Aalborg, Denmark. The conference will focus on regions in transformation – as well as transformations in regional innovation policy and new developments in methods for defining and analyzing regions. Submission deadline: 30th November 2020.
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This newsletter is prepared by Travis Southin.
Project manager is David A. Wolfe