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Innovation Policy Lab

The IPL newsletter: Volume 25, Issue 507

June 3, 2024

News from the IPL

RESEARCH

The Contribution of Students to Regional Economies

Shiri Breznitz
This video interview on Faculti features IPL Affiliated Faculty Shiri Breznitz discussing her Regional Studies article titled "The contribution of students to regional economies: reframing the regional innovation systems approach." The article is co-authored by Helen Lawton Smith and Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen.

Remote Work: Urban Panecea or Curse?

Shauna Brail and Tara Vinodrai, Intergovernmental Committee for Economic and Labour Force Development (ICE)
This report by IPL affiliated faculty members Tara Vinodrai and Shauna Brail was commissioned by the Intergovernmental Committee for Economic and Labour Force Development (ICE). The ICE Committee was established in 1997 by officials in the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, and the City of Toronto to coordinate the economic and labour force development activities of the three governments (and the various departments and ministries within each government) in Toronto. The study analyzes the impacts of remote work on productivity, implications for the future of the city, and best practices in planning for recovery.

Editor's Pick

The Political Economy of Industrial Policy

Réka Juhász & Nathan J. Lane National Bureau of Economic Research
This article examines the ways in which political realities shape industrial policy through the lens of modern political economy. The authors consider two broad “governance constraints”: i) the political forces that shape how industrial policy is chosen and ii) the ways in which state capacity affects implementation. The framework of modern political economy suggests that government failure is not a necessary feature of industrial policy; rather, it is more likely to emerge when countries pursue industrial policies beyond their governance capacity constraints. As such, the article's political economy of industrial policy is not fatalist. Instead, it enables policymakers to constructively confront challenges.

Cities & Regions

Joseph Parilla, Glencora Haskins, and Mark Muro, Brookings Institute
This report focuses on the Biden-Harris Administration's $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC)—a challenge grant administered by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) in the U.S. Department of Commerce. As the EDA’s signature American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) recovery program, the BBBRC awarded between $25 million and $65 million each to 21 competitively selected regionsIn that context, Brookings Metro and the EDA formed a learning engagement to document early insights from the BBBRC’s implementation. Brookings Metro conducted in-depth case studies documenting the early implementation of the BBBRC in seven regions. These seven case studies, which accompany this report, document how coalitions came together around a shared cluster opportunity, identified and implemented projects, and organized themselves for sustained success. This type of assessment aims to reveal critical early factors in operating a complex and ambitious effort, describe implementation barriers and success conditions, and assess whether and how the program has stimulated the kinds of decisions federal policymakers intended.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners reports more than $30 billion impact over the last 40 years

SSTI
This post summarizes the recent 2023 Annual Statewide Impact Report by Ben Franklin Technology Partners, a technology-based economic development program serving all 67 Pennsylvania counties. Since its inception more than 40 years ago, the program has boosted Pennsylvania’s economy by more than $30 billion, generating more than 58,000 jobs in client firms plus an additional 101,000 spinoff positions, for a total of 159,000 new jobs that otherwise would never have existed. In 2023, Ben Franklin’s clients generated $2.8 billion in revenue and secured $1.2 billion in post-Ben Franklin financing, according to the report. The program also supported 1,827 companies and helped clients create 2,493 jobs while retaining 10,588 more positions.

Statistics

Fading 2023 VC performance underscores Canadian tech’s “vulnerability,” BDC reports

Josh Scott, BetaKit
This article summarizes findings from BDC Capital’s latest Canadian VC landscape report. The report notes that 2023 saw softening returns amid a proliferation of down rounds (a round of financing at a lower valuation than a company’s previous round) and markdowns for Canadian technology firms. As previously reported by the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA), BDC noted that $6.9 billion CAD in VC funding was invested across 660 deals during 2023—declines of 34 percent and 12 percent year-over-year, respectively, as overall activity continued to return to pre-2020 levels.

Innovation Policy

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge - Building Supply Chains Request for Information Summary Report

US Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) released a Summary Report from a September 2023 Request for Information (RFI) seeking public feedback on building supply chains to meet Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge goals. The RFI was open to the public for two months and collected input and recommendations from industry, academia, national laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders needed for making progress towards a more sustainable future for the U.S. aviation sector. In addition to multiple key takeaways and themes summarized throughout the report, the RFI underscored the importance of both federal and state policies and collaborative actions by stakeholders to drive progress of SAF supply chains.

Net-Zero Industry Act makes the EU the home of clean tech manufacturing and green jobs

European Commission
This press release announces the final adoption of the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which "puts the EU on track to strengthen its domestic manufacturing capacities of key clean technologies." By creating a unified and predictable business environment for the clean tech manufacturing sector, NZIA will increase the competitiveness and resilience of the EU's industrial base and support quality jobs creation and a skilled workforce. For the EU to become a leader in the clean tech sector, NZIA sets a benchmark for the manufacturing capacity of strategic net-zero technologies to meet at least 40% of the EU's annual deployment needs by 2030.

Direct and Indirect Support for Innovation in Canada

Rashid Nikzad and Francis Demers, Statistics Canada
This study compares the Government of Canada’s direct and indirect measures to support R&D, as captured by business innovation and growth support (BIGS) programs and the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program. BIGS and SR&ED are two central instruments that the Canadian government uses to stimulate R&D expenditures in the business sector. Section 2 provides a background on direct and indirect tools that encourage R&D expenditures. Section 3 introduces the Government of Canada’s direct and indirect supports, as represented by BIGS and SR&ED. Section 4 compares these two tools in terms of volume, target groups and the relationship with R&D expenditures.

Policy Digest

New battery strategy to make more batteries here

Hon Ed Husic MP Minister for Industry and Science
This joint media release with the Prime Minister the Hon Anthony Albanese MP outlines The Albanese Government's recently released National Battery Strategy. As Australia's first national battery strategy, the document is part of the government's larger efforts "supporting a Future Made in Australia and shoring up our economic resilience and security." Minister Husic emphasized that "“Australia is a pioneer of battery tech, yet for too long we’ve sent our ideas offshore and lost the good jobs they create."
 
The strategy identifies four high-value strategic opportunities: 

  • Stationary storage - building Energy Storage Systems to firm renewable power generation in the national grid and for communities, businesses and homes.

  • Provide battery active materials to the world by upgrading raw minerals into processed battery components to strengthen battery supply chains.

  • Leveraging our world-leading know-how to build safer and more secure batteries connected to the grid.

  • Building batteries for our transport manufacturing industry, including heavy vehicle manufacturing.

Funding for the Strategy was announced on May 14th as part of Budget 2024-25:

  • $523.2 million for the Battery Breakthrough Initiative, administered by ARENA, to promote the development of battery manufacturing capabilities through production incentives targeted at the highest value opportunities in the supply chain.

  • $20.3 million for Building Future Battery Capabilities to incentivise cutting edge battery research, including support for: 

    • Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre to map Australian battery capability and value chains, drive battery innovation and scale-up and deliver best practice guidelines and standards for the battery industry.

    • Powering Australia Industry Growth Centre to develop workforce skills and training. 

The Budget also includes $1.7 billion for a new Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund, administered by ARENA, to accelerate deployment of innovative technologies and facilities through support for innovation, commercialisation, pilot and demonstration projects in priority sectors including clean energy manufacturing such as batteries.
 

Events

EVENTS

ISS2024

June 9-11, 2024, Gothenburg, Sweden
ISS2024 is the 20th biennial conference of The International Joseph A. Schumpeter Society. The conference takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden, between Sunday 9th June and Tuesday 11th June, 2024. The ISS2024 conference theme is "Transformation: Creative Accumulation and Creative Destruction in the Economy". The Deadline for submitting abstracts is Jan. 15th 2024.

2024 RSA Annual Conference: Global Challenges, Regional Collaboration and the Role of Places

11-14 June 2024, Florence, Italy
The Regional Studies Association’s Annual Conference 2024 #RSA24 is being held in partnership with the Department of Economics and Business Sciences and Department of Architecture, University of Florence, Italy. This four-day conference brings together academics and policymakers to exchange news, views and research findings from the fields of regional studies and science, regional and economic development, policy and planning.

2024 Industry Studies Association Annual Conference

June 13-15, 2024, Sacramento, CA, USA
This year's ISA conference is titled Empowering Community Wellbeing: Clean Energy, Sustainability and Industrial Strategy and will be held at California State University, Sacramento. In the heart of the world’s largest subnational economy, California, the Industry Studies Association proudly presents its annual conference with a theme that resonates with the future of our planet and communities. The conference will explore the dynamic interplay between California's pioneering efforts in clean energy and sustainability and their profound impacts on industrial strategy and community wellbeing around the world. Call for Paper and Panel Submissions

Technology Transfer Society Annual Meeting 2024

September 11-13, 2024, Brussels, Belgium
The conference theme is 'Blurring Boundaries and Ambiguous Roles: Universities and the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.' The deadline for abstract submissions is February 15, 2024.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Economist/Policy Analyst –Innovation and Technology Policy

The OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Directorate is looking for an Economist/Policy Analyst to support the work conducted by the Working Party on Innovation and Technology Policy (TIP). The selected candidate will work on one or several of the activities currently undertaken by the TIP team, depending on the profile and experience of the candidate, including activities in the following three fields: i) science, technology and innovation (STI) and its policies in support of green transitions, including specifically the preservation of biodiversity; ii) skills and ecosystem conditions for STI to support the green and digital transitions, including sectoral cluster policies in the field of advanced manufacturing and  needs to support ambitious “moonshot” initiatives and iii) the implications of STI on social, territorial and industrial inclusiveness. This vacancy will be filled as soon as possible, and applications should be submitted no later than midnight CEST 28 May 2024. 

Subscriptions & Comments

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This newsletter is prepared by Travis Southin.
Project manager is David A. Wolfe