News from the IPL
INTRODUCTION
This newsletter is published by The Innovation Policy Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, and sponsored by the Ministry of Research and Innovation. The views and ideas expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Ontario Government.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ICT Industry Aims to Accelerate SMB Adoption
group of prominent information and communications technology (ICT) companies has joined forces to address the problem of what is reported to be a relatively low adoption rate of electronic business tools among Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Building on the work of the Canadian e-Business Initiative (CeBI) and with the support of the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), the group has formed an “eTeam” to collaboratively find solutions to remove the barriers to adoption that Canada’s SMBs experience. The eTeam comprises executives from Hewlett-Packard Canada, Sun Microsystems of Canada, JED New Media, IDC Canada, Cisco Systems of Canada, Motorola Canada, Bell Canada, Aliant Inc., IBM Canada, Microsoft Canada, eBay and GSI Consulting Services Inc.
Canada Positions Itself as a Leader for Interactive Technology
Other nations look to Canada for interactive technology leadership, suggests a study on Canada’s digital broadcasting enterprises. The National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) announced its findings yesterday of a study that examined 185 companies countrywide, engaged in various aspects of interactive digital delivery, with a focus on proprietary technology and intellectual property. The findings reveal an industry that has positioned Canadian companies for export markets and massive events such as the Beijing and Vancouver Olympics. The report provides an overview of the emerging technologies being used to deliver television and video content via digital and wireless networks. Results appear on two graphical maps, charting the interactive technology landscape along company and product lines, such as software, hardware, transmission and display.
“@CANADA” Calendar Networks Canadian Advanced Technology Organizations
Canada’s advanced technology organizations have pooled their event calendars into a single online tool called “@CANADA”. The initiative, spearheaded by the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance) will provide Canadian and foreign executives with a single window into the dynamic world of Canadian technology activities. The @CANADA calendar is an advanced tool that can be searched by Region (city or province), by Interest (such as tax credits), by National view, and by Advanced Search of each specific organization across Canada, or by search words. Corporations are also invited to submit their events.
Editor's Pick
The Socio-Economic Impact of Nanoscale Science: Initial Results and NanoBank
Lynne G Zucker and Michael R Darby, NBER
Research on the nanoscale has revolutionized areas of science and has begun to have an impact on, and be impacted by, society and economy. We are capturing early traces of these processes in NanoBank, a large scale, multi-year project to provide a public data resource which will link individuals and organizations involved in creating and using nano S&T across a number of activities including publishing, patenting, research funding, and commercial financing, innovation and production. We report preliminary results from our work in progress. Nanotechnology is on a similar trajectory to biotechnology in terms of patents and publication, already accounting for over 2.5% of scientific articles and 0.7% of patents. Joint university-firm research is widespread and increasing. Regional agglomeration is also evident in both science and commercial applications, with the main clusters of firm entry by both new and pre-existing firms forming around major research universities publishing in nanoscience. Nanoscience has been highly concentrated in the United States, a few European countries, and Japan, but China has recently passed Japan in total articles per year and is beginning to have a significant number of highly-cited articles.
Innovation Policy
Evaluating the Impact of R&D Tax Credits on Innovation: A Microeconometric Study on Canadian Firms
Dirk Czarnitzki, Petr Hanel and Julio Miguel Rosa, CIRST
This paper evaluates the impact of tax credits for R&D in Canadian manufacturing, which has become the most important instrument in the arsenal of Canadian government programs supporting the creation and implementation of new technology. The data stem from the Statistics Canada Survey of Innovation 1999 that provides information on government support programs for R&D and also indicators of innovation impact. The sample is a cross-section of 4,644 manufacturing firms. Unlike the major part of the literature, this study does not focus on R&D expenditure (“the input side”), but focuses on the outcomes of innovation processes in the private sector. Using a non-parametric matching approach in order to control for a possible selection bias, we find that
R&D tax credits in fact have a positive impact on innovation output of the recipient firms. Tax credit recipients realize a higher number of product innovations, as well as sales with such.
Meds and Eds: The Key to Arizon Leapfrogging Ahead in the 21st Century
Arizona Biomedical Collaborative
This report probes the realities of Arizona road to becoming a leader in biosciences and calls upon the state to take action through five steps. Arizona faces two major challenges. The state faces kinks in its Meds and Eds base, including talent shortages, research weakness and a lack of medical schools, and is behind the curve in these areas. Simply playing catch-up, the report notes, will not work. It suggests Arizona follow the lead of younger regions such as Austin and San Diego, which have leapfrogged the competition in science and technology by creating new assets and combining them with existing ones in a new way. These two regions should act as a playbook for Arizona as it moves forward because both have demonstrated the power of knowledge assets, talent, proximity, collaboration and bold moves. To encourage state leaders to think strategically about its goals, the report has developed a strategic framework that reveals opportunity by merging health research and health care. Working in its favor is the state’s strong foundation. Arizona has already taken important steps through initiatives such as the Biosciences Roadmap.
Cities, Clusters & Regions
Creative Industries Cluster Study
Australian Government Information Management Office
The study provides firm, sector and industry wide information on the scope, scale and dynamics of the creative digital industries in Australia. The study informs the development of a consolidated Australian Government response to support the growth of major, globally competitive Australian industries producing digital content and applications. The study was undertaken in three stages. Stage One provided a general scoping overview of creative digital industries, Stage Two focused at the level of the firm and Stage Three researched key issues raised by the earlier reports in more detail.
Knowledge, Networks of Cities and Growth in Regional Urban Systems
Joan Trullen and Rafael Boix, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
This paper measures the impact of different kinds of knowledge and external economies on urban growth in an intraregional context. The main hypothesis is that knowledge leads to growth, and that this knowledge is related to the existence of agglomeration and network externalities in cities. The paper measures the amount and growth of knowledge in cities using the OCDE (2003) classification and employment data, identifies the spatial structure of the area of analysis (networks of cities)and combines Glaeser – Henderson – De Lucio models with spatial econometric specifications in order
to contrast the existence of spatially static (agglomeration) and spatially dynamic (network) external economies in an urban growth model. Results suggest that higher growth rates are associated to higher levels of technology and knowledge. The growth of the different kinds of knowledge is related to local and spatial factors (agglomeration and network externalities) and each knowledge intensity shows a particular response to these factors. These results have implications for policy design, since it is possible to forecast and intervene on local knowledge development paths.
Statistics & Indicators
Statistics Canada
This research workshop part of the foresight function of the Science, Innovation and Electronic Information Division, was co-sponsored and hosted by the University of Windsor. The workshop placed the performance of commercialisation in the context of recent federal policy and history. It provided an opportunity for people involved in producing intellectual property for commercialisation to tell their stories. Legal experts advised on the problems of managing intellectual property and on how to make academics, and their private sector partners, better informed about intellectual property protection mechanisms. Recommendations on measurements of commercialisation activities are presented in the report.
Summary: Meeting on Commercialization Measurement Indicators, Gaps and Frameworks
Statistics Canada
This report summarizes an expert meeting hosted by the Science, Innovation and Electronic Information Division on commercialisation. The purpose of the meeting was to identify indicators that could be used in support of evidence-based commercialisation policy, and a conceptual framework to tie them together. The findings were that it was premature to adopt a single conceptual framework and that it was important to measure linkages among public sector actors and between those in the public and private sectors if the activity of commercialisation was to be better understood.
Policy Digest
Innovation America: Cluster Based Strategies for Growing State Economies
Stu Rosenfeld, NGA
This report delves deeply into the public policy dimensions of clusters, and their significance for regional economic development. The paper outlines issues about how to define and locate relevant clusters in policy jurisdiction, but focuses primarily on strategies to develop those clusters to maximize regional development. While policy focus in North America may be shifting from cluster to city-region development strategies, this report demonstrates that the two approaches are complementary.
Determining the regional location of a state or province’s clusters is the starting point of any cluster based strategy. Identifying clusters is still as much an art as a science, but a useful picture of clusters can be drawn by combining analysis of business sectors, employment and wage data with regional observations and interviewing key business leaders. In doing so, it is critical to avoid creating a definition and boundaries that are too narrow, that cannot adjust to constant change, or that discourage collaboration among clusters.
Once clusters have been identified, the report outlines five initiatives that policy makers can use to support their growth.
Cluster Initiatives:
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Establish a Solid Foundation: This involves supporting the factors that enable the success of the cluster. These may be cluster specific, or more general, and include maintaining physical infrastructure, educational and public research infrastructure, and aligning the efforts of regional education, workforce and economic institutions.
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Build Relationships: Inter-firm and inter-cluster learning fosters innovation and prosperity. Policy makers can help build and sustain these critical relationships through the establishment of regional cluster councils, other inter-firm and inter-institutional networking events, and by supporting existing regional associations.
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Deepen Skills and Talent: By nature clusters attract and enhance talent, but governments can reinforce this tendency by creating cluster hubs at community colleges, fostering cluster-focused professional programs, encouraging cluster training consortia, as well as cluster-based career advancement paths.
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Align Innovation Investments: Policy makers can realize higher returns on their investments in research and development, centres of excellence, and business innovation by focusing on clusters.
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Accelerate Entrepreneurship: Talent and research are necessary but it takes entrepreneurship to translate good ideas into successful products and services. Policy makers can promote entrepreneurship by supporting entrepreneurial networks, creating cluster focused incubators, organizing small business centres and support, and encouraging entrepreneurship education programs at all levels of secondary and post-secondary education.
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Open Global Priorities: Successful clusters extend their networks globally. Governments can help by supporting participation in international conferences, trade shows, and study tours; by providing export assistance and by establishing cluster- based learning exchanges.
It is clear to most policy makers that cluster strategies are not silver bullets, but properly designed and applied, they can be used as one of several valuable tools to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and regional economic growth.
Events
Regionalism and Local Government Reform in Europe
Tolo, Greece, 8-11 April, 2005
The objective of this conference is to explore comparative regionalism and regionalisation, together with comparative local government and governance. Plenary speakers include a welcome from Fofe Yenimata, President to the Greek National Union of Prefectural Local Authorities (ENAE), Prof. Charlie Jeffery, University of Edinburgh and Dr. Evie Christofilopoulo, Hellenic Open University and Member of the Greek Parliament. The major themes of the conference are: The impact of structural reorganisation on local governments and local governance; Local political and administrative leadership, including the impact of directly elected mayors and other existing or new political leadership arrangements; Local economic development; The development of regional government and governance, including the influence of the European Union on regional development.
Toronto, 29 April – 1 May, 2005
Universities and corporations are working together more closely than ever before to transform biomedical research into products and practices that benefit human health. Few studies synthesize the lessons learned. The goal of this conference is to fill this gap by comparing international strategies to promote effective knowledge transfer between universities and firms and prompt an informed discussion of available policy options. It will also examine the new legal, economic, and social challenges that policy makers and administrators face when implementing these strategies. The state of university-industry relations will be examined from national perspectives and international comparisons. Experts will discuss the factors shaping university-industry relationships,including institutional structures, social norms, public policies, intellectual property regulations, incentive structures, new funding models, etc. Several sessions will compare and evaluate present mechanisms to promote knowledge transfer, including collaborative research centers, spin-off companies, technology transfer offices, and public-private matching grants..
7th Annual Innovation Systems Research Network National Conference
Toronto, 5-7 May, 2005
This year’s annual conference returns to Toronto 5 – 7 May, 2005 as a full three day event for ISRN members. The highlight this year will be the two-day National Meeting taking place at the Renaissance Hotel Toronto at Skydome, in the heart of downtown Toronto. This year’s meeting will highlight the results of ISRNs seven years of innovation systems studies – the work of the ISRN National Research team from across Canada. Public registrations are limited but the network will accommodate as many of our interested partners as possible.
Toronto, 17-19 May, 2005
BioFinance 2005 is a gathering of some of the most innovative minds in the life science industries and will feature presentations by senior management from over 100 life science companies from across Canada, the US and Europe. The range of participating firms includes large publicly traded and smaller listed companies and a wide range of private companies from larger and established to early-stage opportunities. The presenting companies will be developing new medicines, devices, diagnostics, medical technologies, research tools and health care systems.
5th Triple Helix Conference – The Capitalization of Knowledge: Cognitive, Economic, Social and Cultural AspectsTurin-Milan, 18-21 May, 2005
The 5th Triple Helix Conference will bring together researchers interested in the interaction between University, Government and Industry. The conference program will include 10 Track Sessions per day, made up of paper sessions dedicated to individual scientific contributions, workshops on selected specific themes and panels intended for industrial experts and policy makers. Theorganizers invite contributions on issues related to the conference theme: economics of innovation, organizational sociology, regional policy, business & management, cognitive economics,finance, law & economics, industrial economics, scientific and technology policy, and political science.
EECO Environment and Energy Conference
Toronto, 25-27 May, 2005
EECO is a biennial ‘platform’ where business leaders, elected officials, public policy makers and NGOs meet to examine priority business and environment risks/opportunities. This series fosters dialogue and debate on building a future of increased competitiveness coupled with environmental protection. The dynamic and strategically focused program, highly targeted and interactiveexposition, and engaging social events deliver outstanding value to delegates, sponsors and partners. Inaddressing the region’s critical business and competitiveness challenges head on, thisconference will feature the EECO Forum and four informative and exciting tracks.
Benevento and Napoli, Italy, 5-9 June, 2005
This conference will explore themes associated with information technology, the knowledge economy, technology policy, and the significance of place in cyberspace. The conference locations have been selected because both cities “represent more then 2,000 years of development and exemplify the ability of places to constantly change in response to social, economic and technological forces”. Local authorities will look at the changes ICTs have made in the region.Digital Cities: The Augmented Public Sphere
Milano, Italy, 13-16 June, 2005
Participants in this workshop will discuss the opportunities and challenges resulting from the digitalization of public space. Among the issues to be addressed are the goals and the outcomes of prior virtual public spaces, difficulties encountered by civic and community networks, the limitations
of digital cities, and the new frontiers of e-participation, e-consultation and e-democracy. The workshop will focus on any topics relevant to discuss how Information and Communication Technologies are reshaping the human relationships at the urban level and the public space of our cities.
UK eLearning Regions and Cities Conference
Oxford, UK, 21-22 June, 2005
The 2005 UK eLearning Regions and Cities Conference will bring together the most up to date information in eLearning for regional authorities. The 2005 conference will also work with groupings of regional stakeholders (e.g. the RDA, representatives from LEAs and from HE and FE institutions, local LSCs, employers and workforce representatives, as well as locally based technology providers) to work on regional strategy and tactics. Policy is all very well, but what is needed is a sense of mutually aware action: more than just talk.
Dynamics of Industry and Innovation: Organizations, Networks and Systems
Copenhagen, Denmark, 27-29 June, 2005
The DRUID Ten Year Anniversary Summer Conference will be held at the Copenhagen Business School. The conference’s scientific committee will consider all papers in the order in which theyarrive with respect to novelty, academic quality and the proposed paper’s relation to the theme of the conference.
Innovations and Entrepreneurship in Functional Regions
Uddevalla, Sweden, 15-17 September, 2005
The objectives of the symposium/conference are: i) to provide a unique opportunity for scholars and senior and junior researchers to discuss path-breaking concepts, ideas, frameworks and theory-essentials in plenary key-note sessions and parallel competitive paper sessions, and ii) to facilitate the development and synthesis of important contributions into cohesive and integrated collections for potential publication. The conference will focus on the themes of international entrepreneurship; innovation, entrepreneurship policy and regional development; entrepreneurship in the public andnon-profit sector; innovation, academic entrepreneurship and high tech firms in functional regions; and SMEs, immigrant entrepreneurship and local economic development. Paper submissions will be considered until March 15, 2005.
Creative Places + Spaces 2: Risk Revolution
Toronto, 30 September – 1 October, 2005
This conference is dedicated to unlocking the creative potential of people and places through innovative social, educational, cultural, environmental and economic initiatives. In addition to onstage presentations, the conference will offer a Creativity Marketplace, which will provide organizations an opportunity to display materials and meet with delegates to exchange ideas and share information about their work in a less formal setting. We also invite the submission of feature articles and story ideas for the Creative Places + Spaces NewsJournal. The conference welcomes submissions of dynamic presentations, demostration projects and case studies from practitioners in the fields of arts, science, business, government, education and social services suitable for the conference.
Toulouse, France, 27-29 October, 2005
This conference will bring together academic and industrial decision makers and their municipal counterparts with a view to fostering debate and discussion about best practices with respect to the creation, management and development of technology clusters.
Pretoria, South Africa, 31 October – 4 November, 2005
Globelics (the Global Network for the Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems) is a framework for scholars who use the concepts of learning, innovation and competence building systems as part of their analytical framework. The network is especially focused on the strengthening of research on learning and innovation systems in developing countries. In the region most in need of human and economic development, Globelics Africa 2005 aims to further examine the links between innovation, development and growth. The conference also aims to build research capacity in Africa by establishing contact between researchers from Africa and from other regions of the world, both from leading academic centres, and from other developing contexts. In addition, the conference aims to rethink and reframe the challenges of the African continent in the light of insights from innovation systems research. Scholars from innovation studies will contribute a range of approaches and perspectives to guide research, policy formulation and action to bring about societal transformation through enhanced learning, innovation and knowledge competencies.
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This newsletter is prepared by Jen Nelles.
Project manager is David A. Wolfe.