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
TRRA Contributes to Successful Investment deal between Province and Agfa Healthcare
Agfa Healthcare recently announced a $200 million investment to consolidate R&D in Waterloo Region, making it one of the company’s primary research and development facilities. TRRA was an important member of a strong community team led by Communitech and featuring very strong input and financial support from the Province of Ontario and its Next Generation of Jobs Fund which contributed $30 million to the overall project. TRRA provided competitive technical intelligence of patent activity in digital imaging, comparing Waterloo Region output versus the rest of the world. One hundred new jobs are expected to result from this investment.
The photonics industry is booming in Canada, which just might give new meaning to the phrase “northern lights.” The nation has 370 photonics companies that employ 20,000 people, and the industry generates $4.5 billion in Canadian revenue each year, according to an industry report released at Photonics West 2009 by the Canadian Photonics Consortium (CPC). Eighty-five percent of that revenue comes from exports, including 50 percent to the US. Clusters in the provinces of Québec and Ontario have shown healthy growth potential with a strong startup base and the migration of small and medium enterprises into larger entities. In terms of research and development, the nation’s photonics organizations and universities have excelled – contributing the world’s first solid-state laser range finder, the TEA CO2 laser and laser marking, fiber Bragg grating, charge-couples devices (CCDs), open-heart surgery using an excimer laser, photodynamic drug therapy for cancer treatment, commercial 10 Gb/s optical transport and the first lidar system on the surface of Mars – but R&D efforts have not yet been fully converted into economic activity.
Editor's Pick
A New Menu for Ontario’s Food Economy
Martin Prosperity Institute
Ontario has long been a producer of food, but the nature of that production has changed significantly as has the quality. Now there is a buzz around food, and Ontario has the opportunity to be at the forefront of food innovations. The Ontario food industry is one of the most diverse in the world, producing over 200 agricultural commodities. The Province is known for its work in food technology research and development, and the agri-food sector exports $8.5 billion worth of commodities annually, accounting for 28% of Canada’s total annual agri-food exports. In 2006, Ontario’s Food Cluster consisted of 113,395 firms and farms, 726,200 jobs and $85.2 billion in annual revenues. This first batch of working papers highlights the diverse array of challenges and opportunities Ontario faces as it transitions toward the creative age.
Innovation Policy
Canada Foundation for Innovation Annual Report
CFI
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI’s mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians. Since its creation in 1997, CFI investments have ied to breakthroughs across the full spectrum of science, including health, natural resources and energy, information and communications technology, and the environment. This annual report highlights the activities and acheivements of the CFI in 2007-2008.
Arts and the Economy: Using Arts and Culture to Stimulate State Economic Development
NGA Center for Best Practices
Arts and culture are important to state economies. Arts and culture-related industries, also known as “creative industries,” provide direct economic benefits to states and communities: They create jobs, attract investments, generate tax revenues, and stimulate local economies through tourism and consumer purchases. These industries also provide an array of other benefits, such as infusing other industries with creative insight for their products and services and preparing workers to participate in the contemporary workforce. In addition, because they enhance quality of life, the arts and culture are an important complement to community development, enriching local amenities and attracting young professionals to an area. To help their states realize the full potential and economic benefits of the arts and culture sector, governors must identify the pivotal creative industries or clusters in the state. Then, they can adopt strategies that support and strengthen these industries. These include offering incentives targeted at the arts and culture sectors as well as development initiatives, entrepreneurial training, marketing programs, or public-private
collaborations to encourage growth and invest in specific creative clusters.
OECD Work on Innovation: A Stocktaking of Existing Work
Sarah Box, OECD
In May 2007, OECD Ministers mandated the preparation of an OECD Innovation Strategy. The Strategy has two broad aims: first, addressing countries’ needs for a more comprehensive, coherent and timely understanding of how to promote, measure and assess innovation and its underlying dynamics of change; and, second, shedding light on appropriate multi-sector and whole-of-government approaches to innovation as a driver of sustainable growth, productivity and development and as a tool to address global challenges. Work on the Strategy is to take place over 2008-09, with a synthesis report to be delivered to the Ministerial Council Meeting in 2010. This paper forms part of the first phase of work on the Innovation Strategy. It draws on OECD work from the last ten years to provide a broad-brush overview of “what we know” about good policy practices for innovation. It also highlights recent changes in innovation processes and patterns, describes the increasing levels of internationalization, and draws together early thinking on the contribution of innovation to solving global challenges related to the environment.
Industrial Policy
Live and Let Die: Industrial Policy in a Globalized World
Ministry of Education and Research, Globalization Council, Sweden
It is often claimed that industrial policies are an essential ingredient in policy-making for any country that aims at sustaining and increasing a competitive industrial sector. But does a small, open European economy actually need an industrial policy? Judging from this report, the answer seems to be in the affirmative. However, today’s globalized world requires a different design where industrial policies are realigned with comparative advantage of a country, promote regional agglomerations and enhance industrial efficiency. Attempts to ensure regional equity by means of industrial policy is likely to have detrimental effects on productivity and growth. In this report the challenges facing industrial policy makers in the 21st century are analyzed and policy conclusions drawn. It emphasizes two major challenges that face policy makers: First, to give well-targeted measures the correct design. Second, to observe that efficient industrial policy is often about not doing anything.
Industrial Policy, Competition Policy and National Champions
David Spector, Antoine Chapsal, and Laurent Eymard, OECD
Many advocates of industrial policy agree on the features that industrial policy should not have: industrial policy should not favour incumbents but rather foster entry; it should not pick winners but create conditions for innovation to take place; it should even less reward losers, but it should rather include monitoring mechanisms taking market performance into account. In other words, while it is difficult to describe what a proper industrial policy should be, no advocate of an active industrial policy considers that it should be about creating and supporting national champions.
Cities, Clusters & Regions
Investing in Innovation: Harvard University’s Impact on the Economy of the Boston Area
Harvard University
This report briefly describes the contributions of Harvard University to the economy of the Boston area. It highlights a number ways in which the University can help the region both to survive the recession and to prosper in its aftermath – both as a major regional enterprise in its own right, and through its mission of education, research, business development and service to the community.
The Paradox of Japanese Biotechnology: Can the Regional Cluster Development Approach be a Solution?
Yumiko Okamoto
Japan lags behind the U.S. and Europe in the commercialization of biotechnology research despite Japan’s exemplary reputation in life science research. This paper investigates what is missing and what could be a good solution to the problem. The author argues that although the creation of the new network- type innovation model or the clustering of biotech companies could be increasingly necessary at least in the bio-pharmaceutical sector, the geographical proximity may not be always important. Furthermore, Japan may demonstrate an alternative development model different from that of either the U.S. or Europe.
Statistics & Indicators
FY 2008 Data on Federal R&D Funding
NSF
Whichever version of the H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), emerges from conference committee would provide a significant reversal to the direction spending has gone for the past four years for federal research and development, based on data released by the National Science Foundation during the past week. From FY 2005 through FY 2008, federal R&D obligations decreased 7.8 percent in constant dollars. Between FY07 and FY08 alone, total federal R&D spending dropped $3.5 billion or 4.8 percent of the $116.7 billion total in FY07 once adjusted for inflation.
Directorate General for Research, European Commission
In 2000, the EU Member States responded to the challenge of globalisation with the Lisbon Strategy for a competitive knowledge based economy and, as part of this strategy, the 3 % objective for R&D intensity and the initiative to create a European Research Area (ERA). The objectives are clear: invest more in research and increase excellence and efficiency by joining forces in a European Research Area, including opening up to the world and stimulating international cooperation and knowledge spill-over. This report analyses the status of and progress towards these objectives. The report consists of two main parts and a Methodological Annex. Part I of the report presents data on R&D investment and its impact, while Part II provides for the first time an overview of progress towards realising the European Research Area. While Part I is based on well known indicators, Part II is more experimental with
indicators to be further developed in coming years.
Policy Digest
Martin Prosperity Institute (MPI)
Despite the current economic environment, Ontario is well positioned to compete and prosper in the ongoing global economic transformation. While the economic environment has worsened in the past year, the current upheaval only accelerates the longer-term trends – especially the shift from more routine-oriented to creativity-oriented jobs. Yet Ontario can do more to ensure it is a globally competitive jurisdiction. The report is presented in response to the request made last March by Premier Dalton McGuinty to Roger Martin and Richard Florida. Together with their research team, these two undertook a study of the changing composition of Ontario’s economy and workforce and have provided recommendations to the Province on how to ensure that the economy and people remain globally competitive and prosperous.
The report outlines four sets of priorities and proposes target areas in which the collaborative effort of business, labour, academia, :
(1) Harness the Creative Potential of Ontarians
Ontario operates in the creative age from a position of strength. It has a solid base of important creative skills and industries that
compete on the basis of their distinctiveness. Yet it is not realizing the full creative potential of its people and industries. Ontario
needs to deepen skills, with a focus on analytical and social intelligence skills. It needs to challenge workers and businesses
to compete more on the basis of creativity and distinctiveness. Ontario needs to draw in the immense capabilities of immigrants to the province’s future success. To this end the prosperity agenda should focus on:
- Increasing creativity in all jobs;
- Being the world’s first jurisdiction where creativity-orietnted occupations account for half of all jobs’
- Strengthening creative skills through the education system;
- Marketing Ontario as a creative province;
- Making diversity a cornerstone of economic prosperity.
(2) Broaden the Talent Base
Ontario needs to raise its talent attainment – the percentage of the work force that has post secondary education. The province should aspire to be the education province – known readily throughout the world as the jurisdiction with a highly educated population and world renowned centres of learning and research. Acheiving these goals should involve stengthening Ontarian’s managerial capabilities.
(3) Establish New Social Safety Nets
The rise of the creative age is a double-edged sword. It generates tremendous wealth creation opportunities for some. Yet it can leave many behind, especially those in jobs that are disproportionately routinized, and those who do not have the skills and opportunities to participate fully in the creative economy. Ontario is a diverse and open place. It out performs its peers on measures of diversity and tolerance, but this advantage is not translating into economic success. Ontario needs to design a social safety net
system for the creative age – one that partners with those who have the determination to participate fully in the creative economy. Not to do so is a terrible waste of human potential. Key actions in this area should include:
- Making early childhood development a high priority;
- Investing in skills development for recent immigrants;
- Considering wage insurance for longer tenure workers.
(4) Build Province-Wide Geographic Advantage
Ontario is a big province that built its prosperity on many inherent geographical advantages. We have rich natural resource areas and a thriving economic corridor. It has prosperous cities, and the non-metro parts of Ontario are more prosperous than their
counterparts elsewhere. Future advantage in the creative age will be based on facilitating and encouraging the geographic clustering and concentration of industries and skills. The increasing spikiness of economic development puts a premium on density within the urban centres and on the velocity of connections across a mega-region and with outlying areas. Ontario’s challenge is to build the infrastructure that gains us the scale and the connectivity to ensure all regions of the province can achieve prosperity. To ensure prosperity for all Ontarians, the province needs to accomplish two things:
- Make the mega-region as strong as it can be;
- Invest in connectivity.
Ontario has an unprecedented opportunity to embrace the future, to improve its ability to compete in the global economy, to engage the full talents and capabilities of its citizens, and to guarantee long term, shared and sustained prosperity for all its citizens. By acting boldly in these four areas – harnessing Ontarians’ creativity, investing in talent, establishing a new social safety net, and building our province’s geographic advantage – the province can guarantee its future and become a model for Canada, North America, and the world.
Events
CANADIAN INNOVATION EXCHANGE
Toronto, 3-4 March, 2009
Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) is a two-day event showcasing Canada’s hottest new and innovative technology companies. A nexus of multiple meeting and networking opportunities, CIX is designed to enable the who’s who of North American investors to discover Canada’s next great companies. With facilitated and informal networking events, this innovation marketplace features Flash-forward presentations on the future of media, software, mobile and technology.
Re$earch Money – Going Global: Expanding the International Footprint of Canadian Technology Firms
Ottawa, 12 March, 2009
As Canada’s domestic market is too small to support significant growth of more than a few companies in any given sector, to succeed, our companies must sell to the world. The Eighth Annual RE$EARCH MONEY Conference, /Going Global: Expanding the International Footprint of Canadian Technology Firms/ will explore how best to help Canadian technology firms expand into other countries to grow their business. The day begins with a keynote from David Martin, Executive Chairman & Co-Founder, SMART Technologies, a Canadian company with offices in over 20 countries. Alan Barrell, now Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Cambridge University, will share insights gleaned from moving two U.K. firms into the international marketplace. Andrea Mandel-Campbell, author of the provocative /Why Mexicans Don’t Drink Molson/ will be the luncheon speaker. Panels of experts from the private and public sectors will share best practices from around the world.
Understanding and Shaping Regions: Spatial, Social and Economic Futures
Leuven, Belgium, 6-8 April, 2009
Many topics will be discussed such as regional policy and evaluation, regions as innovative hubs, economic restructuring and regional transformation, and local and regional economic development. Abstract submission deadline: Sunday, 4th January 2009.
Creative Industries, Scenes, Cities, Places: Idiosyncratic Dimensions of the Cultural Economy
Cardiff, UK, 22-23 April, 2008
This seminar will focus on the relationship between places (cities, neighbourhoods, and quarters) and the development of creative industries. The range of papers should cover both theoretical perspectives and practical examples of the issues and challenges faced by researchers in trying to capture the economic, social and cultural dimensions of the creative economy. The conference will focus on four themes and questions: How to study the relationship between creative industries and city-regions. What are the methodologies which address the way creative industries produce and interact with their markets? What is the role of place at various levels (city, neighbourhood, regions) in fostering creativity and creative production? What is the importance of public support policies and frameworks in developing the creative industries sector? Does fostering creative industries mean enabling regional growth?
Regional Excellence in Innovation: Case Studies from Around the World 
Thessaloniki, Greece, 22-24 April, 2009
Faced with today’s challenge of sustaining competitiveness in a world of global competition, Europe’s regions are required to improve their own regional innovation system and adapt the offer of innovation support services to the rapidly changing needs
of local companies and, in particular, SMEs. The recent slow-down of the world economy and the spectre of recession make this challenge all the more urgent as the need for new, tried and tested approaches becomes indispensable.TII’s 2009 annual conference will showcase examples of programs, schemes and models which can demonstrate their real impact on raising regional innovation performance through facts, figures and anecdotal evidence or success stories.
Community Engagement and Service: The Third Mission of Universities
Vancouver, BC, 18-20 May, 2009
The conference will showcase research and practice of what in North America is called ‘service to the community’. Although newly discovered by some universities, service to the community has long traditions in others, and in many cases is recognized as an explicit mandate in the university charter. Service is understood to be the Third Mission alongside teaching and research. Service and community engagement take many different forms. Examples are community based research and learning, assistance in regional development, continuing and community engagement, technology transfer and commercialization, and other forms of knowledge sharing and linkages.
Photonics North 2009: Closing the Gap Between Theory, Development, and Application
Quebec City, 24-27 May, 2009
This conference is an international event dedicated on the latest accomplishments, future directions and innovations exclusive to optics/ photonics technologies. Presentations will explore advances in Science and technology that will impact the use of photonics in the 21st century. Photonics North will provide you with the knowledge and competitive intelligence you need to keep up in the industry that changes and evolves at break-neck speed.
Madrid, Spain, 4-6 June, 2009
The European Urban Research Association (EURA) and the Urban Affairs Association (UAA) hold their second Joint Conference on City Futures in 2009. By building on the success of the first such conference, held in Chicago in 2004, the conference aims to focus sharply on international exchange. Urban scholars on both sides of the Atlantic have created a five-track structure for this forward-looking conference: Climate change, resource use and urban adaptation; Knowledge and technology in urban development; Community development, migration and integration in urban areas; Urban governance and city planning in an international era; Architecture and the design of the public realm
Glasgow, Scotland, 17-19 June, 2009
Triple Helix VII offers a multi-disciplinary forum for experts from universities, industry and government. The Conference is designed to attract leading authorities from across the world who will share their knowledge and experience, drawing a link between research, policy, and practice in sustainable development. The Conference will bring together policy-makers, academics, researchers, postgraduate students, and key representatives from business and industry. The theme for Triple Helix VII – “The role of Triple Helix in the Global Agenda of Innovation, Competitiveness and Sustainability” – reflects the interaction between academia, the private and the public sector.
Innovation, Strategy and Knowledge: 2009 DRUID Summer Conference
Copenhagen, Denmark, 17-19 June, 2009
The DRUID Summer Conference 2009 intends to map theoretical, empirical and methodological advances, further contribute with novel insights and stimulate civilized controversies in industrial dynamics. The conference will include targeted plenary debates where internationally merited scholars take stands on contemporary issues within the overall conference theme. This year’s conference will bring together researchers from around the world to exchange research results and to address open issues. The plenary program will include, among others, contributions from Juan Alcacer, William Barnet, Adam Brandenburger, Russell Coff, Wes Cohen, Massimo Colombo, Phil Cooke, Giovanni Dosi, Jan Fagerberg, Andrea Fosfuri, Tim Foxon, Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Michael Jacobides, / /Rene Kemp, Thorbjørn Knudsen, Mike Lenox, Dan Levinthal, Will Mitchell, Paul Nigthingale, Laszlo Poloz, Laura Poppo, Michael Ryall, Dan Snow, Bart Verspagen, Sidney Winter
TEKPOL: 3rd International Conference on Innovation, Technology and Knowledge Economics
Ankara, Turkey, 24-26 June, 2009
The main objective of this workshop is to bring together researchers and policy makers from new member states and candidate counties in order to discuss the following topics: links between innovation, R&D and economic performance; innovation and technology diffusion; knowledge management and learning in organizations; systemic nature of innovation (national, sectoral and local); science, technology and innovation policies; issues concerning developing countries and technological change; economic impact of new technologies.
Global Science and the Economics of Knowledge Sharing Institutions
Torino, Italy, 28-30 June, 2009
This conference – held within the context of the EU-funded project COMMUNIA, the European Thematic Network on the Digital Pubic Domain – aims to bring together leading people from a number of international scientific research communities, social science researchers and science, technology and innovation policy analysts, to discuss the rationale, policy support and practical feasibility of arrangements designed to emulate key public domain conditions for collaborative research. Initiatives and policies have been proposed that go beyond “open access” to published research findings by aiming to facilitate more effective and extensive (global) sharing of not only data and information, but research facilities, tools, and materials. There is thus a need to examine a number of these proposals’ conceptual foundations from the economic and legal perspectives and to analyze the roles of the public domain and contractually constructed commons in facilitating sharing of scientific and technical data, information and materials. But it is equally important to examine the available evidence about actual experience with concrete organizational initiatives in different areas of scientific and technological research, and to devise appropriate, contextually relevant methods of assessing effectiveness and identifying likely unintended and dysfunctional outcomes.
Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2009
Atlanta, 2-3 Oct, 2009
Governments seek new strategies and are turning to the science, technology, and innovation policy research community for models and research results to tell them what works, what doesn’t, and under what circumstances. Test models of innovation. Explore emerging STI policy issues. Share research results. Call for papers to be posted shortly.
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This newsletter is prepared by Jen Nelles.
Project manager is David A. Wolfe.