National Innovation Strategy Research Articles

Building Science Community by Attracting Global Talents: The Case of Singapore Biopolis

Small developing countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa are still struggling with the institutionalisation and professionalisation of science. Many countries in these regions are yet to establish science communities. Singapore case becomes all the more interesting and exemplary as this small country was able to build a small but vibrant science community in relatively a short span of time. As will be shown through the case study on ‘Biopolis’ (cluster of modern biology laboratories and national university), there is indeed a unique Singaporean approach in building science community by attracting global talents. The process of attracting global talents or what may be seen as a case of brain gain was part of Singapore’s national science, technology and innovation (STI) strategy since the 1980s and particularly the 1990s. After exploring the most salient features of STI policies, the essay will focus on two major institutional developments, which were crucial for building Biopolis, based science community. First is on building of world class university and research ecosystem; and second is a empirical research on the structure and composition of scientists in eight major biological labs.

Directions of improvement of existing mechanisms of innovation management in conditions of modernization of Ukraine’s economy

The article is devoted to proposals on improvement of the existing mechanisms of innovation management in the conditions of modernization of the national economy. Today, innovations are firmly recognized as one of the main sources of sustainable economic growth for advanced and emerging economies. That is why the stimulation of innovative potential of the countries shocked by the crisis is considered as a possible catalyst for revitalizing their economies. More active government intervention to support innovation comes to the fore. For many years in Ukraine there has been a business model that has been based solely on the use of raw materials and cheap labor to produce more income. As a result, Ukraine continues to stay on the resource development stage of the economy. It is clear that further advance along this way directly threatens the national safety of Ukraine. In such circumstances, it is necessary to change approaches to the management of innovation processes, increase efficiency and productivity of the mechanisms of innovation management. In the article the mechanisms of innovation management are considered in the context of modernization of national economy as a set of the control system components influencing innovation processes and reflecting certain aspects of management - goals, principles, functions, tasks, controls, personnel, methods, resources, and tools.Such mechanisms of innovation management are allocated as the main: mechanisms for planning and forecasting, coordinating and monitoring the innovation; financial and economic mechanism and legal mechanism of innovation management. Proposals are grouped singly for each of the selected control mechanisms. In particular, within the mechanism of planning and forecasting the innovative activity at the government level it is proposed to establish a special commission for the development of National Innovation Strategy of Ukraine as a single comprehensive document accumulating political initiatives, offers of scientific community, businesses and all other interested parties. It is worth noticing that all of these mechanisms should be used comprehensively, using the methods and tools of public policy in a certain sequence and interrelation with the involvement in management decisions of all stakeholders and participants in innovation processes.

The exploration of The Triple Helix concept in terms of entrepreneurial universities and corporate innovation

University-industry-innovation networks (UIINs) are made up of entrepreneurial higher education institutions, industry and government. Universities such as Scotland’s Strathclyde University, which was the entrepreneurial university of 2013 in the UK, organise themselves as co-productive institutions by means of technology transfer offices (TTOs), innovation centres and a variation of offices for knowledge transfer and university-business-co-operation (UBC). Such a network is referred to as the triple helix approach/concept/model of co-operation between industry, universities and government, with the aim of building an enterprising state in which these partners co-innovate in order to solve global economic challenges. The global economy faces multiple challenges represented by indicators such as the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) spiralling health-care needs, unemployment, un-sustainable changes to the environment and rapidly emerging digital business models. Most universities promote academic engagement with industry for various reasons (e.g. to generate a third stream of income). The effective management of triple helix takes UBC to the next level in terms of a formal prominent mission for the university. This article broadly describes the triple helix concept and analyses several international cases. The three main objectives of this article are to: 1) explore triple helix and the related concepts such as UBC and TTO; 2) determine the leading stakeholders of the triple helix model; 3) conduct a content analysis of triple helix case studies (45) in four groups, namely (1) national innovation strategies, (2) entrepreneurial universities, (3) entrepre-neurship education, and (4) new initiatives, frameworks and technologies.

Delivering smart specialization in peripheral regions: the role of Universities

Successful mobilization of the resources of universities can have a positive effect on regional economies; even more so in peripheral regions. The role of universities in regional development, innovation and growth comes into even sharper focus with the emergence of ‘smart specialization’ strategies, an ex-ante conditionality for accessing European Structural Funds from 2014. However, partnerships between universities and regions can fail to achieve their early ambitions, often due to a lack of understanding of each side’s drivers and barriers for cooperation. The collaboration between Region Värmland and Karlstad University in Sweden demonstrates a systemic and broad-based view of innovation that fits well within the policy framework of European and national innovation strategies. While recognizing the complexities and tensions inherent in such collaborations, this case study provides valuable insights for other European universities, regions and policy-makers in peripheral places that are seeking to work more closely to support smart specialization.

Guest editorial on research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation in Europe

Purpose – This Special Issue of the European Journal of Innovation Management sheds new light on the burning issue of Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3), both in terms of their policy formulation and their practical implementation in the field. This new policy approach refers to the process of priority setting in national and regional research and innovation strategies in order to build “place-based” competitive advantages and help regions and countries develop an innovation-driven economic transformation agenda. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This is an important topic both in the current debate about a new industrial policy for Europe and as a policy option for a successful crisis exit strategy led by public investments in the real economy. Moreover, smart specialisation is promoted by the European Commission as an ex ante conditionality for all regions in Europe to receive European Structural and Investment Funds in the field of innovation. Thus, it has become a pre-requisite for accessing fresh funds for investing in badly needed innovation-driven productivity growth throughout the European Union (EU). Findings – The six papers in this Special Issue are the fruit of ground-breaking research and policy testing by nearly 20 leading academics and policy makers throughout the EU. They explore the early smart specialisation concept and its further developments, examine the methodological tools at its disposal and advance specific policy proposals and governance considerations based on actual experimentation in the field. Originality/value – All these make the present Special Issue of the European Journal of Innovation Management an important research milestone. This Special Issue is the fruit of a call towards the European academic and research community to help shaping and advancing the smart specialisation concept and thus contribute to better position regions and countries in the global economy through innovation-driven policies.

INOVAÇÃO TECNOLÓGICA E DESENVOLVIMENTO: O CASO DA FINLÂNDIA

O presente artigo visa analisar as principais transformações econômicas ocorridas na Finlândia desde a recessão que atingiu o país em 1990, dando especial atenção às políticas econômicas de fomento às inovações tecnológicas, que possibilitaram a superação da crise e a promoção de um crescimento econômico marcado por uma alta competitividade econômica e pela manutenção do bem-estar da população. Para isso, o artigo investiga a formulação de uma estratégia nacional de inovação, direcionada à mobilização de diversos atores econômicos na construção de um sistema nacional de inovação finlandês dinâmico e capaz de alavancar o desenvolvimento de uma economia do conhecimento finlandesa.

Innovation, the informal economy and development: The case of Zambia

National systems of innovation have been serving as the conceptual framework and vehicle to address poverty and national competitiveness in developing countries. Zambia has been building its NSI since 1964, but the existing system suffers from serious shortcomings related to an insufficient conceptually inclusive framework and the absence of direct and concrete pro-poor innovation policy instruments. The system lacks strong interactive dynamics and suffers from weak governance. Zambia has also followed an export-driven industrial economy, but the expected knowledge spill-over gains from large mining operations have not been realised. The paper examines national innovation strategies by emphasising the importance of the informal sector and the potential for innovation at grass-roots level. It examines the evolution of science and technology policies by highlighting how the excluded areas can be included. The absence of pro-poor innovation and lack of inclusive policies are highlighted as factors contributing to low productivity and socioeconomic imbalances.

Inovační výkonnost České republiky a její srovnání s ostatními státy Evropské unie

The European Union dedicates considerable attention to research, development and innovation. Within the long-term strategy Europe 2020, Innovation Union has become one of the key initiatives. The European Union has decided to regularly monitor progress in this area through the Summary Innovation Index. The Czech Republic also pays considerable attention to research, development and innovation. The key paper is the National Innovation Strategy, approved by the Czech Government in 2011. The aim of this article is to evaluate the innovation performance of the Czech Republic by using the Summary Innovation Index 2011, which contains a total of 24 indicators. The article analyses the progress in the field of research, development and innovation achieved by the Czech Republic. The article contains an international comparison of the innovation performance of the Czech Republic with other Member States of the European Union too. It appears that the Czech Republic lags behind the European Union average especially in the patent process and funding for research, development and innovation. Greater attention should also be given to the educational system in the Czech Republic.

Формирование приоритетов инновационной политики и оценка их реализации: европейский опыт и уроки для Украины

Румпф Гудрун - руководитель проекта, Департамент информационно-коммуникационных и консалтинговых услуг, INTRASOFT International (Люксембург). E-mail: Rumpf.Gudrun@gmail.comАдрес: 2b rue Nicolas Bov, L - 1253 LuxembourgОдна из важнейших составляющих научно-технической и инновационной политики - формирование приоритетов поддержки перспективных технологий и областей. При наличии ряда общих принципов процедуры отбора приоритетов и их конечные эффекты характеризуются значительным межстрановым разнообразием, которое обусловлено различиями национальных культур, историческими предпосылками, спецификой институциональных структур. По этой причине нередко возникает разрыв между декларируемыми целями политики и ее фактической реализацией. Подобная ситуация сложилась в ряде развивающихся государств, в частности, на Украине. Страна обладает развитой системой законодательства в сфере науки, технологий и инноваций, а также солидной методологической базой для выбора приоритетов. Вместе с тем заявленные цели не подкреплены соответствующими механизмами реализации, включая рамочные условия, программы, процедуры их мониторинга и оценки.В статье анализируется опыт ряда ведущих европейских стран; приводятся рекомендации по совершенствованию процесса установления приоритетов и, как следствие, инновационной политики в целом.Автор приходит к выводу, что опора на излишне узкий перечень тематических приоритетов в условиях быстрых темпов технологических и социальных изменений рискует завести в тупик. С другой стороны, чрезмерно широкий спектр приоритетов ведет к потере фокуса политики. Оптимальный баланс может быть достигнут, если государство сфокусируется на постановке общих задач и ориентиров развития и обеспечении необходимых рамочных условий и инфраструктуры для развития инноваций, способствуя действующим «снизу» рыночным драйверам в выборе тематических приоритетов. При этом за определение приоритетов и их имплементацию должны отвечать организации или ведомства, обладающие необходимыми ресурсами и компетенциями. Тем самым обеспечиваются вертикальная и горизонтальная координация, а также широкое участие заинтересованных сторон в процессе подготовки и реализации национальной инновационной стратегии.

Race to the Future: Innovations in Gifted and Enrichment Education in Asia, and Implications for the United States

How are Asian countries preparing children to have skills—including creativity, innovation, and technical capability—to compete in the 21st Century global economy? Countries including China, Korea, Japan and Singapore have begun to integrate education policy and practice into a key component of national innovation strategies: human capital development. Asian countries are developing an emphasis on innovation and creativity at all levels of education, while the United States continues (via No Child Left Behind testing and budget cut-backs) to move away from that model. Developments in China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), Korea and Singapore are complemented with comparisons to trends in national policy and private sector practice in Japan and the United States. Preliminary findings indicate that while progress has been made towards establishing education practices that enrich student learning, helping children to reach their highest potential in some countries, cultural practices and budgetary constraints have limited reform in others. The paper concludes with a summary of comparative best practices in enrichment education policy and practice and implications for globally competitive national innovation systems.

INNOVATION POLICY URGED FOR U.S.

THE U.S. MUST improve its performance in science and technology innovation in order to retain its leadership role in the world economy. This message has been delivered by President Barack Obama in several speeches, and it has been the focus of major analyses, such as the National Academies’ 2007 report “Rising Above the Gathering Storm.” This need for improvement was also raised throughout the two-day Forum on Science & Technology Policy, conducted earlier this month by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The annual forum attracts many of Washington’s science policy leaders to discuss new directions of their field; this year it included a variety of panel discussions ranging from the bleak outlook for the fiscal 2012 federal research and development budget to the government’s efforts to develop policies on scientific integrity. And the need for a national innovation strategy came up in several sessions. One thread of these discussions is that science ...

Our Nation Needs an Innovation Strategy

Recently another Hollywood Video store closed in my neighborhood. I searched the web for the latest news on this company and found, on their website at hollywoodvideo. com , the following message: Thank you for visiting hollywoodvideo.com . The company is in the process of exploring ways of delivering to you and we anticipate that this website will be under ownership shortly. We know the story quite well. Hollywood Video could not sustain its business model. Netfl ix replaced them as the household name in entertainment. Hollywood Video failed to reinvent itself, and as a result owners will come to the rescue. Time and again, we have witnessed similar stories of obsolescence. In 2005, a colleague of mine estimated that the average life expectancy of an SP our dominance has been challenged economically, demographically, technically, and politically in recent years, and the last recession has exacerbated the situation. Like Hollywood Video, the nation needs concrete goals and an innovation strategy to sustain its leadership position and maintain the standard of living for its citizens. And like Hollywood Video, which is still fi guring out what its new ways of delivering entertainment will look like, the United States has so far failed to create the next major industry to drive the economy in this century. The manned space program and the Star Wars program created innovations and industries that fueled growth in the second half of the twentieth century. In the 1970s and 1980s, we declared war on cancer and HIV, sparking another round of innovation. In the 1990s and into the 2000s we had a boom in Internet businesses, mobile computing, and social networking. But no equivalent catalyst has yet emerged for twenty-fi rst century innovation. Allocating budgets for education, science, and technology without a comprehensive, holistic innovation strategy is no longer suffi cient. And we cannot rely on the private sector to lead the national innovation strategy without incentives to take the massive risks required. It is time to focus national science and technology policy to propel the economy for the next century. So what should the U.S. innovation strategy look like? Although this discussion will ultimately require the engagement of business leaders, policy makers, educators, economists, and politicians, I'd like to suggest a few broad areas for emphasis. Where to Play In devising a national innovation strategy, we must pick the platforms that have the greatest potential for job creation, leverage our talents and natural resources, and fi ll major national and global needs. …

Workplace Development as Part of Broad-based Innovation Policy: Exploiting and Exploring Three Types of Knowledge

This paper looks at the possibilities that a broad-based innovation policy contained by the national innovation strategy recently adopted in Finland opens up for the promotion of workplace innovations and examines the types of knowledge needed in workplace development. The author highlights the interconnections between workplace development and the prerequisites of both economic growth and the preservation of the Finnish welfare state. The paper also aims to explain why, in addition to the productivity of work, improving the quality of working life should feature as an increasingly important aim in the innovation policy of the future. An argument for the need of three types of knowledge in workplace development - design knowledge, process knowledge and dissemination knowledge - is made, together with an overview on new developments in each of those three domains. In conclusion, the author demonstrates how problems in the productivity of work and the quality of working life can be simultaneously tackled with at work organization level through two kinds of development approaches.

The innovation imperative: National innovation strategies in a global economy – Edited by Göran Marklund, Nicholas S. Vonortas and Charles W. Wessner

The innovation imperative: National innovation strategies in a global economy – Edited by Göran Marklund, Nicholas S. Vonortas and Charles W. Wessner

Graduate Education: The Future Is Now

As chair and vice chair of the Commission on the Future of Graduate Education, we appreciated J. Mervis's detailed News of the Week story on the Commission's report, The Path Forward: The Future of Graduate Education in the United States (“Report seeks expansion in a time of belt-tightening,” 7 May, p. [678][1]). We would like to address the issue it raised about the timing of the report's recommendations. It is clear that the United States faces serious fiscal challenges. The Obama Administration has begun to address reducing the federal deficit, which will help ensure our long-term prosperity. Every effort must be made to spend public dollars wisely, focusing on those investments that will yield enhanced productivity in the future. The Commission's recommendations are designed to be an integral part of a national innovation strategy to ensure that the United States will have the intellectual leadership, along with the innovative technology, necessary to be successful in the 21st century global economy. A central theme of the Commission's report is how graduate education plays an essential role in strengthening our national competitiveness and innovation capacity, especially given the projected 17 to 18% increases over the next decade in the number of jobs requiring a doctoral or master's degree ([ 1 ][2]). Our proposed investment of $10 billion over the next 5 years for a graduate education training initiative will yield substantial benefits to our country in the future. We must be—and we are—ready with a plan that charts a path forward. 1. [↵][3] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employment projections: 2008–2018 summary” (2009); [www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.nr0.htm][4]. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.328.5979.678 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [4]: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.nr0.htm

Relevance of technical higher education in relation to a national innovation strategy for competitiveness.

For fist time in Chile, the creation of a national innovation strategy for competitiveness lays the foundations for the development path our country should follow in the coming years. For its implementation, however, it is necessary to address some gaps previously identified. In terms of human capital, this article reviews the supply and demand for technical higher education and discusses its relevance in relation to productive development clusters noting the lack of coordination between both sectors and identifying some challenges.

IEEE-USA President Endorses National Innovation Strategy [IEEE—USA

IEEE-USA President Endorses National Innovation Strategy [IEEE—USA

Развитие инноваций в сфере услуг

Сфера услуг привлекает все более пристальное внимание политиков, ученых и бизнес-сообщества. Именно этот сектор во многих странах развивается наиболее динамично, демонстрирует нарастающую инновационную активность, обеспечивает значительный рост экономики и весьма заметную долю в структуре занятости.

Identifying Challenges and Developing Visions: Technology Foresight in Hungary

TEP, the Hungarian Technology Foresight Programme, was launched in 1997, as the first one in Central and Eastern Europe, to provide inputs to a national innovation strategy by identifying socio-economic challenges and developing broad visions for the future. Specifically, it was aimed at analysing Hungary's strengths and weaknesses, developing scenarios (visions) and drafting policy proposals to improve quality of life and enhance long-term international competitiveness. This paper first briefly defines the concept and methods of (technology) foresight, and highlights some reasons why it is a useful policy tool, followed by a brief account of the objectives and methods of TEP. Then, summarising the results, Sections 3 and 4 provide an overview of the transition process (institutional changes as well as economic developments) and the current socio-economic challenges, respectively. Changing the time horizon, three long-term macro scenarios are discussed in Section 5, together with policy recommendations developed by TEP so as to achieve the most desirable - but still feasible - vision. Section 6 summarises the results of the dissemination and implementation phase of TEP. Finally, the concluding section highlights the benefits of foresight to assist decision-makers; some general difficulties concerning its design, methodologies and implementation of its results; as well as specific Hungarian problems, due to the legacy of planning.