News
Technopolis consultants are happy to take opportunities to present work for consideration and discussion in professional and academic fora. The diary shows some of the events over the next few months where we will be making presentations.
Erik Arnold will be teaching on the R&D evaluation course at the University
of Twente on 3 and 4 December 2008.
Erik Arnold will present a longitudinal study of the effects of the Framework
Programmes from 1980 to date in Sweden at the Sweden House in Brussels on 10
December, 2008.
Erik Arnold will present on "The OECD Review of South Africa's Innovation System"
at UNU-MERIT, Maastricht on 18 December.
Erik Arnold will lecture on evaluation to the Academy of Evaluation of Socio-Economic
Programmes at the University of Warsaw on 10 January 2009.
Alasdair Reid, director of Technopolis Group (Brussels), is one of five high-level experts who have been invited to present a paper to the Czech EU Presidency workshop in Prague on 22-23 January 2009 on the theme of New member states and challenges of fast and sustainable convergence: implications for innovation and growth policy.
Erik Arnold will speak on "How Meta-Evaluation Helps us Understand the Framework
Programmes" at the European Forum on Research and Development Impact Assessment
(EUFORDIA) organised under the Czech presidency in Prague, 24-25 February, 2009.
Erik Arnold will present a seminar to SPRU/CENTRIM at the Freeman Centre, Sussex
University on "Impacts of the Framework Programme Big and Small: Europe and
Sweden" on 13 March 2009.
Alfred Radauer will present the findings of the study project -Transatlantic Intellectual Property Rights Collaboration - at a conference in Washington DC on 27 April to 29 April 2009. The conference will be organised by one of the project partners, the US Chamber of Commerce, to elaborate on the study findings, discuss the growing problem of counterfeiting and piracy and identify ways in which the EU and the United States can better work together to address the policy issues.
Technopolis wins Brussels Environment award
The Brussels Environment Agency (IBGE-BIM) has awarded Technopolis
Group (Brussels) the highest rating (three stars) of their environmental management
standard.
This is a notable achievement. It is only the second time since the standard
was launched that a company has achieved this highest level of compliance in
its first application. The standard is a progressive environmental quality assurance
standard and it is normal for enterprises to work towards the three star level
over a number of years. Twenty five applications were submitted this year. Of
these only three, including Technopolis, were awarded three stars.
The Estonian energy system - back to the future?
Options, including some that would require radical reforms, for reshaping the
Estonian energy sector were examined by Technopolis Estonia consultant Rurik
Holmberg in a presentation in Tallinn on 14 November.
Dr Holmberg was speaking at Baltic Idea Exchange , the third in series of seminars
organised by Technoplis to stimulate discussion of important policy topics.
In his presentation, the Estonian Energy System Back to the Future, Dr Holmberg
reviewed the Estonia's almost unique exploitation of oil shale as a primary
fuel source. He considered the difficulties arising from this technology and
the opportunity that was now becoming apparent for Estonia to begin a major
push into renewable energy technologies. Such a change of emphasis could do
much to reduce CO2 emissions. It would also allow Estonia to position itself
for ending its high level of dependence on oil shale without threatening energy
security as that fuel source is exhausted. Development of renewable energy technologies
could create significant opportunities for technological and industrial development.
The full text of Dr Holmberg's paper can be downloaded here.
Fuel Cell Technologies
Philippe Larrue, Director of Technopolis France, recently presented a conceptual
framework and operational policy instruments to support progress down the learning
curve of fuel cell technologies.
Dr Larrue was speaking at the DIME International conference in Bordeaux in September.
He explained that monolithic policies – regardless of whether they are
technology push or demand pull –still have a strong influence on policy
makers' mindset. On the contrary, he proposed that the learning curve policy
be supported. This would aim at building on early niche markets and to accept
higher cost and/or lower performance of fuel cells in order to achieve scale
economies and improve the technology through feedback to research.
Through a detailed description of the fuel cell technology learning curve, the
basic functions of policy support were identified . Seven such functions were
identified and successively analysed in Dr Larrue's presentation.
- Interdisciplinary basic research coordination. Interdisciplinary research must be encouraged to allow scientific progress to be shared
- Stimulation of early markets. New niche markets require support since the technology is not yet fully developed
- Demonstration of new technology generation. Each new generation of technology starts with demonstration that should be supported to reduce risks and costs
- Science-industry coordination. This is essential to understand the long feedback loops between experimentation of early technologies and research on next generation of technologies
- Normalization and modularization of fuel cells. Economies of scale and scope can be increased through specific R&D that aims to develop modular multi-application technologies
- Goal performance setting. The diffusion of widely accepted target performance reduces uncertainties and drives stakeholders towards similar objectives
- Strategic steering of the area. Industry-wide institutions are necessary to create consensus and to guarantee the coherence of the whole system
Download Dr Larrue's presentation
Technopolis feasibility study paves way for Estonian
technology investment programme
The Estonian entrepreneurship promotion agency, Enterprise Estonia, announced
on 8 September that it will start accepting applications for technology investment
support from industrial enterprises. This new public funding scheme has been
launched following a feasibility study carried out by Technopolis Group in late
2007. That study examined the rationale for support and looked at how it could
best be directed.
The Technopolis study concluded that providing financial support will not produce
the intended outcomes, such as increased productivity, unless such support is
coupled with the development of technology guidance advisory services.
The new support scheme has allocated a total of EEK 680m (€43m) for various
types of support until 2013. EEK 110m (€7m) was earmarked for the first
round which closed on 30 October. 152 firms applied with a total demand for support that oversubscribed the funds made available by over five times.
The objective of the programme is to increase productivity and export potential
of industrial enterprises operating in Estonia. Up to 20 per cent of the total
investment costs of big enterprises and up to 40 per cent of the costs of small
and medium-sized enterprises may be covered through the scheme. The minimum
application sum is EEK 1 million.
More information
on the support programme(in Estonian).
Download the Technopolis report (also in Estonian) that has contributed to this
significant new initiative.
How do sectoral patterns influence companies
Alasdair Reid spoke on 5 September about "How do sectoral patterns influence
companies' innovation management practice in Europe?" at the Baltic Dynamics
2008 conference on Innovation in Tartu, Estonia.
This year's edition of the annual “Baltic
Dynamics” international conference addressed economic slowdowns and
new strategies for growth in the three Baltic States. A wide range of international
speakers addressed the issues. Discussions were held on recent developments
in the main technology driven markets of the world, on the current developments,
challenges and constraints in the environment and energy sectors as well as
in security and Internet, on the changing role of science and technology parks
and European cooperation on innovation.
The Technopolis presentation by Alasdair Reid and Katrin Männik, head of
Tallinn office, focused on the different innovation patterns and companies´
needs in 10 main business sectors in the European Union. Based on both in-depth
analysis of data and trends in sectoral innovation systems and case studies
of 66 leading innovative firms in Europe, the presentation argues that innovation
policies need to be tailored to take account of sectoral barriers and drivers
to innovation. The presentation is based on the study of the Sectoral Innovation
Watch project funded by the Directorate-General for Enterprise of the European
Commission; in which Technopolis Group was a core partner during the 2005-2008
first phase (for further information see http://www.europe-innova.org).
A copy of the presentation can be downloaded here.
New Look for Technopolis
The Technopolis Group has completed its new look with the launch of its website in this new appearance. We are confident that the site will provide greater clarity, improved visual coherence and easier navigation. Together with the changes we have made to our other materials this clearer public image will allow us to present ourselves and our work in a sharper and more lucid way. Our logo will identify us on all our materials. It seeks to match a elegant simplicity with a powerful impression. It is such a combination of communcation clarity and powerful analysis that we seek to embody in all the work we carry out. Our new look will now allow us to convey that analysis from a modern and spacious visual identity.
Holding Company Formed
The Technopolis Group took a significant step in its corporate development
on 1 May. It set up a new holding company to own all the operating companies
within the group. Erik Arnold and Patries Boekholt are Directors of the company.
Jim Agnew is Group General Manager.
The holding company will allow for a clearer arrangement ownership for the various
group companies and provides a simple and easily understood legal structure.
It allows the group to encourage employee share ownership by having a single
entity in which employees can participate. The structure will also provide greater
cohesion and direction for activities that serve all group companies and allow
management of projects and the business to be separated in order to enhance
our focus on our work and our clients.
