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.
27-29 May 2013 - Rebecca Allinson will be running a workshop on the entrepreneurial university at the upcoming 2013 UIIN Annual Conference (University Industry Innovation Network) which takes place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Conference is a professional development and networking conference that attracts attention from both university and industry, including but not limited to licensing officers, intellectual property advisors, technology transfer officers, researchers, industry, venture capitalists and other experts.
This workshop will offer participants an opportunity to pilot a guiding framework for entrepreneurial universities which is being developed by the European Commission, DG Education and Culture. The guiding framework is an online tool for universities to assess themselves against statements which are likely characteristics of an entrepreneurial university. As a self assessment exercise, the tool has the simple purpose of helping universities identify potential areas for action in the future.
For more information on the conference: http://www.university-industry.com/index
10 June 2013 - Erik Arnold will be a panelist at a round-table discussion of strategic government investments in innovation at VINNOVA, in Stockholm.
17 June 2013 - Erik Arnold will give a presentation on "Understanding the long-term impacts of research policy" at the Technology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague.
20 June 2013 - Derek Jan Fikkers will give a lecture to the Dutch Advisory Council for Science and Innovation Policy (AWT) on Smart Specialisation Strategies (RIS3) and the Structural Funds (2014-2020). Since the latter focus more and more on R&D and innovation policy instruments, the effective use of Smart Specialisation Strategies will become increasingly important. Derek Jan will discuss the potential synergies between the Structural Funds and R&D, the role Smart Specialisation Strategies can have in this process, and the consequences for research institutes and universities.
29 July 2013 - Erik Arnold will present the results of Technopolis study of the long term industrial impacts of the Swedish competence centres at the VINNOVA's 'Competence Centres Day' conference in Stockholm.
4 September 2013 - Erik Arnold will present on 'Success Factors and Expected Impacts in Horizon 2020 Participation' at the Swedish Technology Transfer networks (SNITTS) conference ”Innovation by Collaboration” in Stockholm.
4-6 September 2013 - Göran Melin will be a member of the Programme Committee for 18th Science and Technology Indicators Conference (STI), in Berlin.
10 September 2013 - Erik Arnold will do the opening talk on 'Evaluating research-performing people and institutions: bibliometrics in context' at the European Summer School in Scientometrics in Berlin.
Development of a technology centre in Brazzaville
Technopolis contributes to a feasibility study, which gives green light for the development of a technology centre in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
The economic feasibility study on the creation of a technology centre, commissioned and funded by the World Bank, aimed to provide Congo with an instrument to diversify its economy. The technology centre will rely on the significant increase of the development of ICT as a key driver to economic growth.
After meeting numerous key stakeholders, the team of consultants concluded that framework conditions existed for the creation of this technology centre, focused on digital economy. The Centre will benefit from the status of “specific economic area” and will also host an incubator, as well as foreign innovative companies and R&D labs. Together with higher education and research institutions, it will provide services supporting innovation.
The technology centre will be named Digital Innovation and Business Park Brazzaville. For further information please contact michel.lacave@technopolis-group.com
How to make the best use of a €9.2bn broadband investment?
The Regional Studies Association has published an article by Technopolis consultant Derek Jan Fikkers which presents five strategies to overcome the bottlenecks encountered during the roll-out of pan-EU broadband infrastructure projects.
In October 2011, the European Commission proposed to spend €9.2bn in 2014-20 on pan-EU projects for high-speed broadband networks. Potential benefits are clear: GDP growth and productivity gains; the creation of new jobs or businesses; minimising the digital divide, and improving social cohesion. According to the plans of the EC, the regional authorities will gave an important role in the role-out of the €9.2bn. Derek Jan introduces a model that identifies nine major bottlenecks. These bottlenecks are related to issues such as regional patchiness of infrastructures, fibre/coaxial/copper ratios, lacking market acceptance, perverse priorities by (incumbent) operators, dependence on inconsistent regulatory public policies, etcetera. The paper also presents five strategies that regional authorities can use to deal with these issues.
Innovation in the Public Sector - A Challenge for Europe?
Technopolis Group Leaders present to a seminar on public sector innovation in Tallinn, 26 March 2013.
In this age of austerity, all Governments are looking for more effective management of public sector, raising the question whether innovation in public sector is possible – are there any possibilities to manage public sector differently? Under the New Public Management new management practices have been introduced, but have they really increased the efficiency and effectiveness of policy? In the private sector many companies have reviewed their management, service and manufacturing processes and found new business opportunities. Is the same possible in the public sector? What are the trends in Europe and what do Governments do differently are the questions the Technopolis Group would like to present and discuss on seminar in Tallinn, Estonia on 26 March 2013.
Technopolis Group has analysed recently innovation in the public sector in Europe paying special attention on indicators describing public sector behaviour on innovation and how countries have adapted to the crisis, involving six case studies (eg The Red Tape Challenge in the UK, the Energy-Efficiency Programme in the city of Stuttgart, The Irish Acute Medicine Programme). Consultants from the group have also been involved in EC working group focusing on innovation in public procurements.
Patries Boekholt, Technopolis Group Managing Director and Alasdair Reid, Director of Technopolis Group Belgium and Estonia will present at the seminar. We expect to gather all interested parties who care about better and more effective public sector performance – Government offices, ministries, state agencies, think-tanks, universities, non-profit organisations.
For more information please contact:
katrin.mannik@technopolis-group.com
katre.eljas-taal@technopolis-group.com
Extra Seating needed at Technopolis Evaluation Seminar in Ankara, Turkey
Although 80 members of the Turkish Policy Community had pre-registered for the half day seminar on 5 March, more seats were required as Patries Boekholt, Technopolis Group's Managing Director presented on trends in evaluation, drawing on the learning from recent projects undertaken across Europe.
A wide ranging discussion took place, including a discussion on Technopolis' support to other parts of the policy life cycle, notably impact assessments. Sirin Elci, Technopolis Director in Turkey, was delighted with the level of attendance which demonstrates the very active levels of interest in the important role that independent evaluations offer the policy maker.
For further information on Technopolis in Turkey please contact Sirin@technopolis - If you would wish to participate or understand more about our workshops, please contact workshops@technopolis-group.com
Supporting regional innovation projects in Colombia
On 6th February Cristina Rosemberg presented the final results of the project 'Strengthening Colombia's capacity to develop robust regional projects more effectively to exploit the new Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Fund' at an event hosted by the British Ambassador Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby that included the participation of representatives from Colciencias (Colombian STI agency), the British Embassy and members of the local press.
The project was part of the Prosperity Fund 2012/13, programme funded by the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office which is aimed at facilitating collaboration and knowledge exchange between the UK and Colombia. Technopolis has reviewed the STI Fund's current administrative arrangements, as compared with the UK and international practice and prepared guidance on possible approaches to developing STI capacity and capability. Our worked has been previously shared with officials through a series of regional workshops in Colombia.
Technopolis chairman Prof Erik Arnold and Prof Martin Bell (SPRU) were special guests at the event, as it coincided with their visit to Colombia on an OECD mission to review the national innovation system. This created an excellent opportunity to further discuss future collaborations between the UK and Colombia.
Knowledge Transfer from Public Research Organisations
In the past 30 years many universities have invested in Technology Transfer Offices to facilitate the transfer of their inventions to industry and with a view to creating a new source of income for the institution. While patenting and licensing intellectual property has aided technology transfer, very few universities have succeeded at generating significant revenues. Universities interact with businesses and wider community in a variety of ways and universities can play a more useful public role via a broadly-based, two-way knowledge exchange with society.
This study describes knowledge transfer from European universities and institutes to industry, focusing on the role of the Industrial Liaison / Technology / Knowledge Transfer Office function. It explores practices in European institutions and compares these with international ones, especially from the USA. The project is based upon a comprehensive literature review and a programme of detailed case studies of knowledge transfer strategies and practices. It addresses the wide range of knowledge transfer activities undertaken by public research organisations, in addition to IP exploitation and their different effects on innovation in the business sector. It presents a model of the transition of PROs' knowledge transfer strategies from pure technology transfer based only on IP to a broader role in knowledge transfer and ultimately to a two-way process of knowledge exchange between PROs and industry and wider society. The report presents a number of policy options to support this process.
RIM Annual Report - 2012: Credible Actions Key to Regions' Future Innovation Performance
Building upon the findings of the first two RIM Annual Reports, this report - which is a third and final in its series deliverable - presents an updated analysis of innovation policies across EU regions, incorporates the results of the recently published Regional Innovation Scoreboard - 2012, and provides an account of benefits which have arisen from improved regional innovation practices.
One of the emerging findings is that there is a pattern in forms of support which seems to indicate that many world-class performing regions have indeed implemented a policy mix that is comparatively well-adapted to their innovation performance and well-suited to improve their economic situation in the long run. Comparatively, the results of appraisal of innovation policies in regions with strong focus on industrial employment and 'sciences & services' regions point to positive aspects but are also used to question some of the policy responses. Overall, the availability of robust evidence-based assessments leaves room for improvement across the three groups of regions. Without independent assessments of what actually worked and what did not, even more focused policies will suffer from an inherent lack of relatedness to the actual challenges that regions are facing.
The research for this report was undertaken by Technopolis Group, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, and UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University.
Technopolis announces the completion of a study on international science, technology and innovation co-operation
Over the past year, Henk Steinz has worked at Technopolis Amsterdam whilst completing his master's thesis. Entitled 'The changing approach towards developing countries in international STI cooperation'; it reviews how the Dutch STI cooperation approach – from the policy perspective as well as the researcher's perspective - has changed under the influence of national and global developments.
Henk analyses the different approaches and trends, based on a number of indicators in three case studies of Dutch STI cooperation programmes with Indonesia, China and Africa,
One of the conclusions of the study is that the current Dutch 'Top Sector' approach is of great influence on the development and implementation of STI cooperation policy and activities. In line with this approach, reciprocity and the Dutch benefits of the cooperation but also private sector participation in STI cooperation, are of increasing importance. From the researcher perspective, the changes in approach towards STI cooperation depend much more on the level of development of the partner country. The study shows that the economical and scientific developments in Indonesia and China of the last decade have made capacity building less important for Dutch researchers. Especially in cooperation with China relations have shifted from 'helping' to 'keeping up'. In addition, Dutch researchers perceive the cooperation with researchers from developing countries as more equal than before. However, STI cooperation with African partners is still characterised by inequalities in capacities, resources and funding.
You can download the thesis here.
After finishing his thesis, Henk joined the Technopolis team. Although he is about to experience international cooperation in a different hemisphere as he is temporarily moving to Australia.
You may also contact us for questions or comments (wieneke.vullings@technopolis-group.com). You can also contact Henk directly though LinkedIn or by sending an email to henksteinz@gmail.com.
Innovation Policy Trends 2011-2012
Two recently published reports under the European INNO Policy TrendChart initiative aim to identify the latest trends and key challenges in innovation policy and innovation policy funding in the EU Member States plus Croatia and in key competitor and emerging economies such as the USA, Japan and the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China). In particular, it provides an overview of changes in innovation policy priorities, in innovation support measures and in their governance and it identifies any observable patterns. The core purpose of the INNO Policy TrendChart exercise is to improve understanding of how governments design and deliver innovation policies and to explore the extent to which public policies respond effectively to the specific challenges that are inherent in national innovation systems. Both reports are based on the work of the Erawatch/TrendChart country correspondents and on the European Inventory of Research and Innovation Policy Measures.
Innovation Policy in 2012 - Challenges, trends and responses
Kincsö Izsak and Elina Griniece
Funding Research and Innovation in the EU and Beyond: Trends during 2010-2012
Katrin Männik, Katre Eljas-Taal, Jelena Angelis, Andrew Rozeik, Paresa Markianidou
Trends and Challenges in Public Sector Innovation in Europe
This report presents an overview of Public Sector Innovation (PSI) in the European Union as revealed by a pan-EU survey carried out in autumn 2012. The study sought to gather the perceptions of public officials and national experts alike as regards the development of public sector innovation across the EU. The report brings together the findings of 25 individual country reports prepared by the respective TrendChart country correspondents, which combine both qualitative material derived from interviews with selected public officials and academics and more objective data from national statistics offices and elsewhere.
