2009 archives
4 December 2009
Technopolis to co-ordinate the European Eco-Innovation Observatory as part of Europe's response to tackling climate change and improving resource efficiency
Technopolis Group (Brussels) has been awarded, as the lead partner of a consortium, the contract to implement a three-year project for developing the European Eco-Innovation Observatory (EIO). The EIO is part of the Europe INNOVA initiative (www.europe-innova.eu) of the Directorate-General for Enterprise & Industry of the European Commission, however the project is funded and over-seen by the DG for Environment of the European Commission. The partners of Technopolis for this major new projects are the Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI), the Wuppertal Institute, Finland Futures Research Centre and the UK Resource Efficiency Network.
Announcing the launch of the new project, Michal Miedzinski, senior consultant with Technopolis Group, highlighted that “The European manufacturing industry is about to undertake a tremendous effort towards a major paradigm shift - to break the old link between growth and resource consumption. Eco-Innovation offers a huge potential of new markets for EU companies as well as a promise of more sustainable business and lifestyles. The Eco-Innovation Observatory will be the first integrated European-level knowledge source on eco-innovation for enterprises, innovation service providers and policy-makers alike".
The Eco-Innovation Observatory, an action anticipated in the Environmental
Technology Action Plan (ETAP) for 2004-2009, will be a strategic knowledge resource
on eco-innovation for businesses and policy-makers. The main objectives of the
observatory are to gather market intelligence on eco-innovation, analyse technology
trends, provide sector analysis and measure eco-innovation in the Member States.
The observatory will liaise with other EU initiatives working in related fields,
in particular, ETAP and the Lead Market Initiative. Its main output will be
an annual report on the state of eco-innovation and eco-industries in the EU
and an on-line information tool for businesses and policy-makers. The aim is
to offer a complete service in support of businesses and SMEs by providing them
with the latest market insights, which can be used to spot and exploit market
opportunities and trends.
Further information can be found at www.europe-innova.eu/eco-inno-obs
or from the project manager Michal
Miedzinski.
3 December 2009
Technopolis UK contributes to the Pilot Innovation Index launched by NESTA
Paul Simmonds (Director, Technopolis UK) and John Clark (Consultant, Technopolis UK) contributed to the project aiming to establish the extent to which wider framework conditions (e.g. money, skills, public research) influence national rates of innovation. It was a joint project done with GHK and the University of Manchester.
In March 2008, the Government published the White Paper 'Innovation Nation'.
In the Paper, the Government asked NESTA to develop a new Innovation
Index, which would more accurately measure innovation in the UK's increasingly
important services sectors, creative industries and in the delivery of public
services. The pilot Index was launched in November 2009; the Index will
be ready in its final form in the autumn of 2010.
16 November 2009
Technopolis presents on Leadership at the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference 2009
Technopolis consultants Rebecca Allison and Edward Kitching presented a peer reviewed paper at the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship conference held in Liverpool, England.
The ISBE conference is devoted to the topic of Small Business and entrepreneurship support, enterprise support policy, evaluation of enterprise support and entrepreneurship education.
The Technopolis paper was based on a piece of work that was commissioned
by South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and was entitled:
Leadership for Global Competitiveness: Exploring the link between leadership
skills and the enhancement of innovative capabilities within SMEs in the South
East of England
The annual conference invited papers on the following themes this year
- Learning for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Education
- Business Creation and Development – Stimulating Start-ups
- Creative Industries Entrepreneurship
- ICT, IT and E-Business in the Small Firm Sector
- Gender and Enterprise
- Entrepreneurship, Networks, Innovation and Resource Acquisition
- Management, Skills Development and Growth Issues
- Social, Environmental and Ethical Enterprise
- Venture Capital, Finance, taxation and Regulation
- Business Support and Internationalisation
As a result of this paper Technopolis have been contacted for participation in further evaluations in the development of knowledge in the small business sector.
Contact info@technopolis-group.com
for further information
5 November 2009
Technopolis Group Turkey coordinates the first National Idea Competition in Turkey under the Public Innovation Project.
The partners of the competition are the Public Innovation Leaders Platform formed by the high level representatives of key ministries in Turkey, Innovation Association, METUTECH, PPP Association, the Turkish Informatics Association, National Innovation Initiative, and the Public Management and Auditing Strategies Research Centre. The competition aims to collect and award innovation ideas which can be implemented through e-government applications to improve responsiveness, transparency and efficiency.
15 June 2009
Technopolis Group to support Bosnia & Herzegovina to develop an R&D policy
Technopolis Group (Brussels office) has recently been selected by the European
Commission's Delegation in Sarajevo to implement a €0.5m, 12 month contract
(starting summer 2009) in support of R&D policy. The overall objective of
the project is to re-establish research, technological development and innovation
(RTDI) in Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) as an essential part of the functioning
of its economy and to promote a vibrant science, research and innovation culture
and reinforce the institutional capacity. The project will specifically assist,
advise and build capacity within the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MoCA), entity
ministers responsible for science and technology, and other relevant institutions
in the context of the current division of constitutional responsibilities. Further
information can be obtained from Jacek
Walendowski in our Brussels Office.
15 June 2009
Estonian innovation policy: from crisis to redemption?
Alasdair Reid, director of the Brussels and Tallinn offices of Technopolis
group was recently invited to contribute an article to the Hea Eesti Idee (Good
Estonian Idea) magazine (which is co-financed by the Enterprise Estonia national
agency and the European Regional Development Funds, to promote awareness on
innovation in Estonia). In the article, Alasdair explores the lessons to be
drawn from a decade of innovation policy in Estonia and suggests a number of
options for further policy developments, notably to assist Estonia in moving
beyond the current financial crisis.
See: http://www.arengufond.ee/eng/news/news1282/
26 May 2009
Two Technopolis reports published by UK government
Science Research Investment Fund: a review of Round 2 and wider benefits
Our independent review of the UK's Science Research Investment Fund (SRIF) found
that supplementary capital funding programmes can produce wide ranging benefits
to science and the economy, and in particular to the higher-education community's
productivity and ability to perform new types of research in new areas. The
study also found the scheme had contributed significantly in many cases to the
improved global visibility of a given faculty or centre and to the realisation
of a more inter-disciplinary research environment.
You can read more and download the full
report on the HEFCE web site.
Identification and dissemination of lessons learned by institutions
participating in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) bibliometrics pilot:
Results of the Round One consultation
HEFCE is conducting a pilot to inform the use of bibliometric indicators
in its new national performance assessment system, the Research Excellence Framework
(REF). The REF will replace the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), and govern
the annual distribution of around EUR 2 billion in institutional funds to the
country's 150 or so universities and colleges. REF will increase metrication
of the assessment of research excellence, as well as extending the review process
to include measures of research impact.
Technopolis was commissioned by HEFCE to identify and disseminate the key lessons
learned by the 22 higher education institutions participating in this pilot,
encompassing the implications for research information systems and compliance
costs as well as wider implications for academics and strategic management.
This report is the first of two in a series and addresses the processes undertaken
by HEIs to fulfil the data collection and verification requirements of the REF
bibliometrics pilot and discusses the insights and implications of this.
The full
report can also be downloaded on the HEFCE web site.
25 March 2009
Technopolis contribution to European Parliament thinking on Eco-innovation published
Geert Van der Veen, a Director of Technopolis BV in Amsterdam, delivered a paper on Examples of public policies for eco-innovation with emphasis on the Netherlands to a workshop organised at the European Parliament in November 2008. That paper has now been published by the European Parliament as one part of a fuller report on Eco-Innovation: putting the EU on the path to a resource and energy efficient economy.
Technopolis Group and the evaluation of Framework programmes
Technopolis provided the rapporteur for the recently-published Evaluation of the Sixth EU Framework Programme, 2002-6. However, we have also been involved in generating a lot of the evidence that lies behind the overall evaluation as well as policymaking at the national level. This includes evaluations of FP6 environmental research; the evaluation of FP5 and FP6 non-nuclear energy research; and a bibliometric study that assesses the scientific excellence of FP6 participants; a study of the new instrument in FP6; impact evaluations in the IST area; and studies of research infrastructure. At the national level we have produced a study of the impacts of Framework Programmes 3-6 in Sweden and are currently evaluating the impacts of FP6 in Ireland, The Netherlands and cooperating with NIFUSTEP on a similar study in Norway.
Some of these results were presented as communications and posters at the EUFORDIA conference 2009 that was held on February 24 and 25th in Prague.
Technopolis sheds light on Innovation Objectives
The European Commission's Directorate-General for Enterprise published on 22
January 2009, the European Innovation Progress Report 2008. This report analyses
challenges and policy responses from the perspective of a typology of failures
in innovation systems, aiming to shed new light on the relevance of innovation
policy objectives and responses in the EU27 Member States. The comparison of
innovation policy and governance at the levels of the European Innovation Scoreboard
country groups (innovation leaders, innovation followers, moderate innovators
and catching-up countries) reveals differences in their perceptions of challenges
and their approach to policy design and targeting.
In addition to the sections charting policy trends (prepared by Technopolis)
and changes in innovation governance (prepared by Prof. Lena Tsipouri), there
is an analysis of the thematic foci of the INNO Policy TrendChart country reports
for 2008, namely: Support for Innovative Start-ups and Gazelles and Policies
in Support of Creativity and Innovation.
Alasdair Reid and Michal Miedzinski of Technopolis Group (Belgium) are amongst
the three co-authors of this major report.
The full
report can be download from the PRO INNO Europe web site.