- •Executive Summary
- •Box K1.1. Why is innovation important?
- •Box K1.2. Incremental and radical innovation
- •Figure 1.1. Driving forces of innovation
- •Table 1.1. Innovation style at different stages of the firm
- •Table 1.2. Closed innovation versus open innovation principles
- •Table 1.3. The benefits of collaboration
- •Figure 1.2. Structure of the national innovation system
- •Box K1.3. Public-private partnerships for innovation
- •Table 1.4. Options for improving the functioning of an innovation system
- •Box K1.4. The public sector role as coordinator
- •Box K1.5. Innovation Agencies and Innovation Councils
- •Executive Summary
- •A. The importance of framework conditions
- •Box K2.1. Entrepreneurship as a driver of innovation
- •B. Local and regional dimensions
- •Box K2.2. Are local factors still relevant?
- •Box K2.3. Codified and tacit knowledge
- •C. The role of the business environment
- •Box C2.3. Good practices in company formation
- •Table 2.3. Basic principles in the organization and delivery of business services
- •Box K2.4. What is R&D and why it matters?
- •Table 2.4. Principles of designing tax incentives for R&D in firms
- •Figure 2.2. Eligibility of UK companies for R&D tax incentives
- •Table 2.5. Direct funding and tax incentives for R&D
- •Figure 2.3. Funding requirements lifecycle
- •Table 2.6. Taxonomy of types of support for early-stage companies
- •Executive Summary
- •A. Identifying industry-science linkages and the forms of public support
- •Figure 3.1. How the public and private sector can join forces in support of innovation
- •Table 3.1. Different categories and forms of industry-science relations
- •B. Supporting industry-science linkages at different stages of the innovation process
- •Table 3.2. Industry-science relations (ISR) and the institutional setting in public science
- •Table 3.3. Responsible Partnership Guidelines for Collaborative Research
- •Table 3.4. The types of technology that lead to spin-outs or established firm licenses
- •Executive Summary
- •A. Innovation support institutions and firms’ innovation activities
- •Table 4.1. Types of innovation support institutions
- •B. Business incubators
- •Box K4.1. What is a business incubator?
- •Box K4.2. Pre-incubation
- •Table 4.2. Performance evaluation: definition of key evaluation issues
- •Table 4.3. Performance evaluation: Definition of key performance evaluation indicators
- •C. Science and technology parks
- •Box K4.4. Different definitions of science parks
- •Table 4.5. Four science park models: Main features
- •Table 4.6. Profile of a typical North American university research park
- •D. Innovation clusters
- •Box K4.5. The main features of innovation clusters
- •Table 4.7. An illustrative framework for cluster monitoring, benchmarking and evaluation
Enhancing the Innovative Performance of Firms |
51 |
___________________________________________________________________________
III. STRENGTHENING INDUSTRY-SCIENCE-EDUCATION
LINKAGES
Executive Summary
•The innovation process requires a connection between the institution’s generation of knowledge and those organizations that address the market, that is, between education/science and business. For these linkages to be effective the knowledge needs to be relevant and business needs to know how to use the knowledge.
•Effective management of the links between the production of knowledge and skills and their utilization and commercialization is essential for the development of a sustainable knowledge and innovation base in any economic system. Sustainable education – science – industry linkages are essential for delivering skills and technology to the market place.
•These linkages are weak in many UNECE countries, especially in some of the catching-up economies. Among the causes of poor linkages are the inadequate institutional infrastructure of the NIS, legacies of the “linear” model of innovation, old-fashioned courses taught in universities that lack relevance in the commercial domain, and the traditional weaknesses of the NIS in the catching-up economies inherited from the period of centrally planned economy. It is essential that such gaps be close, which may require targeted policy interventions.
•Closing the gap between the needs of business and the educational/R&D output of the NIS requires close collaboration and dialogue between the relevant stakeholders. Policy interventions may also enhance connectivity and cooperation among stakeholders.
•Various publicly funded programmes have been developed to assist in this process in different UNECE countries. On the one hand, such programmes generally target enhancing the exposure of academics and students to the commercial sector including staff exchange, as well as technology and knowledge transfer. On the other hand, policy measures aim at reducing obstacles and barriers that may discourage the business sector from drawing on the intellectual resources of academic centres.
•In addition, policy may support strategy groups in aligning public programmes with the needs of industry. Examples of such strategy groups include science and industry councils and technology strategy boards. To be effective, representation on these committees needs to cover the interests of business, education and the organizations that deliver the services from one side to the other.