1 / 25

The Role of Research in National and International Economic Development

The Role of Research in National and International Economic Development. Dr. Ian Carter Director of Research and Enterprise University of Sussex, UK Lynne Chronister VP for Research and Economic Development University of South Alabama, USA INORMS Washington DC April 2014. Outline.

channer
Download Presentation

The Role of Research in National and International Economic Development

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Role of Research in National and International Economic Development Dr. Ian Carter Director of Research and Enterprise University of Sussex, UK Lynne Chronister VP for Research and Economic Development University of South Alabama, USA INORMS Washington DC April 2014

  2. Outline I. Direct and Indirect Impacts on the Economy • Education/human capital impact • Construction/production • Induced Impacts • Direct Financial impact • Research impact II. Research, Innovation, and Impact III. Building an Innovation Ecosystem for Economic Development

  3. In the U.S. high tech firms in their communities account for the creation of 4.3 jobs to each high-tech job they established vs 1.4 jobs from manufacturing 2011 – North American incubators assisted ~49,000 start-up companies that provided ~200,000 full-time employees & generated almost $15 billion in revenue

  4. Our Universities • Sussex: • 12 academic schools, covering science and medicine, social sciences, arts and humanities • 2,100 staff (560 academic staff, 270 research staff) • 13,000 students, of which 1,000 postgraduate research students • £180 million income ($270m), of which c£50 million research income ($75m) • South Alabama: • 8 academic schools, covering science and medicine, engineering, computing, social sciences, arts and humanities, 3 hospitals • 5,500 staff (over 1,000 academic and research staff) • 15,400 students, of which 3,000 postgraduate research students • $960 million income, of which $42 million research income

  5. I. Direct and Indirect Impact on the Economy • Human Capital • Construction / Renovation / Maintenance • University payroll • Direct local spending • Knowledge creation • Development of new products and technologies • Improvement of existing technologies • New Business development/start-up ventures • Research Parks and Incubators

  6. What is Impact? • Journal Impact Factors and article citation rates • UK: 4% of researchers; 6% of articles; 12% of citations; 16% of highly-cited [BIS/Elsevier] • “Economic Impact” • Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD) as %age of GDP • UK:1.8%; EU 2%; EU target 3%; US 2.8% [OECD] • UK: 61% Business; 27% HE; 9% Government [BIS] • UK: 10 companies represent 34%; 50 for 56%; 40% is non-UK in origin [CIHE/UK~IRC] • Socio-economic Innovation • Economic, Social, Public policy, Cultural, Environmental, Quality of life, Education

  7. Economic Development through People • Graduates into the workforce • What skills, knowledge and behaviours are relevant? • Support of innovators • Access to expertise and facilities • Skills enhancement • Provision of continuing professional development • Advisors to businesses, governments, and NGOs • Enhancing policy development and environmental knowledge

  8. II. Research, Innovation, and Impact

  9. Innovation Flow Chart RESEARCH TRADE SECRET NEW KNOWLEDGE INVENTION DISSEMINATION APPLICATION INNOVATION INNOVATION ECONOMIC (and other) BENEFIT SOCIETAL (and economic) BENEFIT e.g. health, welfare, workforce development

  10. Evolving Role of Universities in Economic Development

  11. Why do we do research? • ‘…the real and legitimate goal of the sciences is the endowment of human life with new inventions and riches’ Francis Bacon, NovumOrganum, 1620 • ‘Intellectual enquiry is worthwhile for its own sake’ David Willetts, UK Minister for Universities and Science, 2010 • Governments are interested in research because it: • fosters global economic performance, & specifically the country’s economic competitiveness; • increases the effectiveness of its public services & policy; • enhances quality of life, health & creative output of its citizens.

  12. Because … If you do not engage in research, discovery and creativity, tomorrow will look just like today!

  13. What is Innovation? ‘A new way of doing something’ ‘The translation of ideas / intellectual property (from anywhere) into socio-economically productive activities’ ‘Invention is the first occurrence of an idea for a new product or process, while innovation is the first attempt to carry it out into practice’

  14. Types of Innovation • Technology innovation • OECD innovation types: • Process, Product, Marketing, Organisational • Policy innovation • Innovation in socio-cultural behaviours • Overlapping, but different, perspectives on innovation: • Commercial, Governmental, Research Base

  15. Smart Homes of the Future

  16. Cars of 2030

  17. Artificial Knees/ Leg Prosthetic

  18. The Relationship of Research to Impact Research → Research outputs → Knowledge Transfer / Exchange activities → Socio-economic activity → Socio-economic impact

  19. Chicken or Egg? • Is knowledge exchange part of the research process? • Or is research part of the innovation process? • Governmental desire to support / initiate economic development • Interventions that are not research • Danger of individuals and institutions acting as if the activities are research • These are service contracts, with contractual deliverables • Ground-breaking research and innovation both require flexibility and freedom to react • Not a standard purchase of a commodity • Overhead involved in measurement of the immeasurable

  20. III. Building an Innovation Ecosystem for Economic Development Building the Mechanisms for Economic Development: Application-based / translational research focus Build Infrastructure to exploit research outcomes Technology transfer Entrepreneurship programs Research parks/Incubators Funding mechanisms Gap Funding Angel Investment

  21. U.S.A Support Ecosystem Company Founders Strong Academic Ties Angels Entrepreneurs Research Organization Memberships Mentoring Multiple Directorships

  22. The Competing Perspectives • Corporate Perspective • Effect on the bottom line • New product / service / process development • Customer acquisition and retention • Competitive position • Rate of return • Timescales short to medium term; can depend on size and sector • Research Base Perspective • Translation into practice • research supply chain; • innovation in the research process • Plurality of dissemination and impact • ‘Impact’ in teaching, research, economic, social, cultural, societal areas • Timescales are often long • Governmental Perspective • National (industrial) competitiveness • Employment • Tax returns • Economic effects (macro and micro) • Social cohesion effects • Standard of living • Investment for the future • Policy development • Timescales theoretically long; but sometimes driven on a shorter term, e.g. political / election / funding / ministerial cycles

  23. Geographic Challenges or Opportunities? • Is university-supported economic development constrained by geography? • How can international economic development be supported?

  24. Questions and Discussion

More Related