Tom Goldsmith, PhD’s Post

"Can the UK be a ‘Science and Technology Superpower’?" from Kieron Flanagan, Andrew James and Edmond Smith at RUSI. "UK ST&I policy remains cognitively and institutionally locked into the technology transfer fallacy established in the 1980s, despite apparently underwhelming economic outcomes. It is also subject to a second fallacy, the ‘closed system’ fallacy, which assumes that discovery/invention and subsequent commercialisation normally happen in the same country or region. This is a widely held fallacy: many countries seem to feel they are unique in being ‘good at discovery but bad at commercialisation’, a concern backed up by anecdotes (such as EMI’s failure to commercialise the CT Scanner) that merely illustrate the limited technological and industrial capacity of any one country versus that of the whole of the rest of the world. This brings us to the third fallacy, that of the ‘zero-sum game’. Here, countries are viewed as competitors in a zero-sum race for technological advantage, so that the growth in scale and quality of research and innovation in other countries is necessarily always bad news for us. This thinking has always been present but, from the 1980s, was heightened by the idea of national economic competitiveness, famously demolished by Paul Krugman. To a significant degree, modern UK ST&I policies have been driven by an obsession with increasing economic competitiveness through commercialising basic research findings. This thinking almost entirely supplanted the more traditional ST&I drivers of national security and productivity."

Want to learn more about our Challenge programs? The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD - OCDE), has published an in-depth case study on our collaborative and interdisciplinary platform that uses science excellence to tackle Canada’s most pressing societal and environmental challenges as part of its online toolkit on mission-driven innovation policy. Our Challenge programs are making meaningful impact and providing important opportunities to partner with private and public sector, academic and other research organizations in Canada. We look forward to continuing to advance transformative, high-risk, high-reward research that addresses Canadian priorities with the launch of 3 new challenge programs by 2026. Stay tuned to learn how you can express your interest in opportunities to help shape the design of the new challenge programs, which are focused on strengthening Canada's research and innovation capacity in quantum, electric vehicles and AI. Read the case study: https://ow.ly/Z0JY50Uw3zK #NRCChallengeAccepted

Taking a moment to look into the future and how the tenth Framework Programme for research and innovation will look like. EC is making movements to concentrate and streamline EU efforts on R&I in one single programme. https://lnkd.in/gYgkC-fQ

New report: Competitiveness, productivity and innovation in the UK’s computing sector Despite the UK's high value computing sector, productivity growth has slowed since the financial crisis, and there are few large companies. Filip Mandys and Diane Coyle analyse the UK computing sector's competitiveness and future growth prospects. Read: https://lnkd.in/ddyxCUHn #economics #computing #productivity #competition #growth

❓ What do you think about the government’s overview and plans for the UK scientific sector? 🔬 Although it is hard to measure the true economic value of science and technology, the government and commentators agree on the importance of these sectors for UK economic growth, productivity and society. 📈 This briefing presents figures relating to the estimated economic contribution of science and technology across the UK, discusses challenges faced by related sectors, and summarises recent government policies announced to support their growth. https://bit.ly/3NHccEb #ReedScientific #Science #Economy #Technology

UK research and innovation is a national asset. 🔬💡 Universities need long-term, stable funding and strategy from government for this to continue. Read more in our Blueprint: https://loom.ly/Al5YxKY

The European Commission today presented the #EuropeanSemester 2024 Spring Package. It provides policy guidance to EU Member States to build a robust and future-proof economy. The country reports analyse the economic, employment and social developments in each country and take stock of the implementation of the #NextGenerationEU recovery & resilience plans. They form the analytical basis for the country-specific recommendations, which call on EU countries to take policy action to promote competitiveness and increase productivity. All Member States should implement these recommendations fully and in a timely manner to realise their full benefits. The Spring Package is particularly focused on boosting competitiveness: It calls for policy action to: - facilitate access to finance - boost research & innovation - improve educational outcomes. The in-depth reviews assess the existence and evolution of macroeconomic imbalances for 12 selected Member States: France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, Romania, Germany, Cyprus, Hungary, the Netherlands and Sweden. ⛓ Press release: https://europa.eu/!ghNjjp 📑 2024 European Semester Spring package: https://europa.eu/!xBFBB7

The EU must make research and innovation a 'collective priority,' says former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, highlighting the urgent need for more support for fundamental #research and a unified approach to public #funding to bridge the gap with the US. With his landmark report on EU competitiveness due out soon, Draghi echoed former Prime Minister Enrico Letta's recent call for a 'fifth freedom' dedicated to #research and #innovation, underlining the growing consensus on the need for a strategic focus on R&I. 📢https://lnkd.in/dcvZGvcr ➡️To keep up to date with the #EUcompetitiveness debate check out our latest issues: 🔎High-profile report urges EU to create a ‘fifth freedom’ of research and innovation 🔗https://lnkd.in/en3GPGPi 🔎Economists call for European Innovation Council reform to support more breakthrough research 🔗https://lnkd.in/dNguC5Vb 🔎Viewpoint: FP10 should prioritise innovation over policy 🔗https://lnkd.in/dmvPnnPN 🔎What are Important Projects of Common European Interest? 🔗https://lnkd.in/dCQrMuUM

Important 🇪🇺R&I news! Must read📖🧐👇