Key features of the first phase of the national cluster program in Russia

In recent years, Russian federal authorities have started moving from drafting of strategies, concepts and guidelines related to cluster development, to formation and implementation of cluster programs. The major initiative on this way was the selection of the pilot innovative clusters announced on March 19, 2012 by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. In total, there were submitted 94 cluster projects. In the first stage the projects were evaluated by the wide group of experts. Further, the selected clusters (in number of 37) presented their programs at the meeting of ?the Working Group for the Development of Public-Private Partnership in the Innovation Sphere?. Among the 37 clusters 5 submitted in the field of nuclear technology, 4 ? in aerospace and aviation, 9 ? in biotechnology, pharmaceutics, medical devices, 4 ? in information and telecommunication technology, 3 ? in novel materials, 3 ? in machinery, 5 ? in lightening and electrical equipment and instruments 4 ? in chemical products. Finally It was selected 25 pilot clusters, which is planned to be provided with comprehensive government support. The presentation consists of three part: ? Policy background of national cluster program 2012 ? Key features and results of the selection process ? A preliminary comparison of Russian cluster program with widely known EU cluster programs (BioRegio, InnoRegio, Competitiveness poles, etc) In my presentation I?m going to lighten the most essential elements of the forming cluster program in Russia: ? characteristics of the supported object, ? criteria for selection of the pilot clusters, ? selection procedure, ? description of the selected pilot clusters, ? budget, directions and supporting mechanisms for pilot clusters, ? monitoring of the implementation of cluster supporting programs. In addition, I will be addressing the key features of the Russian cluster program in comparison with the most famous European programs: BioRegio, InnoRegio (German), Competitiveness clusters (France). I have found several similar features and among them: * Russian cluster program is a cooperation-contest one; * complex inter-governmental co-ordination; * the volume of support is consistent with the similar programs; * first-priority support from other instruments of innovation development; * significant share of applications that are not granted. And also there are differences and some of them are essential: * in many cases there is a significant lack of private initiatives; * there is no emphasis on SME, start-ups, growth of new companies growth; * different principles of support; * for the Russian program, questions of monitoring and evaluation haven?t been discussed yet. At the end of my presentation I?m going to highlight and discuss the rooms for improvement of Russia cluster policy

Selecting Ions by Size in a Calcium Channel: The Ryanodine Receptor Case Study

AbstractMany calcium channels can distinguish between ions of the same charge but different size. For example, when cations are in direct competition with each other, the ryanodine receptor (RyR) calcium channel preferentially conducts smaller cations such as Li+ and Na+ over larger ones such as K+ and Cs+. Here, we analyze the physical basis for this preference using a previously established model of RyR permeation and selectivity. Like other calcium channels, RyR has four aspartate residues in its GGGIGDE selectivity filter. These aspartates have their terminal carboxyl group in the pore lumen, which take up much of the available space for permeating ions. We find that small ions are preferred by RyR because they can fit into this crowded environment more easily

Conceptualizing the innovation process towards the ‘active innovation paradigm’—trends and outlook

This paper introduces the evolving understanding and conceptualization of innovation process models. We categorize the different approaches to understand and model innovation processes into two types. First, the so-called innovation management approach focuses on the evolution of corporate innovation management strategies in different social and economic environments. The second type is the conceptual approach which analyses the evolution of innovation models themselves as well as the models' theoretical backgrounds and requirements. The focus in this second approach is the advantages and disadvantages of different innovation models in how far they can describe the reality of innovation processes. The paper focuses on the advantages and disadvantages as well as the potential and limitations of the approaches. It also proposes potential future developments of innovation models as well as the analysis of the driving forces that underlie the evolution of innovation models. The article concludes that the predominant open innovation paradigm requires rethinking and further development towards an "active innovation" paradigm

Organizing practices of university, industry and government that facilitate (or impede) the transition to a hybrid triple helix model of innovation

© 2015 Elsevier Inc. Drawing on the contemporary turn to discursive practices we examine how the organizing practices of industry, university and government facilitate (or impede) developing countries transition to a hybrid triple helix model of innovation. Placing emphasis on the everyday situated practices of institutional agents, their interactions, and collaborative relationships, we identified three domains of practices (advanced research capabilities and external partnerships, the quantification of scientific knowledge and outputs, and collective entrepreneurship) that constitutively facilitate (or impede) partnership and in turn the successful transition to a hybrid triple helix model. Our study also highlights the contextual influence of differential schemata of interpretations on how to organize innovation by the three institutional actors in developing countries

Cross-country analysis of science, technology and innovation policies: non-covid-19 related and Covid-19 specific STI policies in OECD countries

In OECD countries, Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policies were seen as key aspects of coping with the Covid-19 pandemic. Now that the pandemic is over, identifying which policy mix portfolios characterised countries in terms of their non-Covid-19 related and Covid-19 specific STI policies fills a knowledge gap on changes in STI policies induced by exogenous shocks. The descriptive nature of this exercise sheds light on the emergency phase, which was addressed in different ways by countries with similar STI policy portfolios in the last decade before the pandemic. Using information on STI policy initiatives in OECD countries, this paper proposes a multidimensional analysis to classify policy initiatives based on both codes (of innovation policy themes, policy instruments and target beneficiaries) and free text policies’ descriptions. Based on text mining and clustering techniques, the multidimensional analysis highlights semantic similarities between the combinations of codes and terms, making it possible to identify policy mixes that characterise non-Covid-19 related and Covid-19 specific STI policies. The cross-country comparison draws attention to the specific policy mix portfolios implemented by countries during the pandemic. The paper contributes to the literature on innovation policy mix in terms of research methods and results in identifying STI policy portfolios and groups of countries with similar structural composition of their innovation policy portfolios, implementing a range of STI strategies in tackling the pandemic. Policy implications of the findings are discussed, with a forward-looking perspective for the analysis of post-pandemic STI policies

Multiphoton Exchange Processes in Ultraperipheral Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

The very strong electromagnetic fields present in ultraperipheral relativistic heavy ion collisions lead to important higher order effects of the electromagnetic interaction. These multiphoton exchange processes are studied using perturbation theory and the sudden or Glauber approximation. In many important cases, the multi-photon amplitudes factorize into independent single-photon amplitudes. These amplitudes have a common impact parameter vector, which induces correlations between the amplitudes. Impact-parameter dependent equivalent-photon spectra for simultaneous excitation are calculated, as well as, impact-parameter dependent gammagamma-luminosities. Excitations, like the multiphonon giant dipole resonances, vector meson production and multiple e+e- pair production can be treated analytically in a bosonic model, analogous to the emission of soft photons in QED.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys.

The dead end of classical innovation management and unsustainable innovation

• Sustainable innovation management via radical de-growth logic or incrementally.• Sustainable innovation management via pressure or voluntary ecosystem orientation. • Sustainable innovation management via formal processes.• Sustainable innovation management as a multilevel phenomenon

Why do we need science-based co-creation?

For many years the transfer, exchange and collaboration of knowledge and technology between academia and industry have been discussed as an important means of generating commercial value. The underlying rationale for such collaborations is that knowledge and technology from academia lead to firms’ competitive advantage. What has received less attention in the literature, so far, is a science-based collaborative approach for addressing societal challenges. In particular, we focus on collaborations among different actors - ranging from academics, businesses, policy makers, intermediaries and society - who devote shared resources, competences and capabilities in developing unique solutions to economic and societal challenges. The specific domain of a such process - that demands thinking beyond the knowledge transfer or creation expected to produce business value - is framed as “co-creation”. This paper outlines a conceptual framework by capturing the heterogeneity of science-based co-creation and its determinants. In the paper, the concept of co-creation is positioned in the various strands of innovation literature which refer to collaboration across different domains, highlighting the uniqueness of co-creation. We suggest focussing on a distinctive character of co-creation: the production of both business value and social values that emerges with different forms of innovation, reach and prominence. While business value has its own metric in a monetary scale, when society is considered, metrics should refer to the many different dimensions that have been impacted on, leading to many social values (in plural). The paper highlights research gaps to further our knowledge on co-creation and suggests policy implications to support effective mutual interactions across science, technology and society

Conceptualizing the Innovation Process – Trends and Outlook

This paper introduces the evolving understanding and conceptualization of innovation process models. From the discussion of different approaches towards the innovation process understanding and modeling two types of approaches to the evolution of innovation models are developed and discussed. First the so-called innovation management approach which focuses on the evolution of the company innovation management strategies in different socioeconomic environments. Second is the analysis the evolution of innovation models themselves in conceptual sense (conceptual approach) as well as analysis of theoretical backgrounds and requirements for these models. The main focus of analysis in this approach is on advantages and disadvantages of different innovation models in their ability to describe the reality of innovation processes. The paper focuses on the advantages and disadvantages as well as potentials and limitations of the approaches and also proposes potential future developments of innovation models as well as the analysis of driving forces that underlie the evolution of innovation models recently

A phoenix rising? The regeneration of the Ghana garment and textile industry

Some African countries’ premier industries, such as textiles, garments and agro-processing, which floundered in the face of market liberalization and stiff competition from cheap imports, are now going through regenerative changes, with some beginning to tell a cautionary tale of a leap upwards. Focusing on the Ghana garment and textile industry, we draw on a framework that integrates social practices and everyday general-purpose technologies to explore the rise, decline and regeneration of the industry. Explicating a fine analysis of how the performative reconfiguration of social practices and functional sources of innovation and technologies may combine to support innovation-driven growth, our study sheds light on how loosely connected actors within a hitherto floundering industry can learn to transform their situated practices to drive their ‘industrial regeneration’. Implications for the theory and practice of industrial regeneration are outlined