ERAWATCH Country Reports 2013: Czech Republic

The Analytical Country Reports analyse and assess in a structured manner the evolution of the national policy research and innovation in the perspective of the wider EU strategy and goals, with a particular focus on the performance of the national research and innovation (R&I) system, their broader policy mix and governance. The 2013 edition of the Country Reports highlight national policy and system developments occurring since late 2012 and assess, through dedicated sections: -National progress in addressing Research and Innovation system challenges; -National progress in addressing the 5 ERA priorities; -The progress at Member State level towards achieving the Innovation Union; -The status and relevant features of Regional and/or National Research and Innovation Strategies on Smart Specialisation (RIS3); -As far relevant, country Specific Research and Innovation (R&I) Recommendations. Detailed annexes in tabular form provide access to country information in a concise and synthetic manner. The reports were originally produced in December 2013, focusing on policy developments occurring over the preceding twelve months.JRC.J.2-Knowledge for Growt

RIO Country Report 2015: Czech Republic

The 2015 series of RIO Country Reports analyse and assess the policy and the national research and innovation system developments in relation to national policy priorities and the EU policy agenda with special focus on ERA and Innovation Union. The executive summaries of these reports put forward the main challenges of the research and innovation systems.JRC.J.6-Innovation Systems Analysi

Knowledge, Technology Transfer and the Third Mission of Universities : A mixed method approach investigating innovation ecosystems, collaboration projects and technology transfer offices

Sammendrag Målet med med denne avhandlingen er å kunne gi mer og bedre innsikt i den kunnskap- og teknologioverføring som skjer i universiteter og andre offentlige forskningsinstitusjoner innenfor innovasjonsøkosystemer. Bakgrunnen for dette er at offentlig finansiering i forskning i stor grad er politisert, og at universitetene forventes i økende grad å tilbakeføre verdi fra forskning til samfunnet. Dette blir omtalt som det tredje samfunnsoppdraget i tillegg til de to andre, forskning og undervisning. Universiteter over hele verden har tilgang til et kunnskapsoverføringskontor (KTO) eller til et mer spesialisert teknologioverføringskontor (TTO) for å hjelpe dem med å utføre det tredje samfunnsoppdraget. Disse kontorene kan organiseres enten internt eller eksternt. Tradisjonelt har innovasjon og kommersialisering basert på forskning blitt sett på som en lineær prosess drevet av økonomisk vekst i samfunnet eller av økonomiske motivasjoner hos de enkelte forskere. Disse lineære prosessene gjenspeiles også i statlige finansieringsordninger samt i universitetenes strategier og støttefunksjoner. I det siste er det imidlertid påpekt i forskningslitteraturen at universitetenes tredje samfunnsoppdrag synes å være i en overgang fra en mer økonomisk begrunnet aktivitet til en aktivitet nærmere fundert i bærekraft og generelle forbedringer i samfunnet. Denne overgangen er delvis begrunnet med de mange globale utfordringene vi opplever i dag, som klimaendringer, en aldrende befolkning, epidemier og miljøtrusler. I avhandlingen er forholdet mellom kunnskap og teknologioverføring fra universiteter, industrifinansierte forskningsprosjekter, etablering av innovasjons- og kommersialiseringsprosjekter og involvering av TTO-aktører undersøkt. Videre er dette forholdet sett i lys av aktørenes rolle i innovasjonsøkosystemet. Forskningen har vært tverrfaglig og spenner over fagområdene innovasjonsstudier og økonomisk geografi. PhD kandidaten arbeider selv i en TTO og med oppgaver innenfor kunnskap og teknologioverføring. Et underkapittel i avhandlingen er derfor viet refleksjoner over hvordan dette kan påvirke forskningen i både positiv og kanskje også i mer negativ retning. Hovedfunnene i avhandlingen kan kort oppsummeres som følger: Universiteter, TTOer og eksterne samarbeidspartnere tilhører naturlig ulike typer økosystemer, henholdsvis innenfor innovasjon, kunnskap og ulike næringer eller verdikjeder. Disse økoystemene har ulike sett av verdier og logikker. Når aktører fra flere økosystemer samarbeider i prosjekter, må de krysse grensene til andre økosystemer enn sitt eget. Dette skaper både konflikt og læring. Med et søkelys på prosjekter innenfor det tredje samfunnsoppdraget til universiteter gir denne avhandlingen derfor en innsikt i både mekanismer for samarbeid, om hvordan kunnskap og teknologioverføring faktisk foregår mellom aktørene, samt at dynamikk mellom de ulike økosystemene utforskes i både tid og rom. Motivasjonen for å gå i gang med et innovasjons og kommersialisering prosjekt ser ut til å å være mer basert på et sosialt engasjement enn økonomiske motiver. Dette gjelder ikke bare for forskere, men er også uttrykt fra andre involverte aktører, som instituttledere, TTO ansatte samt eksterne samarbeidspartnere i prosjektene. Det er antatt at disse funnene på mange måter gjenspeiler den endringen man i dag generelt ser for det tredje samfunnsoppdraget, mot mer sosiale og bærekraftig aktiviteter, og dermed også en del av en tredje generasjons innovasjonspolitikk. Universiteter, sammen med andre forskningsorganisasjoner og statlige finansieringsinstitusjoner, synes imidlertid fortsatt å agere etter prinsippene i andre generasjons innovasjonspolitikk og muligens til og med fra første generasjon. Med andre ord, de vurderer fortsatt innovasjon og kommersialisering som lineære prosesser (første generasjons innovasjonspolitikk) og favoriserer økonomiske belønninger (andre generasjons innovasjonspolitikk). Dette medfører også at TTOene sine oppgaver ofte begrenses til det kommersielle med et motiv om mest mulig økonomisk gevinst. Spørsmålet reises om universitetets overgang mot en tredje generasjons innovasjonspolitikk ikke også bør gjenspeiles i en endring i roller og oppgaver til de tilhørende TTOene Oppgaven avsluttes med noen råd til beslutningstakere og de som arbeider innenfor feltet kunnskap og teknologioverføring. Råd gis først til dem som arbeider med policy om å påse at den prosessen som i dag pågår rundt organiseringen av kunnskaps- og teknologioverføringsprosesser i Norge, bedre reflekterer den tredje generasjonspolitikken. Som en følge av dette bør kunnskaps- og teknologioverføring betraktes mer som et samfunnsoppdrag enn som en ren økonomisk aktivitet og dermed også reflekteres i finansieringsordningene til TTOene. Det må også da vurderes å utrede om ikke rollen og oppgavene til TTOene bør være mer i tråd med de bredere definerte KTOene. Den spesielle kompetansen TTOer har på immaterielle rettigheter og forretningsmodellering for innovative forskningsideer, må imidlertid opprettholdes og videreutvikles. Til slutt i avhandlingen uttrykkes et håp om at (norske) TTOer både kan omfavne og utnytte de endringer og muligheter som nå synes å komme og ikke holde seg til "business as usual".Abstract The overall research objective of this thesis is to provide insights into the field of knowledge and technology transfer in relation to public research organisations in innovation ecosystems Public funding and investments in research impact have become highly politicised, and universities are increasingly expected to provide value from their research activities to society through a third mission in addition to research and education. Universities worldwide have set up or have access to a knowledge transfer office (KTO) or to a more specialised technology transfer office (TTO) to help them to execute their third mission activities. These offices can be organised either internally or externally. Traditionally, innovation and commercialisation based on research has been viewed as a linear process that is driven by economic growth in society, as well as by the monetary-related motivations of individual researchers. This is also reflected in governmental funding instruments and university supportive structures for third mission activities. However, recent, the literature has revealed that the third mission of universities is now in transition from a monetary-driven policy structure towards a more socially engaged and sustainability-driven mission. This transition is partly driven by the many global challenges we are facing today, such as climate change, an aging population, and diseases and environmental threats. In this thesis the relationship between knowledge and technology transfer from universities, industry-funded research projects, the establishment of innovation and commercialisation projects, and the involvement of TTO actors have been at the core of the research. The research has been interdisciplinary, spanning the fields of innovation studies and economic geography. One section is devoted to describing the authors position as a professional within the field of knowledge and technology transfer including reflections upon how this might have influenced the research. The main findings from the research for this thesis can be briefly summarised as follows: Universities, TTOs, and external collaborative partners are embedded in different types of ecosystems with different logics of actions, like innovation, knowledge, and business ecosystems. When collaborating through third mission activities, the actors span the boundaries of these ecosystems. This crossing creates both conflict and learning. Through the focus on third mission links, this thesis gives valuable insights into the mechanisms for collaboration, knowledge and technology transfer as well as dynamics among the various ecosystems in both time and space. The nature of and motivations for third mission activities seem to reflect social engagement more than economic rewards. This is the case not only for researchers but also for other involved actors, such as department leaders and TTO executives, as well as external collaborative partners. It is argued that these findings in many ways reflect the transition of third mission activities from more monetary-driven and commercial-oriented second-generation innovation policy actions towards more diverse and mission-oriented third-generation innovation policy actions. When supporting innovation and commercialisation activities based on research, universities seem, along with other research organisations and government funding institutions, still left behind in the second generation of innovation policy and possibly even in the first generation. In other words, they are still considering innovation and commercialisation as linear processes and are favouring economic rewards. They are also considering the role of TTOs as taking part of commercial activities alone. The third mission of universities are, however, in a transition towards the third generation of innovation policy. The question remains as to whether this should correspondingly be reflected in a change in the roles and missions of TTOs. The thesis ends with some offers of advice to policymakers and practitioners within the field of knowledge and technology transfer. Some advice towards Norwegian policymakers is given to push the process of transitioning research-based knowledge and technology transfer processes to reflect the third innovation generation policy in a better way. Following this, knowledge and technology transfer should be considered more as a social mission than as an economic activity and consequently, the mission should be reflected in the funding schemes of TTOs. Finally, consideration should be given to initiating a shift in the perception of the roles and tasks for the TTOs in Norway towards the more broadly defined KTOs. The special competencies TTOs have on intellectual property rights and business model development for innovative research ideas, must however be maintained and further developed. Finally, a hope is expressed that (Norwegian) TTOs can embrace and exploit the coming opportunities and will not stick to ‘business as usual’.Doktorgradsavhandlin

Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions

This open access book offers a selection of research papers and case studies presented at the 3rd international conference “Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions”, held in December 2019 in Bolzano, Italy, and explores the concept of smart and sustainable planning, including top contributions from academics, policy makers, consultants and other professionals. Innovation processes such as co-design and co-creation help establish collaborations that engage with stakeholders in a trustworthy and transparent environment while answering the need for new value propositions. The importance of an integrated, holistic approach is widely recognized to break down silos in local government, in particular, when aimed at achieving a better integration of climate-energy planning. Despite the ongoing urbanization and polarization processes, new synergies between urban and rural areas emerge, linking development opportunities to intrinsic cultural, natural and man-made landscape values. The increasing availability of big, real-time urban data and advanced ICT facilitates frequent assessment and continuous monitoring of performances, while allowing fine-tuning as needed. This is valid not only for individual projects but also on a wider scale. In addition, and circling back to the first point, (big) urban data and ICT can be of enormous help in facilitating engagement and co-creation by raising awareness and by providing insight into the local consequences of specific plans. However, this potential is not yet fully exploited in standard processes and procedures, which can therefore lack the agility and flexibility to keep up with the pulse of the city and dynamics of society. The book provides a multi-disciplinary outlook based on experience to orient the reader in the giant galaxy of smart and sustainable planning, support the transposition of research into practice, scale up visionary approaches and design groundbreaking planning policies and tools

Intersectionality in Organisations: Exploring the Relationships between Gender, Ethnicity, Religion and Women’s Work in a Postcolonial African Space.

This study focuses on academic women’s perception of organisational structures involving recruitment, selection and promotion in the Nigerian higher education system, exploring how gender, ethnicity and religious identities, important factors in the Nigeria socio-economic context, can create inequalities within academia. Four Nigerian universities are used as case studies, drawing on semi-structured in-depth interviews and an online self-administered survey to collect data. The study employs the concept of intersectionality, which investigates how identities intersect to produce multiple forms of inequalities. However, the study contends that conceptualising intersectionality with Postcolonial and African feminisms creates a theoretical framework capable of highlighting the interactions between organisational structures, sociocultural attitudes to gender and ethno-religious affiliations framed by colonial legacies and postcolonial policies, thereby developing an expanded Intersectionality which is able to adequately analyse experiences of Nigerian women working in academia. Postcolonial feminism is concerned with addressing the representation of women in formerly colonised areas, while African feminism seeks answers to gender equality issues within the contextual frame of historical and cultural realities in Africa. Both of these feminisms have criticised the perceived hegemony of Western feminist thought for what they consider its universalisation of women’s oppression. The findings reveal that while the participants view themselves as successful academics with agency, there are socio-cultural attitudes to gender which have led to a normalisation of gendered practices in academia and an absence of organisational policies to tackle these issues. Furthermore, minority ethnic and religious women are more likely to experience discrimination in their organisations. Finally, while there is evidence of inequalities in all four case studies, women’s experience of discrimination vary across different regions based on ethnic and religious affiliations, a testament to the non- homogeneity of women in their workplace experiences in Nigeria

Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions: Results of SSPCR 2019—Open Access Contributions

This open access book offers a selection of research papers and case studies presented at the 3rd international conference “Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions”, held in December 2019 in Bolzano, Italy, and explores the concept of smart and sustainable planning, including top contributions from academics, policy makers, consultants and other professionals.Innovation processes such as co-design and co-creation help establish collaborations that engage with stakeholders in a trustworthy and transparent environment while answering the need for new value propositions.The importance of an integrated, holistic approach is widely recognized to break down silos in local government, in particular, when aimed at achieving a better integration of climate-energy planning. Despite the ongoing urbanization and polarization processes, new synergies between urban and rural areas emerge, linking development opportunities to intrinsic cultural, natural and man-made landscape values. The increasing availability of big, real-time urban data and advanced ICT facilitates frequent assessment and continuous monitoring of performances, while allowing fine-tuning as needed. This is valid not only for individual projects but also on a wider scale. In addition, and circling back to the first point, (big) urban data and ICT can be of enormous help in facilitating engagement and co-creation by raising awareness and by providing insight into the local consequences of specific plans. However, this potential is not yet fully exploited in standard processes and procedures, which can therefore lack the agility and flexibility to keep up with the pulse of the city and dynamics of society.The book provides a multi-disciplinary outlook based on experience to orient the reader in the giant galaxy of smart and sustainable planning, support the transposition of research into practice, scale up visionary approaches and design groundbreaking planning policies and tools

Study on open science: The general state of the play in Open Science principles and practices at European life sciences institutes

Nowadays, open science is a hot topic on all levels and also is one of the priorities of the European Research Area. Components that are commonly associated with open science are open access, open data, open methodology, open source, open peer review, open science policies and citizen science. Open science may a great potential to connect and influence the practices of researchers, funding institutions and the public. In this paper, we evaluate the level of openness based on public surveys at four European life sciences institute

Nature-based flood risk management on private land: disciplinary perspectives on a multidisciplinary challenge

This open access book addresses the various disciplinary aspects of nature-based solutions in flood risk management on private land. In recent decades, water management has been moving towards nature-based solutions. These are assumed to be much more multi-purpose than traditional “grey infrastructures” and seem to be regarded as a panacea for many environmental issues. At the same time, such measures require more – and mostly privately owned – land and more diverse stakeholder involvement than traditional (grey) engineering approaches. They also present challenges related to different disciplines. Nature-based solutions for flood risk management not only require technical expertise, but also call for interdisciplinary insights from land-use planning, economics, property rights, sociology, landscape planning, ecology, hydrology, agriculture and other disciplines to address the challenges of implementing them. Ultimately, nature-based flood risk management is a multi-disciplinary endeavor. Featuring numerous case studies of nature-based flood risk management accompanied by commentaries, this book presents brief academic reflections from two different disciplinary perspectives that critically highlight which specific aspects are of significance, and as such, underscore the multi-disciplinary nature of the challenges faced

Nature-Based Flood Risk Management on Private Land

This open access book addresses the various disciplinary aspects of nature-based solutions in flood risk management on private land. In recent decades, water management has been moving towards nature-based solutions. These are assumed to be much more multi-purpose than traditional “grey infrastructures” and seem to be regarded as a panacea for many environmental issues. At the same time, such measures require more – and mostly privately owned – land and more diverse stakeholder involvement than traditional (grey) engineering approaches. They also present challenges related to different disciplines. Nature-based solutions for flood risk management not only require technical expertise, but also call for interdisciplinary insights from land-use planning, economics, property rights, sociology, landscape planning, ecology, hydrology, agriculture and other disciplines to address the challenges of implementing them. Ultimately, nature-based flood risk management is a multi-disciplinary endeavor. Featuring numerous case studies of nature-based flood risk management accompanied by commentaries, this book presents brief academic reflections from two different disciplinary perspectives that critically highlight which specific aspects are of significance, and as such, underscore the multi-disciplinary nature of the challenges faced.