Review of EU, national and regional innovation drivers

A policy review of innovation drivers in support of the development of the Regional Innovation Strategy

Sharing science, building bridges, and enhancing impact: Public-Private Partnerships in the CGIAR

"This study, which examines the role of public–private partnerships in international agricultural research, is intended to provide policymakers, research managers, and business decisionmakers with an understanding of how such partnerships operate and how they potentially contribute to food security and poverty reduction in developing countries. The study examines public–private partnerships in light of persistent market failure, institutional constraints, and systemic weaknesses, which impede the exchange of potentially pro-poor knowledge and technology. The study focuses on three key issues: whether public–private partnerships contribute to reducing the cost of research, whether they add value to research by facilitating innovation, and whether they enhance the impact of research on smallholders and other marginalized groups in developing-country agriculture. The study examines 75 projects undertaken by the research centers and programs of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in partnership with various types of private firms. Data and information were obtained through document analysis, semi-structured interviews with key informants, and an email survey of CGIAR centers. The resulting analysis provides a characterization of public–private partnerships in the CGIAR and describes the factors that contribute to their success. These finding are important to improving both public policy and organizational practices in the international agricultural research system." - from authors' abstract.Agricultural R&D, CGIAR, Innovation, Public-private partnerships,

Bioengineered Textiles and Nonwovens – the convergence of bio-miniaturisation and electroactive conductive polymers for assistive healthcare, portable power and design-led wearable technology

Today, there is an opportunity to bring together creative design activities to exploit the responsive and adaptive ‘smart’ materials that are a result of rapid development in electro, photo active polymers or OFEDs (organic thin film electronic devices), bio-responsive hydrogels, integrated into MEMS/NEMS devices and systems respectively. Some of these integrated systems are summarised in this paper, highlighting their use to create enhanced functionality in textiles, fabrics and non-woven large area thin films. By understanding the characteristics and properties of OFEDs and bio polymers and how they can be transformed into implementable physical forms, innovative products and services can be developed, with wide implications. The paper outlines some of these opportunities and applications, in particular, an ambient living platform, dealing with human centred needs, of people at work, people at home and people at play. The innovative design affords the accelerated development of intelligent materials (interactive, responsive and adaptive) for a new product & service design landscape, encompassing assistive healthcare (smart bandages and digital theranostics), ambient living, renewable energy (organic PV and solar textiles), interactive consumer products, interactive personal & beauty care (e-Scent) and a more intelligent built environment

Consolidation and Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Role of Mergers and Acquisitions in the Current Innovation Ecosystem

Recent changes in the pharmaceutical industry have spurred an unprecedented wave of mergers and acquisitions. Some researchers and agencies have questioned whether pharmaceutical consolidation could impede drug innovation. However, as I explain in this Article, these concerns are largely based on an outdated understanding of the drug innovation ecosystem. Whereas a few decades ago almost all drug discovery took place inside traditional pharmaceutical companies, today most drug innovation is externally-sourced from biotech companies and smaller firms. Internal R&D is no longer the primary source, or even an important source, of drug innovation. As a result, analyses that focus on the impacts of pharmaceutical consolidation on internal drug innovation are incomplete and missing the point. Instead, merger analyses should examine whether consolidation increases demand for externally-sourced innovation and, ultimately, strengthens aggregate drug innovation

China's absorptive State: research, innovation and the prospects for China-UK collaboration

China's innovation system is advancing so rapidly in multiple directions that the UK needs to develop a more ambitious and tailored strategy, able to maximise opportunities and minimise risks across the diversity of its innovation links to China. For the UK, the choice is not whether to engage more deeply with the Chinese system, but how. This report analyses the policies, prospects and dilemmas for Chinese research and innovation over the next decade. It is designed to inform a more strategic approach to supporting China-UK collaboration

Innovation in Healthcare, An analysis of the regional preconditions in Skåne for innovation in digital healthcare.

The upcoming changes in the demographic structure will put pressure on the healthcare system in Skåne. Tax financed hospitals with more beds, doctors, nurses and other personnel will not be the solution to cope with the upcoming demands. Increasing healthcare productivity is one way, where digital healthcare is a potential part of the solution. One of the major limitations of the digital healthcare market is not the shortage of technology but rather the innovation-uptake is slow in healthcare compared to other sectors. The problem is to understand why the technology uptake is slow, which barriers prevents uptake and what decelerate continued innovation in the healthcare sector. Purpose: The main purpose aim to describe and analyze the regional preconditions in Skåne for innovation in digital healthcare. The goal has been to identify strengths, opportunities and various barriers that prevents or delay innovation in the region. Identifying and proposing innovative health strategies with the TOWS-framework. Sub purposes are to identify upcoming global trends in healthcare and gather a list of digital healthcare projects in the region. Methodology: The methodology for gathering data for this master thesis consists of a combination of primary and secondary data. Collected from secondary research, explorative quantitative survey study, semi structured interviews with key actors, attending and observing national and local eHealth events. Conclusions: The region of Skåne in the south of Sweden got the possibilities for a good climate for innovation in healthcare. There is a possibility to gather ideas and projects for incremental innovation in the region. Both the healthcare professionals and patients are sitting with valuable expertise and knowledge, which at this time is not fully utilized. To get a more radical change in the healthcare sector some barriers need to be broken down. These changes need a more strategic and political approach, many of them need to be brought up on a national level. Today security laws regulation the use of information need to be modified to allow the use of unidentified healthcare data. Making it easier for the academia and companies to use this information would allow them to pursue new research areas and possible innovations. For new entrepreneurs and businesses there is need to learn how to use the reimbursement model to support their business plans. It is also important that the way into the healthcare sector, procurements, is built to handle and promote these new ventures. Skåne has a gap in expertise regarding semantic interoperability, both in the business and academic sector. This is not a unique problem for Skåne and can be seen in other regions as well. Collaborations with other regions and worldwide expertise is needed to fill this gap and promote advances in this field. Comparing to other countries, Sweden are ranked 3rd on the list of innovation uptake in healthcare just beaten by Denmark and Estonia. Third place in digital healthcare solution implementation is good but we can’t sit down and be satisfied with the result. Even if you are in first place you need to constantly revaluate your position and look for areas to improve. The region have most of the building blocks to get a good climate for innovation in digital healthcare. Region Skåne have to join the blocks together, here is a unique opportunity to facilitate cross-border meetings, be a collaborate voice, and put digital healthcare on the agenda. There is a need for a link into healthcare to get providers, doctors and nurses to share their ideas and needs to business, entrepreneurs, and the academia. Lobbying to politicians and policymakers should be done to raise the awareness and try to change some regulations and laws that acts as barriers for innovation today

Privacy in the Genomic Era

Genome sequencing technology has advanced at a rapid pace and it is now possible to generate highly-detailed genotypes inexpensively. The collection and analysis of such data has the potential to support various applications, including personalized medical services. While the benefits of the genomics revolution are trumpeted by the biomedical community, the increased availability of such data has major implications for personal privacy; notably because the genome has certain essential features, which include (but are not limited to) (i) an association with traits and certain diseases, (ii) identification capability (e.g., forensics), and (iii) revelation of family relationships. Moreover, direct-to-consumer DNA testing increases the likelihood that genome data will be made available in less regulated environments, such as the Internet and for-profit companies. The problem of genome data privacy thus resides at the crossroads of computer science, medicine, and public policy. While the computer scientists have addressed data privacy for various data types, there has been less attention dedicated to genomic data. Thus, the goal of this paper is to provide a systematization of knowledge for the computer science community. In doing so, we address some of the (sometimes erroneous) beliefs of this field and we report on a survey we conducted about genome data privacy with biomedical specialists. Then, after characterizing the genome privacy problem, we review the state-of-the-art regarding privacy attacks on genomic data and strategies for mitigating such attacks, as well as contextualizing these attacks from the perspective of medicine and public policy. This paper concludes with an enumeration of the challenges for genome data privacy and presents a framework to systematize the analysis of threats and the design of countermeasures as the field moves forward