Assessing the state of rural governance in the United States

Rural areas ; Rural development

CLUSTER INITIATIVES IN EU POLICY

According to the results of literary research it is possible to univocally state thatthe geographical proximity between enterprises of a similar profile of activity facilitates theachievement of a higher level of productivity and innovativenesss. The clusters covering thespatial sphere of its location: producers, suppliers, service providers, research units,educational institutions and other units supporting a given sector became an important factorin the economic development of regions. The trend towards interaction and basing on theresources of business partners operating in a given location results from the new trends ofmanagement, among others, the school of resources in strategic management at the top withkey competences and the open innovation paradigm.cluster, innovativness, UE policy

The Reform Treaty: Its Impact on the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)

The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) was created in 1993 by the Maastricht Treaty1 as the second of the three pillars that shapes the European Union. The main coordinator of the CFSP is the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (High Representative CF/SP). Under the ¨European Constitution¨ the pillar structure was going to disappear, which meant that the role of the CFSP would be further incorporated into the functions of the rest of the Union. Moreover, the office of the High Representative was going to be merged with the post of the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs to create a “Union Minister for Foreign Affairs.” However, the project of the ¨European Constitution¨ is programmed to be transformed into a ¨Reform Treaty¨. This paper will examine how the “Reform Treaty” will modify the functions of the CFSP, the position of High Representative CF/SP, and its role on the international stage.Reform treaty, CFSP, European Constitution, High Representative of the Union

Innovation Offshoring:Asia's Emerging Role in Global Innovation Networks

Most analysts agree that critical ingredients for economic growth, competitiveness, and welfare in the United States have been policies that encourage strong investment in research and development (R&D) and innovation. In addition, there is a general perception that technological innovation must be based in the United States to remain a pillar of the American economy. Over the past decade, however, the rise of Asia as an important location for "innovation offshoring" has begun to challenge these familiar notions. Based on original research, this report demonstrates that innovation offshoring is driven by profound changes in corporate innovation management as well as by the globalization of markets for technology and knowledge workers. U.S. companies are at the forefront of this trend, but Asian governments and firms are playing an increasingly active role as promoters and new sources of innovation. Innovation offshoring has created a competitive challenge of historic proportions for the United States, requiring the nation to respond with a new national strategy. This report recommends that such a strategy include the following elements: output forecasting techniques ... Improve access to and collection of innovation-related data to inform the national policy debate; Address "home-made" causes of innovation offshoring by sustaining and building upon existing strengths of the U.S. innovation system; Support corporate innovation by (1) providing tax incentives to spur early-state investments in innovation start-ups and (2) reforming the U.S. patent system so it is more accessible to smaller inventors and innovators; and Upgrade the U.S. talent pool of knowledge workers by (1) providing incentives to study science and engineering, (2) encouraging the development of management, interpretive, cross-cultural, and other "soft" capabilities, and (3) encouraging immigration of highly skilled workers.Innovation Networks, Innovation Offshoring, Asia

Knowledge Management As an Economic Development Strategy

The United States is shifting to an information economy. Productive capability is no longer completely dependent on capital and equipment; information and knowledge assets are increasingly important. The result is a new challenge to the practice of local economic development. In this information economy, success comes from harnessing the information and knowledge assets of a community and from helping local businesses succeed in the new environment. Knowledge Management (KM) can provide the tools to help economic development practitioners accomplish that task. KM is a set of techniques and tools to uncover and utilize information and knowledge assets -- especially tacit knowledge. Economic development organizations can use KM tools to enhance external communications of local companies including marketing and to promote internal communications within local businesses and help companies capture tacit knowledge. More importantly, they can use those tools to uncover and develop local intellectual assets, including helping develop information products, and helping identify entrepreneurial and business opportunities. KM tools are also useful in developing local economic clusters. Finally, these tools can be used to enhance external knowledge sharing among the economic development community and to capture and share tacit knowledge within an economic development organization

Greater Greenville Regional Economic Scorecard, 2009

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

THE EFFECTS OF RURALITY AND INDUSTRIAL SPECIALIZATION ON INCOME GROWTH: U.S. COUNTIES 2000 TO 2003*

This paper— part of a comprehensive project on industry clusters and rural competitiveness— explores the role of industrial specialization and rurality on economic performance for counties in the continental United States. Regression models are estimated that evaluate the impact of industry cluster-specific employment shares on per capita income growth overall, as well as in a sequence of different contextual settings. Overall, the results suggest that economic disparities across U.S. counties will diminish. The results also suggest that economic specialization “per se” is not a guarantee for economic growth. Instead, economic growth very much depends on the type of specialization and the contextual setting, with distinct differences between, for example, the metropolitan sphere, the rural sphere, and the rural-metro interface.Manufactured Housing;Economic Growth, Industry Clusters, Rural America

Using Noninvasive Brain Measurement to Explore the Psychological Effects of Computer Malfunctions on Users during Human-Computer Interactions

In today’s technologically driven world, there is a need to better understand the ways that common computer malfunctions affect computer users. These malfunctions may have measurable influences on computer user’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses. An experiment was conducted where participants conducted a series of web search tasks while wearing functional nearinfrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and galvanic skin response sensors. Two computer malfunctions were introduced during the sessions which had the potential to influence correlates of user trust and suspicion. Surveys were given after each session to measure user’s perceived emotional state, cognitive load, and perceived trust. Results suggest that fNIRS can be used to measure the different cognitive and emotional responses associated with computer malfunctions. These cognitive and emotional changes were correlated with users’ self-report levels of suspicion and trust, and they in turn suggest future work that further explores the capability of fNIRS for the measurement of user experience during human-computer interactions

Vortex of a Regional Security Complex: The EuroMed Partnership and its Security Relevance. EUMA Papers, Vol. 5, No. 11 May 2008

[From the introduction]. Studying the Mediterranean as a geo-political region, Pace (2003, 161) states that “the study of regions must in some way include the study of meaning and identity”. Other authors, such as Shamsaddin Megalommatis (2007) are of the opinion that, pertaining to the Arabic and Islamic neighbors of the EU, only Turkey and Iran matter at all. In this paper I seek to assess security-related dynamics in the EuroMed Partnership (EMP). To re-think the Mediterranean region (Euro-Med) in a relational, political context, Pace (2003, 161) suggests focusing on agency and structure in the analysis of the “processual” (emphasis mine) aspects of region making. This paper focuses on the Euro-Mediterranean region and the role of the European Union (EU) and its southern Mediterranean neighbors in “constructing” this space, and hereby giving it meaning, as well as potentially leading to reciprocal “re-construction” of their self-identity in the context of a potential Euro-Mediterranean Regional Security Complex (EMRSC). This would contrast with the Middle Eastern Regional Security Complex (MERSC) which Buzan and Waever (2003) had suggested, but rather this paper suggests a slight theoretical shift to Buzan and Waever’s Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT)