Mapping the human brain: comparing the US and EU Grand Challenges†

The US Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Grand Challenge and the EU Human Brain Project Future and Emerging Technologies Flagship, though seemingly similar in many dimensions, have distinct features that have been shaped by politics and institutional systems. This article documents the history of the two projects and compares their organization and funding mechanisms. While there is a call for Grand Challenges to motivate science, organizational factors and the mechanisms for allocating funding will have a great influence on the ultimate project outcomes. These two divergent examples suggest alternative strategies to consider when organizing future Grand Challenges, and provide context that should be considered when evaluating the outcomes of large public investments in science

Industrial Clustering and the Returns to Inventive Activity Canadian Biotechnology Firms, 1991-2000

We examine how industrial clustering affects biotechnology firms’ innovativeness, contrasting similar firms not located in clusters or located in clusters that are or are not focused on the firm’s technological specialization. Using detailed firm level data, we find clustered firms are eight times more innovative than geographically remote firms, with largest effects for firms located in clusters strong in their own specialization. For firms located in a cluster strong in their specialization we also find that R&D productivity is enhanced by a firm’s own R&D alliances and also by the R&D alliances of other colocated firms.Biotechnology, industrial clustering, knowledge spillovers, R&D productivity, strategic alliances

The character of innovative places: entrepreneurial strategy, economic development, and prosperity

Abstract Why do investments in certain places yield jobs, growth, and prosperity while similar investments made in seemingly identical places fail to produce the desired results? Starting with the observation that innovation clusters spatially across a broad spectrum of industries, my work seeks to understand the mechanisms and institutions that promote the creation of useful knowledge. In my conceptualization, entrepreneurs, as the agents who recognize opportunity, mobilize resources, and create value, are key to the creation of institutions and the building of capacity that will sustain regional economic development. Entrepreneurs benefit from location. But entrepreneurs are also pivotal as agents of change that can transform local communities. The initial event or entrepreneurial spark that gives rise to prosperous regions is not deterministic nor do they automatically set in motion path dependencies that automatically yield successful places. What matters most is human agency-the building of institutions and the myriad public and private decisions that determine what I call the character of place-a spirit of authenticity, engagement, and common purpose

Evaluation of Quality of a Project Management & Scientific Publications Based On a New Wisdom Framework

This is a theoretical research paper. It presents a proposal for the evaluation of the quality of a project management based on a new and ‘General Cognitive Model of Wisdom’ -GCMW-. For the development of this GCMW, is proposed the conception of an ‘Information Ecosystem’ -IE-, which is composed by the following ‘cognitive units’: Data -D-; Information -I-; Knowledge(tacit, explicit) - K(tacit, explicit) = (Kt,e)- and Wisdom(tacit, explicit) -W(tacit, explicit) = (Wt,e)-, compactly written as DIKt,eWt,e. By aligning this IE with the DIKW hierarchical conception, wehave created a new, no hierarchical, integrated and generalized framework -the GCMW-. This GCMW framework aims -as an insight generator or strategic foresight- to provide a better assessment to different problems in any field of science, from information science, applied researchers or a more general audience as per example, to point out the theoretical and conceptual bases for the interaction between the project manager and this GCMW framework.It is introduced a new set of logical –general-, definitions for the DIKW to instrumentalize the GCMW framework. Finally, based on the GCMW framework, we have proposed a ‘Particular Cognitive Model of Wisdom’ -PCMW- for paper quality evaluation. Aiming at to build a comprehensive and in-depth evaluation of the quality of any scientific production, is derived from the GCMW framework a new no-hierarchical model -the PCMW framework- and a new set of logical –particular-, definitions for the DIKW are introduced to instrumentalize the PCMW towards paper quality assessment. This particular framework should provide –for any paper being written-, a better assessment and insight generator. By last, as we are admitting that any paper published has quality so; the proposal is, the quality of this paper is complete if -and only if-, the paper has also W. Both, the PCMW and the particular DIKW instruments definitions, are necessary and sufficient conditions for guaranteeing -guiding- if the paper -which is in evaluation-, has W

The Domino Effects of Federal Research Funding

The extent to which federal investment in research crowds out or decreases incentives for investment from other funding sources remains an open question. Scholarship on research funding has focused on the relationship between federal and industry or, more comprehensively, non-federal funding without disentangling the other sources of research support that include nonprofit organizations and state and local governments. This paper extends our understanding of academic research support by considering the relationships between federal and non-federal funding sources provided by the National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development Survey. We examine whether federal research investment serves as a complement or substitute for state and local government, nonprofit, and industry research investment using the population of research-active academic science fields at U.S. doctoral granting institutions. We use a system of two equations that instruments with prior levels of both federal and non-federal funding sources and accounts for time-invariant academic institution-field effects through first differencing. We estimate that a 1% increase in federal research funding is associated with a 0.411% increase in nonprofit research funding, a 0.217% increase in state and local research funding, and a 0.468% increase in industry research funding, respectively. Results indicate that federal funding plays a fundamental role in inducing complementary investments from other funding sources, with impacts varying across academic division, research capacity, and institutional control

Economic Analysis of Knowledge: The History of Thought and the Central Themes

Following the development of knowledge economies, there has been a rapid expansion of economic analysis of knowledge, both in the context of technological knowledge in particular and the decision theory in general. This paper surveys this literature by identifying the main themes and contributions and outlines the future prospects of the discipline. The wide scope of knowledge related questions in terms of applicability and alternative approaches has led to the fragmentation of research. Nevertheless, one can identify a continuing tradition which analyses various aspects of the generation, dissemination and use of knowledge in the economy