Linking scientific and practical knowledge in innovation systems

New research indicates that firms combining the science-based STI (Science, Technology, Innovation) and the experience-based DUI (Doing, Using, Interacting) modes of innovation are more efficient when it comes to improving innovation capacity and competitiveness. With regard to innovation policy, the STI mode calls for a supply driven policy, typically aimed to commercialise research results. The DUI mode suggests a demand driven policy approach, such as supporting the development of new products or services to specific markets. This paper analyses how the two types of innovation policy and the two innovation modes can be combined in regional innovation systems. The analysis builds on studies of the food industry and related knowledge organisations in two counties, Rogaland County (Norway) and Skåne County (Sweden), and two policy initiatives (NCE Culinology and Skåne Food Innovation Network) aimed at strengthening the innovative capability of the regional innovation systems. The analysis indicates that policies aimed to link science and user driven innovation activity should focus on building absorptive capacity of DUI firms (e.g. through increased scientific competence) and implementation capacity of STI firms (e.g. through increased market and process competence).innovation policy; scientific knowledge; practical knowledge; regional innovation systems; food industry; Norway; Sweden

Longitudinal Sealings in Beverage Packages - Experimental Testing and Numerical Parameter Studies

In this work, the mechanical behavior of longitudinal sealings in paper based beverage packages have been investigated trough experimental tests and Finite Element simulations. The mechanical performance of the longitudinal sealing is of great interest when developing and improving beverage packages. Choosing a suitable sealing type is both a performance and cost issue, therefore is better knowledge of the mechanical behavior of great interest. Experimental tension tests were accomplished on various longitudinal sealings in order to determine the response of the sealing. FE-simulations of the sealings with the 3DM employed were modelled in ABAQUS and further on were numerical parametric studies with focus on geometry and material properties performed. The simulations gave quite accurate predictions of the initial mechanical behavior and the plastic hardening when the 3DM was employed, but the ultimate strength was in some cases difficult to capture. The weak region when a package sealing is subjected to loading is the paperboard and not the actual sealing. Stresses in the thickness direction and shear stresses initiate a crack in the paperboard, which then propagates in the length dimension and eventually causes failure in the paperboard. A new type of sealing, the edge to edge sealing, was studied with FE-simulations in ABAQUS. This sealing differs from the existing sealings by not being an overlap sealing. Stresses do not occur in the same extension in the thickness direction in an edge to edge sealing as in an overlap sealing, due to the lack of rotation of the symmetric cross section. Therefore it is possible for the edge to edge sealing to be subjected to higher loads

Stig Sjödin och minnets politik

The aim of this article is to analyse the attitudes to history and memory expressed in the working-class poetry of Stig Sjödin (1917–1993) – both in Sotfratgment (Fragments of Soot) from 1949, which marked his breakthrough as a poet, and in the poetry he wrote for the labour movement (mainly poems published in tradeunion membership magazines or read at meetings and congresses) – and to discuss how he and his poetry are today viewed as reminders of political ideals and experiences threatened by oblivion. There are certain differences between how memory and remembering is treated in Sotfragment and in Sjödin’s labour-movement poetry respectively. In Sotfragment, focus is more often on individual memories and existential problems, whereas in the labour-movement poetry, Sjödin is sometimes more explicitly political and writes about collective memories from a proletarian perspective. These differences are conditioned by differences between the spheres to which the poems belong: that of literature and that of the labour movement. In connection with the rise of left-wing radicalism in Sweden during the 1960s and 1970s, Sjödin argued that older working-class literature contained important political experiences and perspectives. This is also how his works are sometimes viewed today, both by working-class writers and by political commentators. Thereby, it is emphasized that literature is not a passive medium for the preservation of memories, but that it can also transform them and make them politically relevant

Taboo, the Game: Patent Office Edition—The New Preissuance Submissions Under the America Invents Act

Thorough patent examination ensures that issued patents confer constitutionally granted incentives to innovate but do not create inappropriately broad monopolies. Examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark Office are alone tasked with striking this proper balance, in part by searching the universe of existing published knowledge to determine the originality of the applied-for invention. In 2011, Congress enacted the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which included a provision allowing the public to present examiners with relevant publications that the examiners’ own searches might not otherwise uncover. However, this “preissuance submissions” provision and its related administrative rule are tempered by 35 U.S.C. § 122(c) (2006), which prohibits any third-party, pre-grant “protest or other form of [preissuance] opposition” to an application. Thus, although a party may describe to an examiner how its submission is relevant to an application, that party is prohibited from arguing how the submission renders that application unpatentable. This Note argues that Congress should amend § 122(c) to permit preissuance third-party argumentation for two reasons. First, the current scheme arguably violates that law already. Second, a rule allowing submitter argumentation would better incentivize participation by competitive parties who fear that examiners might not recognize their submitted publications\u27 full invalidating potential

Exploring Sexual Harassment in the Police Force in Japan: A Comparative Study between Japan and the United States

Att företag i Sverige påverkas av den enorma tillväxt som sker i Kina och att utvecklingen i Kina dessutom påverkas av hur svenska företag agerar borde, efter all uppmärksamhet i media, vara uppenbart. Då bilden som presenteras i media ofta är onyanserad har Teknikföretagen gett oss i uppdrag att göra en kartläggning av teknikföretags relationer med Kina. Syftet är att undersöka i vilken omfattning och varför företagen har dessa relationer samt hur företagen påverkas av dem. Undersökningens omfattning har begränsats genom att en geografisk avgränsning till Östergötland gjorts. Det visar sig i studien att de undersökta företagen har betydande kontakter med Kina, det är vanligare och viktigare med import än export och det är relativt många som har någon grad av högre engagemang där. – Varför har då dessa företag kontakter med Kina? I studien framkommer att det finns två övergripande anledningar till att företagen etablerar kontakt med Kina. Det första är prispress och det andra är kundnärhet. Företag som är i Kina på grund av prispressen i deras branscher har ofta outsourcat delar av sin produktion till Kina eller väljer att köpa av kinesiska leverantörer istället för av svenska. I studien visar det sig att detta är något som även små företag utan någon större internationell erfarenhet klarar. De företag som svarar på behovet av kundnärhet gör det istället i stor utsträckning genom att etablera egna produktionsanläggningar i Kina eftersom många av deras kunder redan finns där. För detta krävs betydligt större resurser än för att outsourca och många av företagen upplever en begränsning i form av bristande ledningskapacitet. Vi ser även att företagens motiv förändras över tiden. – Hur påverkas då den svenska verksamheten av företagens relationer med Kina? Många av företagen som outsourcat produktion går mot att sysselsätta sig mer med konstruktion, inköp, service och underhåll än produktion, vilket förvisso gör att företagen utför mer kvalificerade uppgifter och försäkrar sig om att på kort sikt inte slås ut av prispressen. Däremot riskerar de att på sikt bli av med nödvändig kompetens och servicekapacitet på grund av att investeringarna blir lägre och nyckelpersonal går i pension. De företag som istället satsar i Kina för att sälja där påverkas positivt även i Sverige. Det krävs ofta att verksamheten i Sverige expanderar för att kunna hantera verksamheten i Kina. Att ha närvaro på flera marknader innebär också att vara mindre känslig för konjunktursvängningar. För att komma fram till undersökningens resultat har en inledande litteraturstudie kompletterats med intervjuer av personer med relevant kunskap om ämnet. Därefter genomfördes en enkätundersökning vars svar analyserades statistiskt. Dessa resultat kompletterades med fallstudier av flera av de undersökta företagen. Undersökningen avslutades med besök hos några av de undersökta företagens anläggningar i Kina för att verifiera undersökningens resultat.Because of the media coverage it is probably clear to all that companies in Sweden are affected by the astonishing growth currently at hand in China as well as the development in China is affected by actions taken by Swedish companies. To get a more complete understanding of this development the Swedish engineering association has asked us to investigate the relations between Swedish engineering companies and China. The purpose is to examine to what extent and why these relations exist and how they affect the companies. The study has been limited to study only companies in Östergötland. In the study it is shown that the investigated companies do have business relations with China, importing is more important than exporting and quite a few companies have more advanced business engagements in China. – Why do these companies have contacts with China? This study shows two basic reasons behind these contacts. The first is a pressure on prices and the second is proximity to customers. The companies that are in China to lower their prices have to a large extent outsourced production to Chinese companies or have switched from western to Chinese suppliers. This is an action that is feasible even for small companies without previous international experience. On the other hand, companies that are in China to achieve proximity to their clients tend to set up production plants in China as many of their customers have already done so. To do this requires far more resources than outsourcing and many companies experience limitations in their management capacity. We also see that the companies’ motives often change over time. – How do these contacts affect the Swedish companies? Many of the companies who have outsourced parts of their production tend to be more focused on services, which does enable them to perform more advanced processes and saves them from becoming extinct due to increased price competition. In the long run however, they risk losing necessary competence and capacity as they lower their investments and their key personnel retire. Companies that are in China in order to sell in China are affected positively in Sweden as well. It is often necessary to expand business in Sweden in order to manage what is done in China and the presence in many markets make the companies’ orders less volatile. To achieve the results of this investigation we started by studying existing literature and conducting a series of interviews with people with relevant knowledge regarding the subject. Based on this information we conducted a survey that was statistically analyzed. These results where afterwards completed with case studies of several of the investigated companies. The investigation was finalized with a visit at some of the Swedish companies’ production plants in China in order for us to verify our conclusions

Technological Competencies and Firm Performance: Analyzing the Importance of Internal and External Competencies

In this paper, we analyze the relationship between technological competencies (TC) and firm performance. Theoretically, the importance of TC is well established and widely accepted. Therefore, it is surprising that a number of empirical studies have been unable to confirm a substantial positive relationship between TC and firm performance. We identify two major reasons for this: [i] affected by the availability and choice of indicators existing studies are often biased towards large firms; and [ii] they frequently do not consider both internal and potential access to firm-external TC. This paper discusses conceptually the interplay between firm-internal and firm-external TC as well as the mediating effect of firm size. These relationships are then analyzed empirically using Swedish micro data on 15,682 firms in 290 Swedish municipalities. Novel indicators based on occupational statistics are combined with measures of time-distance accessibility to study internal and external TC. The results provide evidence for a positive relationship between firm growth and TC. In particular, the combination of firm-internal and firm-external competencies seems to be conducive for growth. Lastly, our study suggests that firm size is an important factor to further our understanding about these relationships. Based on this we identify a number of future research questions to be addressed

Getting to terms with terminology at Swedish public agencies

Proceedings of the Workshop CHAT 2011: Creation, Harmonization and Application of Terminology Resources. Editors: Tatiana Gornostay and Andrejs Vasiļjevs. NEALT Proceedings Series, Vol. 12 (2011), 36-39. © 2011 The editors and contributors. Published by Northern European Association for Language Technology (NEALT) http://omilia.uio.no/nealt . Electronically published at Tartu University Library (Estonia) http://hdl.handle.net/10062/16956