- •Executive Summary
- •Box K1.1. Why is innovation important?
- •Box K1.2. Incremental and radical innovation
- •Figure 1.1. Driving forces of innovation
- •Table 1.1. Innovation style at different stages of the firm
- •Table 1.2. Closed innovation versus open innovation principles
- •Table 1.3. The benefits of collaboration
- •Figure 1.2. Structure of the national innovation system
- •Box K1.3. Public-private partnerships for innovation
- •Table 1.4. Options for improving the functioning of an innovation system
- •Box K1.4. The public sector role as coordinator
- •Box K1.5. Innovation Agencies and Innovation Councils
- •Executive Summary
- •A. The importance of framework conditions
- •Box K2.1. Entrepreneurship as a driver of innovation
- •B. Local and regional dimensions
- •Box K2.2. Are local factors still relevant?
- •Box K2.3. Codified and tacit knowledge
- •C. The role of the business environment
- •Box C2.3. Good practices in company formation
- •Table 2.3. Basic principles in the organization and delivery of business services
- •Box K2.4. What is R&D and why it matters?
- •Table 2.4. Principles of designing tax incentives for R&D in firms
- •Figure 2.2. Eligibility of UK companies for R&D tax incentives
- •Table 2.5. Direct funding and tax incentives for R&D
- •Figure 2.3. Funding requirements lifecycle
- •Table 2.6. Taxonomy of types of support for early-stage companies
- •Executive Summary
- •A. Identifying industry-science linkages and the forms of public support
- •Figure 3.1. How the public and private sector can join forces in support of innovation
- •Table 3.1. Different categories and forms of industry-science relations
- •B. Supporting industry-science linkages at different stages of the innovation process
- •Table 3.2. Industry-science relations (ISR) and the institutional setting in public science
- •Table 3.3. Responsible Partnership Guidelines for Collaborative Research
- •Table 3.4. The types of technology that lead to spin-outs or established firm licenses
- •Executive Summary
- •A. Innovation support institutions and firms’ innovation activities
- •Table 4.1. Types of innovation support institutions
- •B. Business incubators
- •Box K4.1. What is a business incubator?
- •Box K4.2. Pre-incubation
- •Table 4.2. Performance evaluation: definition of key evaluation issues
- •Table 4.3. Performance evaluation: Definition of key performance evaluation indicators
- •C. Science and technology parks
- •Box K4.4. Different definitions of science parks
- •Table 4.5. Four science park models: Main features
- •Table 4.6. Profile of a typical North American university research park
- •D. Innovation clusters
- •Box K4.5. The main features of innovation clusters
- •Table 4.7. An illustrative framework for cluster monitoring, benchmarking and evaluation
Enhancing the Innovative Performance of Firms |
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II.CREATING SUPPORTIVE FRAMEWORK CONDITIONS FOR ENHANCING THE INNOVATIVE CAPACITY OF FIRMS
Executive Summary
•Public policy has a role in establishing a business, social and technology environment as supportive as possible for businesses to innovate and to raise awareness in the corporate sector of what other parts of the system offer by way of support to stimulate the market for innovative goods.
•The influence of the business environment is particularly important in encouraging innovation. This includes a transparent, accessible and simply organized business infrastructure that facilitates business formation and operation and allows those in universities to create companies for the exploitation of innovation. The business environment must be conducive to investment in R&D and should not overburden business with regulations.
•Pursuing policies to develop a culture of innovation and to increase the demand for innovation requires well functioning markets for technology products. Public support to market development represents an important strategy in trying to build capacity in a region.
•Innovation activity has a regional aspect as an important part of the innovation capacity is provided by a region’s skills base, including adequate supply of the right skills and the cost of these skills. Addressing these issues requires cooperation between local authorities and employers. This process helps to identify skills gaps in the regions, which can be filled through the provision of relevant training or by targeted investments related to these needs.
•One of several strategies for building a skills base is to provide external direct advice, mentoring and coaching to companies. The creation of an innovation advisory service encouraging companies to develop the necessary internal structures supporting innovation can be instrumental in promoting an innovation network across the region.
•A related policy is the support to the selective development of courses in universities aimed at meeting specific local needs.
•Policy interventions aimed at strengthening the operational units and linkages that make up the NIS also support firms’ innovation activities. Examples include public investment in knowledge creation and its management, measures seeking to increase demand for innovation, public support for the links between the operational units in the innovation process as well as establishing specific incentives for companies to cooperate in their innovative efforts.