A Short History of Science and Innovation Policy

7/27/2019 A Short History of Science and Innovation Policy

1/29


2/29

2

What is Science Policy?

The deliberate attempt of a government to finance,

encourage and deploy the scientific resources of the

country trained research workers, laboratories,

equipment in the best interests of national welfarePoole and Andrews (1972)

How Old is Science Policy

1660 Founding of the Royal Society

1675 Founding of Royal Observatory, Greenwich

UK


3/29

3

The French and Germans are Ahead!

1830 Charles Babbage wrote that England was in declinecompared to France and Germany

1831 Founding of the British Association for the Advancement ofScience

1832 Founding of the Geological Survey 1841 Founding of the Museum of Economic Geology

1843 Founding of the Inland Revenue Laboratory (later theLaboratory of the Government Chemist)

1845-51 Founding of the science colleges (Chemistry and Mines)that later became Imperial College of Science and Technology

1850 Royal Society awarded an annual grant of 1,000 toencourage the pursuit of research (with almost 1,000 scientistsreceiving grants between 1850 and 1914)

1853 Founding of the Science and Art Department within theMinistry responsible for education

UK 1830-1860


4/29

4

The French and Germans are Still Ahead!

1867 Lyon Playfair commented on the declining internationalstanding of Britain after the Paris International Exhibition

1869 The founding of Nature and the movement for theEndowment of Research

1868-1871 Pressure from the Select Committee on ScientificInstruction, the Committee of the British Association and theDevonshire Commission for a restructuring of scientificorganisation, research and teaching, with state-run laboratories,increased grants for private scientists and a Ministry of Science andEducation assisted by a Council of Science but little officialresponse

1860-1890 Grants from the Royal Society for individualresearchers; grants for international expeditions; funding forutilitarian research in various government ministries and agencies

1861-1887 The number of science pupils examined grew from1,300 to 100,000

UK 1860-1890


5/29

5

The Germans are Definitely Ahead

1895 Founding of the Physikalische-TechnischeReichsanstalt at Charlottenberg

1896E. E. Williams's Made in Germany and fear ofGerman efficiency

1899 Founding of the National Physical Laboratory

1905 Founding of the British Science Guild

1909 Founding of the Development Fund to developagricultural resources and the setting up of 14 researchinstitutions and centres by 1914

1911 The funding of medical research as aconsequence of the National Insurance Act (introducedbecause of unfavourable comparisons with socialinsurance schemes on the continent)

UK 1890-1914


6/29

6

Science is Important but not Imperative

1914 Severe shortages of scientists and engineers and dependenceon German drugs, dyestuffs and optical equipment recognised

1915 Creation of the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientificand Industrial Research, which led to the establishment of the Million

Fund to encourage the setting up of industrial research associations 1916 Founding of the Department of Scientific and Industrial

Research to administer: Its own laboratories (15 eventually)

The Research Association Scheme (20 established before 1939)

Research grants to postgraduates

1918 The Haldane Principle separated research from politicalcontrol and cemented the of independent Research Councils

1920-26 Severe budget cuts for research

1920s-30s Increasing orientation of scientific effort towardseconomic and societal goals, including development, and growingsupport on the left for planning in science

UK 1914-1939


7/29

7

Science is Imperative During Wartime

Radar

Computers

Cryptography

Jet engines

Napalm

DDT

Mass production of penicillin

Widespread diffusion of plastics

Massive R&D laboratories

Atomic bombs

1939-1945


8/29

8

The Russians are Coming!

The Military Industrial Complex

Mission-oriented Research

Sputnik

The Space Race Star Wars

Science for Peace

Nuclear Energy

Information and Communications Technologies

Industrial R&D and government support

The cost of Big Science

Increased demand for science planning


9/29

9

The 60s Explosion

1960Roger Ockrent, Chair of the OEECs ExecutiveCommittee, remarked that science policy was inherently part ofeducational policy and hence inappropriate for an economicorganisation; it was a matter for UNESCO

1961 An OECD High Level Expert Group chaired by PierrePiganiol called for national structures to review and allocateresources and for a meeting of Ministers responsible for science

1963 At the first such meeting, four countries had Ministries for or of science

1965 Three quarters of the countries in attendance had

Ministries of science 1968 Several science Ministers were accompanied by

economic Ministers

Widespread recognition of the impacts of science, both positiveand negative, and the need for some kind of science policy


10/29

10

Science Policy: Theory and Practice

Arnold (1999)


11/29


12/29

12

From Individual Actors to Systems of Innovation

The po tential reachof pub lic policies ...

Economic EnvironmentFinancial environment; taxation

and incentives; propensity to

innovation and entrepreneurship;mobility ...

Education andResearch SystemProfessional

education andtraining

Higher educationand research

Public sector

research

Industrial SystemLarge companies

Mature SMEs

New, technology-

based firms

IntermediariesResearchinstitutesBrokers

Consumers (final demand)

Producers (intermediate demand)

Demand

Banking,

venture capital

IPR andinformation

Innovation and

business supportStandards and

norms

Framework Conditions

PoliticalSystem

Government

R&I policies

Governance

Infrastructure

Arnold and Kuhlman (2001)


13/29

13

From Science Policy to Innovation Policy

An R&D and Innovation Policy Mix can be

defined as that set of government policies which,

by design or fortune, has direct or indirect

impacts on the development of an R&D and

innovation system.

Guy et al (2009)


14/29

14

A Simple Policy Domain Model

InternationalLevel

RegionalLevel

Economicand Market

Development

BusinessR&D and

Innovation

HumanResources

Science Base

Governance

Mobility

New

Research

ers

ResearchResults

InnovativeGoo

ds

andServices

Educated Populace

Finance

Contracts, Finance

Collaborative R&D

Mobility

Research Results, IPR

Finance

Public Sector Private Sector

KnowledgeUsers

Knowledge

Creators

MarketDema

nd

Innovation Results

NationalLevel


15/29

15

Policy mixes with an impact on the performance of the R&D andinnovation system and on R&D investment levels are largely theresult ofincremental policy accretion rather than the result ofconscious and deliberate efforts to construct complementarysets of policies.

This situation is slowly changing as policymakers become morefamiliar with policy mix concepts and deliberate efforts aremade to orchestrate joined-up policymaking.

Many of these efforts to improve policy coherence take the formof network reforms, i.e. efforts to increase the degree ofconnectivity and communication between the different elementsof governance structures. Often these take place alongsideother forms of changes in governance, e.g.institutionalreforms driven by a need to rationalise governance structuresand introduce clearer sets of responsibilities; andinstrumentalreforms involving changes in the number and range ofinstruments used to support policy.

Policy Mix Trends


16/29

16

The majority of instruments within existing R&D and

innovation policy mixes are conventional R&D andinnovation policy instruments with directratherthanindirectimpacts on R&D and innovation systemperformance, though there is increasing interest inpromotingcoherence between these instruments andpolicy instruments promoting market development and

nurturing the supply of human resources. The largest gaps in terms of the deployment of policy

instruments concern demand-side instruments that directlystimulate the demand for R&D and innovation. Somecountries are actively seeking to formulate and implementR&D and innovation friendly procurement policies and

to use public sector instruments to develop lead markets,and many other countries are showing an interest in thesedevelopments, but successful examples are still thin on theground.


17/29

17

The policy mixes in existence in different countries are all

characterised by a complex set of balances betweendifferent types of instrument. In some countries, for example,fiscal instruments for the support of R&D predominate overdirect instruments, whereas in others they are not used at all.

Another example concerns the balance between researchfunds awarded to institutions and those won competitively by

individual researchers. In each setting, a broad range of contextual factors influence

how the advantages and disadvantages of differentinstruments are weighed and eventual balances struck, withfew observable patterns linking contexts and balances.

Although there is potential scope for positive, neutral andnegative interactions between different policy instruments(e.g. between direct R&D support instruments and indirectfiscal R&D support schemes), there are few instances wheredistinctly negative impacts can be observed.


18/29

18

Very few countries or regions have clearly articulatedhigh-level goals and overarching strategies that aretightly linked or highly coordinated with the goals andstrategies of individual R&D and innovation-relatedministries and agencies. Often these appear to beformulated in relative isolation from each other, thoughthere are signs of change, with a number of countriesconstituting high-level communication and coordinationmechanisms to help improve policy coherence.

Policy mixes serve the needs of different sets of actors indifferent settings and the balance of support for thesedifferent groupings is often dictated by theircomparative

political power. Support for university researchers,academies of science and research institutions is dominant,for example, when there is a weak industrial base with verylittle political muscle.


19/29


20/29

20

In contrast, countries with strongly developed R&D andinnovation systems tend to adopt parallelfine-tuningstrategies designed to build on existing strengths andrectify modest weaknesses along a broad front.

In terms ofroutes capable of raising R&D investmentlevels, these variously involve focusing on different

combinations of ways of raising public and private sectorexpenditure, e.g. via attempts to raise levels amongstexisting R&D performers; efforts to create new R&Dperforming start-ups; or efforts to attract R&D performersfrom abroad etc. Across the EU, various combinations areused in different settings, though few if any countries

appear to have deliberately weighed up the relativeadvantages of the different possible combinations.


21/29

21

In terms of policy formulation processes, although there are

signs that the use ofinclusive consultation exercises isbecoming more widespread, these are still generally limitedto narrow stakeholder groups rather than the broader setsof stakeholders affected by comprehensive policy mixesspanning a number of related policy domains.

The use of strategic intelligence generated by strategic

policy intelligence tools (SPITs) such as foresightexercises, benchmarking reviews and comprehensivemonitoring and evaluation schemes is also increasing,though reliance on these tools varies dramatically acrossthe EU, with human resource constraints limiting their usein some of the newer or weaker Member States.

The increased use of these instruments corresponds to arise in interest in evidence-based policymaking, thoughcommitment-based policymaking still remains the norm.


22/29

22

The Rationale for the Innovation Union

Five key premises Research and innovation are important for

economic development and the resolution of majorsocietal challenges

The current performance of the research andinnovation system needs to improve

Underperformance is consequence ofweaknesses in the constituent parts of research

and innovation systems and the way these linktogether

New challenges are likely to exacerbate thissituation

Policy responses are needed at EU level


23/29

23

Key Weaknesses

Underinvestment inresearch andinnovation

System component

weaknesses System linkage

weaknesses

System governance

weaknesses

To improve overall system performance, all these

deficiencies need to be tackled simultaneously

Finance

Human

Resources

Users and

Markets

Science

Base

Industrial

R&D

Industrial

Innovation


24/29

24

New Challenges

Overall performance is likely to be affected in futureby a number of new challenges

These include:

The impact of the financial crisis The sheer scale of the societal challenges that confront us

Increased globalisation, agglomeration and competition fromcountries such as China and India

Changes in the way that innovation is conducted (openinnovation, user-centred innovation, non-technological

innovation, social innovation etc.) and where it occurs (e.g.in the service sector as well as the manufacturing sector)

The implication of all these trends and new forms ofinnovation is that the scope of innovation policy hasto become broader


25/29

25

Policy Responses at EU Level

Policies aimed at improving performance at MemberState level Mutual learning and benchmarking concerning policy mixes

Smart specialisation overviews

Shared problems (e.g. lack of risk capital, low levels of

entrepreneurship, weak research-innovation links) Improving performance at EU level

Focusing on major societal challenges and win-win situations

Pooling resources

Reducing fragmentation

Removing obstacles

Enhancing mobility Research and innovation friendly regulatory frameworks

Common standards

Coherent packages of supply and demand instruments

International cooperation


26/29

26

The Six Action Areas of the Innovation

Union Communication Strengthening the knowledge base and

reducing fragmentation

Getting good ideas to market Maximising social and territorial cohesion

Pooling forces to achieve breakthroughs:

European Innovation Partnerships

Leveraging our policies externally

Making it happen


27/29


28/29


29/29

29

CSTP PWB 2013-2014

Economic and Societal Impacts Developing new tools and techniques to analyse the economic and

societal impacts of science and technology

The role and impact of science and technology policies

The potential of emerging, converging and enabling technologies STI Interactions

Understanding the changing landscape of knowledge sharingmechanisms

New forms of intellectual property management for fostering innovation

Opportunities and options for public-private partnerships Societal Challenges

Science, technology, innovation (STI) and Green Growth

STI and Healthy Ageing

Towards an STI for Development strategy

Documents

A Short History of Science and Innovation Policy