innovation

Future of chemistry and chemical industries workshop

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:45:37 -0700

Description

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. X2 staff conducted a "speed workshop" with about 20 executives, laboratory managers, and research scientists, to explore the future of innovation in chemistry and chemical industries.

ZuiPrezi map from Innovation Day

The interactive version of the map is available here.

Probably the single most interesting thing to come out of the workshop was the idea of green chemistry as a potentially central field in 21st century science. As the map shows, participants identified a number of high-level trends or challenges that will influence science in the coming decade. All of them, workshop participants argued, can be attacked using green chemistry.

Future of chemistry

Source

Regulation Vs Innovation and the Internet's Future

Jerry Sheehan — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:17:05 -0700

Description

The Internet revolution relies on a foundation of an enabling infrastructure allowing a radically decentralized group of developers to create their own applications. Over time, even the meager technical barriers to participation and importantly development have decreased to the point of being merely a nuisance.

This freedom has led to the creation of unanticipated new applications, unforeseen billion dollar markets, and new devices for personal communication that never showed up on a technology road map. However, at the same time many uses have created obstacles (impact of ﬁle sharing on copyrighted materials, anonymous posting online, slanderous speech in Web pages, etc). When a civil society is confronted by problems it traditionally turns to the legal system to create new regulations or laws to alter behavior. To date, this has not been the case for the Internet which has instead attempted to address problems through innovation as opposed to regulation.

The issue currently focusing the debate on regulation vs innovation has to do with the consideration of punishment (legal sanction) against Comcast for limiting the bandwidth available to a peer to peer network application called BitTorrent. Comcast has argued that this was necessary to manage their network while others have argued that their behavior was motivated by competitive reasons. As the issue was brought to the regulatory light of the FCC the two companies reached a private compromise. The compromise means that Comcast will not target the BitTorrent application as they have done in the past and that BitTorrent will work with ISPs, and the Internet Engineering Task Force, to develop ways to optimize ﬁle swapping on their networks. [1]

On the face of it this should be the end of the story, the Internet was again able to come up with a compromise solution that will spur new technology development improving the global commons through engineering. Unfortunately although both companies have indicated to the FCC that no regulatory action is required once motivated government becomes difficult to stop. The FCC decision on this issue
later this week will set not only important precedent regarding P2P ﬁle sharing but also impacts the "tradition" of conﬂict resolution on the Internet.

Robert McDowell, current FCC Commissioner, perhaps explains it best in his recent op-ed piece in the Washington Post:

"If we choose regulation over collaboration, we will be setting a precedent by thrusting politicians and bureaucrats into engineering decisions. Another concern is that as an institution, the FCC is incapable of deciding any issue in the nanoseconds that make up Internet time. And asking government to make these
decisions could mean that every few years the ground rules would change based on election results. The Internet might grind to a halt in such a climate. It would certainly die of clogged arteries if network owners had to seek government permission before serving their customers by managing surges of information ﬂow."

Computer & Information Science

Source

[1] Comcast and BitTorrent Agree to "Collaborate", CNET News, March 23, 2008,
see http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9904494-7.html
[2] "Who Should Solve This Internet Crisis?", Washington Post, July 28, 2008, pA17
and online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/27/
AR2008072701172.html

New Open Source for robotics- DARPA investment moves beyond

Patricia Larenas — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:09:50 -0700

Description

Originating in response to the DARPA Grand Challenge for unmanned vehicles, this software was originally the invention of students at the University of Florida (2006):

"The OpenJAUS development group has announced the release of their latest code base, OpenJAUSv3.3.0. OpenJAUS is an open source development kit for creating interoperable robotic systems. It provides a cross platform framework that allows multiple organizations to integrate their robotic systems. This common methodology for command and control makes the systems capable of seamless interoperation. The latest code release has been in development for over nine months, and it has been in closed beta testing for the past three months with various groups from industry and academia. OpenJAUS is run by a collective of active members in the autonomous vehicle community that have a variety of experience as robotic system designers, implementers and software developers."

This is an example of a government investment that may well have impacts beyond the original goals, and is no doubt taking on a life of its own, much like the development of the internet. Collaborative innovation may accelerate the field of robotics for autonomous bots, in ways beyond what individual companies may achieve working on their own.

Robotics

Source

http://www.roboticstrends.com/home/features/new_open_source_software_speeds_robotics_industry_progress/
http://www.jauswg.org

The Planck Club: Another call for supporting science differently

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:42:36 -0700

Description

A recent letter to the Financial Times, signed by a number of prominent British and American scientists, decries the growth of "third-party assessments such as peer review" as inimical to radical scientific innovation. Leaving aside arguments about the degree to which "normal" versus "revolutionary" science differ, or can be prospectively identified and supported, the letter is another piece of evidence that a growing number of scientists see the traditional structures that regulated and rewarded their work:

Scientific advances are not predictable. Lasers, nuclear power, transistors, computers, antibiotics, molecular biology, for example, all took us by surprise. Luckily, for most of the 20th century scientists could usually pursue their own agenda, and we could enjoy sciences prodigious harvest. But success led to increasing numbers of scientists so that by the 1970s there were more than the funding agencies could support. In response, they required researchers to submit written proposals from which they selected the best, a policy that works well enough for the mainstream but fails at the margins where unpredictable and transformative discoveries are made.

Third-party assessments such as peer review would have been anathema to, say, Planck, Einstein, Avery, Townes, Crick and Watson, Kendrew, Perutz and about 300 others of similar calibre we call them the Planck Club whose work dominated the 20th century. However, their modern successors cannot escape them. In spite of increasing investments since 1970, there has been a dearth of new science. This is now a severe problem. As [economist Robert] Solow proved, we curb the supply of new science at our economic peril. However, current policies ensure we are doing that.

Science does not lack opportunity. There are few, if any, fields that we fully understand. The potential for growth is therefore as high as it was 100 years ago, say, but we will create a 21st-century Planck Club and its attendant harvest of unpredicted breakthroughs only if we can restore the freedom that leads to them.

There is a proven way of doing this. Costs would be relatively low some $20m-$30m a year for a global scheme but as prospective peer review must be excluded, it is probably too radical a solution for national funding agencies alone. There may be other ways forward such as, for example, collaboration between private investors and national agencies.

Three things are interesting here. First, the letter is signed by several Nobel laureates and other luminaries: this isn't a complaint by junior people whose careers are squeezed. Second, they acknowledge the radicalness of the a system in which traditional review mechanisms are suspended in favor of extreme, potentially paradigm-changing, freedom. Finally, $20-30 million is well within the reach of a handful of entrepreneurs. No one would want to fund this privately, but a consortium of people? If you know the right people, that wouldn't be that hard to do.

Amateur, DIY, and citizen science

Source

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b1338bc6-303c-11dd-86cc-000077b07658.html

Declining Number and Quality of Scientific Laboratories in the United States

Jerry Sheehan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:17:37 -0700

Description

In the next five years continued fiscal pressures from the Iraq war will exert major pressure on discretionary funding for science in the United States. These pressures will crowd out funding for the creation of new (non dod) labs, maintenance of existing labs, and equipment refresh. Long term structural problems in the U.S. Federal budget (entitlement programs, health care, deficits) will persist making the this pressure more intense and permanent.

An additional substantial structural problem related to the funding of America's science labs is the dramatic under capitalization of the instruments and facilities. These so called Advanced Research Instruments and Facilities (ARIF) were identified by the National Academies of Science in their Rising Above the Gathering Storm report as needing new funding of approximately $500 million. The primary problem identified by the Academies is that funding for ARIF has been fragmented across agencies and historically very limited. [1] Put simply, we have no fiscal plan to support the "refresh" needed for equipment in our leading edge laboratories.

What will the impact be of either the declining number of public scientific laboratories or their inadequate instrumentation?

1) A decrease in the quantity of science and innovation generated in America's laboratories. This decline will not only impact the advancement of knowledge, but will result in missed technology transfer opportunities with accompanying negative economic impact.

2) A decline in the number of scientific awards. In the last 20 years, eight of the nobel prizes in physics and five in chemistry were awarded to scientists who were inventors of new scientific instruments. Without substantial new funding for instrument development we will see a decline in new tools. [1]

3) A need for non-governmental resources to step in and provide primary funding for the operation of laboratories or new equipment needed to keep those facilities at the leading-edge. In FY08, budget pressures resulted in $98 million dollars being cut from high energy physics which had dramatic effect on Fermilab.[2] To stay fiscally afloat the Lab forced its scientific staff to take unpaid leave. Currently, Fermilab has once again become fully operational due to a $5m anonymous philanthropic donation made to the University of Chicago. [3]

Signals

So many labs, so little money

Corporate Labs Disappear. Academia Steps In.

Nature's Photonic Crystal

Matt Daniels — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:00:00 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://feeds.technologyreview.com/click.phdo?i=a44366fd363c9bb4735782bcd019f368

Scientists find an elusive diamond structure in a Brazilian beetle.

Researchers have discovered a species of Brazilian beetle that has the unusual trait of reflecting iridescent green from almost any angle. By examining the structure of the beetle's scales, scientists at the University of Utah found an ideal photonic-crystal structure for visible light--a type of material that optical scientists have been seeking for years.

Three-dimensional periodic structures called photonic crystals are potentially valuable materials for controlling photons; scientists could use photonic crystals operating at visible wavelengths to develop more-efficient solar cells, telecommunications, sensors, and even optical computer chips. A diamond-based structure, in particular, is thought to be the most effective three-dimensional photonic crystal for visible light, because it can reflect a wide band of colors and has high reflectivity. Less light escaping means researchers can better control and manipulate the photons.

Energy

State Driven Innovation in China: Funding Challenges and Strategies

Philip Cho — Sun, 25 May 2008 09:02:25 -0700

Description

Innovation in Chinese science and technology continues to be driven by the state rather than by the grass roots. Government impetus has primarily involved building massive new research facilities such as two of the world’s largest radio-telescopes (LAMOST and FAST), a VLBI deep space network, the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the North Star GPS satellite network, and the China Spallation Neutron Source, just to name of few.

To fund these Big Science projects, the Chinese government pledged in 2005 to boost R&D spending from 1.3% to 2.5% of GDP by 2020 (see Science, 17 March 2006, p. 1548). However, the danger is that the government failed to meet a similar pledge in its last five year plan. According to the “95 Plan” covering 1996 through 2000, the government pledge to raise R&D spending to 1.5% of GDP by the end of 2000, around 135 billion yuan at the time. Although China approximately met its GDP goal of 9 trillion yuan by 2000, R&D spending only grew by little more than half of what the government had pledge 5 years earlier (see below the official statistical charts published in 2006). This means that many of these projects may meet either construction or operating budget crunches long before any productive work can be done.

Moreover, little attention and funding has been given to how these showcase facilities will actually be used. In rare cases such as the China Spallation Neutron Source are users consulted as to their needs and the operating and maintenance budgets necessarily to make projects successful. Funding often comes as a lump sum and the design and location of the facilities are often subject to political jockying, as many of these projects represent the legacy of a political leader. The training of researchers to man these facilities also lags and the lack of communication and cooperation among competing labs continues to hamper progress.

Chinese enterprises have also failed to drive innovation as few invest in research and development. For example, a survey by China's top advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), found that most do not employ a single person in R&D and in state-owned enterprises, performance is assessed based on increase of assets rather than innovation. Not surprisingly, in contrast to the heyday of Silicone Valley, China’s microprocessor technology suffers due to a lack of commercial R&D investment.

In a new twist, a recent Pentagon report finds that China has turned to forging closer ties between the military and businesses to try and kick-start research into cutting edge technology where the commercial sector has sagged. Companies such as Huawei, Datang,and Zhongxing collaborate closely with the PLA on dual-use information technologies. Borrowing a page from Vannevar Bush’s playbook, the military also plans to work more closely with universities in funding research in key areas such as aviation, information, new materials, energy (hydrogen energy and fuel cell technologies, alternative fuels), and marine (three-dimensional maritime environmental monitoring technologies, fast, multi-parameter ocean floor survey, and deep-sea operations) technologies.

(See attachment for charts)

Signals

Phase Z.Ro and the other side of innovation spaces in Singapore

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:27:58 -0700

Description

Near Singapore's wonderfully ambitious and futuristic Biopolis, between the Ministry of Education and the subway stop, are several yellow buildings that announced themselves as the Phase Z.Ro, a "technopreneur park."

via flickr

If Biopolis seemed familiar, an attempt to outdo Western scientific facilities on their own terms, Z.Ro (get it?) struck me as something potentially quite different. For one thing, the place makes your average Silicon Valley tilt-up look like Versailles. For another, while it definitely didn't have the energy of downtown Palo Alto or the Google campus, some elements of the space made me wonder if its creators aren't onto something. And even if they fail, this may be something to watch... and worry about.

one of the three wings of phase z.ro (this one is called "breakthrough"), via flickr

Phase Z.Ro consists of three two-story buildings, all made of prefabricated panels. They look like cargo containers that have been painted yellow, had windows and doors punched in them, and wired with AC and Cat-6 cable.

cargo container chic, via flickr

Interestingly, the same company-- JTC-- that built Biopolis is responsible for Phase Z.Ro, and several other "technopreneur" parks. So they're playing both ends of the market.

Each one of the buildings has a sunshade, but is open on the ends, allowing in some extra light and breeze. Along the long axes of the buildings are hung white panels with, well, buzzwords. The language of technology, of innovation, of entrepreneurship literally hangs in the air.

words words words-- the language (or at least jargon) of innovation floats above the offices; via flickr

One of the other buildings ("Breakthrough") has text above it that includes

creatively knitted tapestry of new economy industry, hubs

business intelligence centre

a place of competitive risk taking

It seems kind of ridiculous-- you'd never see this kind of thing in the Valley-- but I think it's more than just decoration or mindless jargon; I think it needs to be taken seriously, as a very public declaration of some very big ambitions. Certainly they're talking about the right kinds of things, and even if the place didn't seem very busy when I was there, it's cheap enough an infrastructure to replicate easily.

Perhaps cheap enough to do with these parks what venture capitalists do: fund lots of them, knowing that most will be failures, but hoping that a couple will be home runs.

in the shadow of biopolis (that's helios in the background), via flickr

Now, imagine something else. There's a lot of work going on right now in service science-- essentially, efforts to create a discipline for technical services akin to computer science or electrical engineering, which will put this increasingly important economic activity on a sound theoretical foundation, and allow us to start overcoming the problems of scale and labor intensivity that limit the growth of service businesses today.

Phase Z.Ro strikes me as a very cheap physical infrastructure. What if, in ten years' time, we know enough about multiplying and scaling services to make it possible to provide not just conference rooms and plug-and-play Internet with these spaces, but also access to capital, patent law services, managerial interventions, and so on? You've already got a science and technology park that packs into a couple shipping container, maybe with a backup generator and a few servers. What if you could add VCs and a law firm to the mix?

This leads me to a wildcard.

imagine unpacking little innovation parks all over asia, via flickr

Imagine if you could mass-produce these facilities, and drop them in cities and near universities throughout Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. You could deploy thousands of them. Most of them would fizzle out. A few would thrive. A very few would incubate the next Google.

Spaces like this could, in the global battle for innovation and talent, and the competition to encourage high-tech entrepreneurship, be the equivalent of the disruptive innovation that's too cheap for established competitors to respond to. Silicon Valley might be to these parks what a private concert is to the radio: irreproducible in its intimacy and intellectual firepower, and in the grand scheme of things irrelevant because it was irreproducible.

(More pictures on Flickr)

Amateur, DIY, and citizen science

Source

Field visit to Phase Z.Ro, 2007.
http://theunchartedwaters.blogspot.com/2007/04/visit-to-phase-zro-technopreneur-park.html

Acceleration in innovation global sourcing and in emergence of locations of research capacity and advanced technical skills

jorgemata — Wed, 07 May 2008 02:57:24 -0700

Description

From newly published "Innovation in Global Industries,", by the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, a boards that advises the National Academies:

The debate over offshoring of production, transfer of technological capabilities, and potential loss of U.S. competitiveness is a long-running one. Prevailing thinking is that the world is flat that is, innovative capacity is spreading uniformly; as new centers of manufacturing emerge, research and development and new product development follow.

Innovation in Global Industries challenges this thinking. The book, a collection of individually authored studies, examines in detail structural changes in the innovation process in 10 service as well as manufacturing industries: personal computers; semiconductors; flat-panel displays; software; lighting; biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; financial services; logistics; and venture capital. There is no doubt that overall there has been an acceleration in global sourcing of innovation and an emergence of new locations of research capacity and advanced technical skills, but the patterns are highly variable. Many industries and some firms in nearly all industries retain leading-edge capacity in the United States. However, the book concludes that is no reason for complacency about the future outlook. Innovation deserves more emphasis in firm performance measures and more sustained support in public policy....

Table of Contents:

Front Matter i-xiv
Introduction--Jeffrey T. Macher and David C. Mowery 1-18
1 Personal Computing--Jason Dedrick and Kenneth L. Kraemer 19-52
2 Software--Ashish Arora, Chris Forman, and JiWoong Yoon 53-100
3 Semiconductors--Jeffrey T. Macher, David C. Mowery, and Alberto Di Minin 101-140
4 Flat Panel Displays--Jeffrey A. Hart 141-162
5 Lighting--Susan W. Sanderson, Kenneth L. Simons, Judith L. Walls, and Yin-Yi Lai, 163-206
6 Pharmaceuticals--Iain M. Cockburn 207-230
7 Biotechnology--Raine Hermans, Alicia Löffler, and Scott Stern 231-272
8 Logistics--Anuradha Nagarajan and Chelsea C. White III 273-312
9 Venture Capital--Martin Kenney, Martin Haemmig, and W. Richard Goe 313-340
10 Financial Services--Ravi Aron 341-372

East and Southeast Asia: Science and Technology

Source

Innovation in Global Industries. Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP). http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12112

Microfluidics using a cheap 1980s-era desktop plotter

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:38:58 -0700

Description

Via Attila Csordas, a Nature report on a project in which Harvard chemist Derek Bruzewicz and colleagued converted an old desktop plotter into "an impressively simple microfluidics device that can be produced without a clean room or photolithographic equipment."

The system works like this. By replica moulding, the pens of the plotter are replaced with PDMS [organic polymer poly(dimethylsiloxane)] versions that can deliver various types of 'ink'. The purpose of the ink, when cured, is to create channels in a filter-paper substrate, and after experimenting with the possibilities Bruzewicz et al. found that a syrupy mixture of 3:1 PDMS:hexane did just fine. Having chosen the appropriate paper, the trick then is to use the plotter to draw channel shapes, with the PDMS syrup penetrating the full depth of the paper to create water-tight chambers in various patterns....

The authors have tested different types of the device with well-tried colorimetric assays for identifying excess protein and glucose in urine, and found they performed well, with no cross-contamination between channels.

According to the HP Computer Museum (not actually part of HP), the particular plotter used in this project, a 7550

was the most advanced small plotter ever built. It had an incredible acceleration of 6g, making it one of the fastest plotters ever (and the most fun to watch). The 7550 had 8 pens and could plot on many types of media including paper, transparency film, vellum and polyester film.

It was introduced in 1984, and cost $3900 at the time; you can get them on eBay for $50.

Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnology

Source

http://pimm.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/low-budget-high-tech-microfluidics-device-out-of-a-50-plotter/
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v452/n7186/full/452421a.html

Technology prizes and challenges for innovations in sustainability and global problems

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:12:21 -0700

Description

Prizes and challenges have recently emerged as a substantial incentive for innovation in science and technology. They're also emerging in appropriate technology and sustainability. A few data-points:

The San Jose, California-based Tech Museum gave its first Tech Awards in 2001 to people "applying technology to humanity's most pressing problems by recognizing the best of those who are utilizing innovative technology solutions to address the most urgent critical issues facing our planet." Prize-winners are also made members of the "Tech Laureate Venture Network... to create opportunities for learning, networking, and exposure to assist the Laureates in furthering their work."
The Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability, "bestowed on inventors whose products or processes are viable and sustainable, and have high potential to improve the quality of life for future generations."
In 2005, the Grainger Foundation announced the Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability, "a million-dollar award for the most effective, inexpensive, reliable, and environmentally friendly solution to the arsenic problem facing Bangladesh and similar countries with tube-well-related problems. The United States' National Academy of Engineering was designated its arbitrator and in a little less than a year it received more than 70 entries. In February 2007, after exhaustive tests conducted by United States Environmental Protection Agency, the NAE finally announced the winner: Dr. Abul Hussam, a chemistry professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia."

One interesting feature of each of these prizes or challenges is that award winners are not chosen by the funders: they're chosen by third parties, either academic organizations or professional societies.

Science in the United States

Source

http://www.techawards.org/
http://web.mit.edu/invent/a-award.html
http://www.nae.edu/nae/grainger.nsf
http://www.islamicamagazine.com/Issue-20/Winning-the-Water-Problem.html
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/04/science-prize-h.html

Rise of Chinese enterprise innovation centers

Lyn Jeffery — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:30:01 -0700

Description

Chinese state-owned enterprises are starting to create their own R&D and innovation centers. Changhong, China's largest TV manufacturer, has 4 R&D centers and an innovation lab in Sichuan. The innovation lab is working with well known Western industrial designers such as Gordon Bruce, who formerly worked with Samsung. Beijing Hualian, one of China's largest supermarket chains, has is opening a large-scale innovation center in Beijing run by a former Proctor and Gamble executive. The center will include innovation training for staff, consumer research, and design innovation research. This trend is also part of the Chinese government's "self-innovation" mandate.

China: Science & Technology

Source

Conversation with Jon Li, partner, Asentio, industrial design studio in Shanghai; and conversation with Tony Tsai, Chief Innovation Officer, Beijing Hualian.

Mobile Phone Ingenuity in Africa

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:31:05 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Afrigadget/~3/270812978/

AfriGadget talks about the work of Nokia ethnographer Jan Chipchase:

One of the consistent themes of Jan's message is that it in each country he visits there is a booming market of hackers and mobile phone mechanics who are doing all kinds of interesting things. They are taking the designs of the West and applying them to their lives, modifying them and making them work for their local needs. From Accra to Nairobi, there is always a "cell phone alley" for you to buy, repair or customize your mobile phone.

Africa: Science & Technology

Prizes, not prices, to stimulate antibiotic R&D

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 03:00:00 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/prizes-not-prices-to-stimulate-antibiotic-r-d-.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_scienceandinnovationpolicy

James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International, argues on Sci Dev that prizes could be used to encourage work on new antibiotics:

Many of the challenges associated with the development of new antibiotics and vaccines are familiar, and common to other medicines. Research and development (R&D) is expensive, particularly for clinical trials involving people, and product development can be a lengthy process — two unattractive features for most investors, who tend to be risk-averse.

Investors might also be deterred by patent thickets. Many of the scientific benefits of R&D, including those generated by failures, are difficult or impossible to appropriate under patent laws....

For an incentive system that efficiently rewards products that improve healthcare outcomes, and does not lead to rationing and ethical dilemmas over access, it is better to use prizes rather than prices.

In theory, prizes can dominate prices in every important policy area when implemented as part of a scheme that separates the market for innovation from the market for products....

For antibiotics, a reward system of cash prizes could value new products using economic models similar to those used to value stock options, inventories and other financial instruments. A new antibiotic would be valued not only for its use during the patent term, but as part of an ongoing portfolio of products needed for new diseases, conditions or resistance problems that are expected to emerge over time.

Prizes can be paid even in cases where current consumption is zero, or close to zero, as long as the new product enhances the security and sustainability of the treatment programme....

Finally, some smaller firms have expressed interest in the development of a system of prizes that rewards early stages of drug development.

Specifically, they propose a system of prizes to reward success in meeting benchmarks in product development, including the relatively early phase I or II clinical trials.

Powering African Schools with Playground Toys

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:37:14 -0700

NOTE: This content was aggregated from RSS feed. Original source is http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Afrigadget/~3/255552375/

Afrigadget reports on a project to develop playground equipment that generates electricity "that can be used to power school classrooms in Africa."

As BBC quotes him,

"The current need for electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is staggering. Without power development is extremely difficult. The potential for this product is huge and the design could be of benefit to numerous communities in Africa and beyond."

Afrigadget adds,
The idea came about after travels to East Africa, where he taught at a school and was inspired by the students. Daniel developed the see-saw power design as part of his final year at Coventry University. He has calculated that five to 10 minutes use on the see-saw could generate enough electricity to light a classroom for an evening.

Africa: Science & Technology

The Automotive X Prize seeks to support development of production-ready supergreen cars

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:28:59 -0800

Description

Wired Magazine reports on the Automotive X Prize, a prize to encourage development of next-generation green vehicles.

The aim of the AXP is to prime the market to demand cars that use less oil and produce fewer greenhouse-gas emissions. "There's a very large industrial complex married to an old solution," says X Prize Foundation founder Peter Diamandis. "If we do this right, we're going to draw a line in the sand and say all the cars we drove before this date are relegated to the history museums." Who killed the electric car? Who cares. Dangle a $10million carrot and watch as engineers deliver both crackpot schemes and genius innovations, any one of which could upend the existing automotive industry.

The rules, which will be finalized later this year, have three broad components: efficiency (cars must get at least 100 miles per gallon); emissions (cars must produce less than 200 grams of greenhouse gases per mile); and economic viability (mass production of the cars has to be feasible, and the company has to have a plan to make 10,000 a year). It's this last point — that a winning vehicle has to be safe, comfortable, and ready to be mass-manufactured at a reasonable cost — that will separate the fantasy-mobiles from those that could actually be put into production and sold for a profit. "We do not want toys," says S. M. Shahed, a Honeywell corporate fellow who, as a past president of the International Society of Automotive Engineers, serves as an adviser to the AXP. In other words, a one-off, carbon-fiber-ensconced motorized recumbent bicycle isn't going to cut it.

This is a good description of a well-constructed prize: it has a clear deadline; specific, measurable goals; and a straightforward payout.

Source

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-01/ff_100mpg
http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-01/ff_100mpg_sb

Putting Innovation in the Hands of a Crowd - New York Times

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:52:24 -0800

Description

The New York Times reports on a new business that hopes to crowdsource innovation:

IF executives are going to rely on the wisdom of the masses for business help, it's probably time the masses get a little compensation for it.

That's the theory behind Kluster, the newest in a lineup of companies using the Web to channel the collective wisdom of strangers into meaningful business strategies. With a cash reward system for contributors and a big beginning at the TED conference last week in Monterey, Calif., Kluster hopes to attract just enough visitors with just enough business smarts to gain early momentum.

The company's founder, serial entrepreneur Ben Kaufman, "held a product design contest at the [2007] Macworld conference, with attendees submitting ideas and using a company Web site to refine designs and vote on the winner.... [He] then set out to build a business out of the process he used at Macworld.

Kluster includes a number of refinements to that process. Those who join are given 1,000 units of Kluster scrip, called “watts,” and they may earn more by telling the site more about themselves, like their area of expertise, age and income. Meanwhile, businesses are invited to post specific tasks to be addressed, like creating a new product, logo or corporate event.

Participants browsing the ideas offered by Kluster members can bet some or all of their watts on the ideas they most believe in, or post ideas of their own. Those who had winning ideas earn at least 20 percent of the bounty offered by the company that sought the idea, as well as more watts, while those who bet on the winning idea earn watts. Those who bet wrong lose what they wagered.

Source

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/technology/03ecom.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Entrepreneurial responses to cellphone charging problems in Africa

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:31:18 -0800

Description

Ken Banks writes on what happens when cell phones become ubiquitous in areas with terrible and unreliable electric power.

Users in many African countries - and not just those in rural areas - face similar problems [involving access to electricity]. In Uganda, this "charging challenge" is being met head-on by a growing band of local entrepreneurs and business people.

Rural users are able to charge their phones from a car battery (top), charged up by a local entrepreneur when power is available, or charged in a nearby town with better supply and transported back. In urban areas, where grid power is generally more reliable, kiosks (below) dotted around local markets provide charging services to passing customers.

The spread of mobile technology in developing countries has opened up income-generating opportunities on a massive scale. But what is most interesting is how local entrepreneurs have taken advantage of this growth using their own skills and ingenuity. According to the Uganda Communications Commission, the telecoms sector there provides direct employment to a little over 6,000 people. Indirect employment - which includes mobile charging entrepreneurs, airtime vendors, accessories sales-people and mobile repair shops - comes to a staggering 350,000.

Boda Phone, Kampala, Uganda: "I met this phone operator off Kampala Road this afternoon, who was riding round on this bike. Luckily he was a fellow Liverpool supporter so we hit it off straight away – and he let me take a photo of his BodaPhone setup. Pretty neat, and with a spare ba

Source

http://www.blogspot.kiwanja.net/2008/02/charging-challenge.html
http://www.afrigadget.com/2007/09/10/the-bodaphone-in-uganda/

Informal standardization in African DIY

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:53:09 -0800

Description

AfriGadget reports on informal standardization practices among African machinists and fabricators:

One of the things that I find most interesting in my travels around Africa is the similar uses of technology to meet the varied demands of different types of mechanics and workers. The particular case I’ve been thinking over is the use of a simple frame and different engines to meet a specific need.

Many of the same components are used from one machine to the next. The fabricators know that each machine has a different use, but that the parts used to make them unique are not that many....

The machinery setup is a good example of low-cost fabrication using a modular setup. All of the local fabricators tend to use the same frame setup so that they can mix and match with each others work.

This is significant because we're starting to see stories of African inventors doing interesting things, and observations like this remind us that most inventive activity involves independent but not completely solitary inventors: successful inventors tend to be members of communities of practice, who share ideas and technical skills, and have to work together. They compete, but they also have to cooperate.

Source

http://www.afrigadget.com/2007/11/08/africas-modular-machines/

Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership?

Jess Hemerly — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:12:02 -0800

Description

Abstract:

This paper develops four propositions that show that changes in the global job market for science and engineering (S&E) workers are eroding US dominance in S&E, which diminishes comparative advantage in high tech production and creates problems for American industry and workers:

(1) The U.S. share of the world's science and engineering graduates is declining rapidly as European and Asian universities, particularly from China, have increased S&E degrees while US degree production has stagnated.

(2) The job market has worsened for young workers in S&E fields relative to many other high-level occupations, which discourages US students from going on in S&E, but which still has sufficient rewards to attract large immigrant flows, particularly from developing countries.

(3) Populous low income countries such as China and India can compete with the US in high tech by having many S&E specialists although those workers are a small proportion of their work forces. This threatens to undo the North-South pattern of trade in which advanced countries dominate high tech while developing countries specialize in less skilled manufacturing.

(4) Diminished comparative advantage in high-tech will create a long period of adjustment for US workers, of which the off-shoring of IT jobs to India, growth of high-tech production in China, and multinational R&D facilities in developing countries, are harbingers.

To ease the adjustment to a less dominant position in science and engineering, the US will have to develop new labor market and R&D policies that build on existing strengths and develop new ways of benefiting from scientific and technological advances in other countries.

Science in the United States

Source

Freeman, Richard B. "Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership?." NBER Working Paper No. W11457, 2005.

Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future

Jess Hemerly — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:09:23 -0800

Description

Book description:

In a world where advanced knowledge is widespread and low-cost labor is readily available, U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode. A comprehensive and coordinated federal effort is urgently needed to bolster U.S. competitiveness and pre-eminence in these areas. This congressionally requested report by a pre-eminent committee makes four recommendations along with 20 implementation actions that federal policy-makers should take to create high-quality jobs and focus new science and technology efforts on meeting the nation's needs, especially in the area of clean, affordable energy:

1) Increase America's talent pool by vastly improving K-12 mathematics and science education;
2) Sustain and strengthen the nation's commitment to long-term basic research;
3) Develop, recruit, and retain top students, scientists, and engineers from both the U.S. and abroad; and
4) Ensure that the United States is the premier place in the world for innovation.

Some actions will involve changing existing laws, while others will require financial support that would come from reallocating existing budgets or increasing them. Rising Above the Gathering Storm will be of great interest to federal and state government agencies, educators and schools, public decision makers, research sponsors, regulatory analysts, and scholars.

Science in the United States

Source

"
Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future." Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) and Policy and Global Affairs (PGA). National Academies Press, 2007,

Federal support for research in nearly all disciplines in now in decline (AAAS)

Jess Hemerly — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:29:47 -0800

Description

From the overview:

- Total federal support of research (basic and applied) would fall 2.1 percent to $55.5 billion, even after large proposed increases for physical sciences and related research in NSF, DOE’s Office of Science, and NIST. A rare cut in NIH research funding and steep cuts in research funding at DOD, NASA, USDA, and other agencies would more than offset the ACI gains. In real terms, federal research spending would fall for the fourth year in a row, down 7.4 percent from 2004

Science in the United States

Source

AAAS Report XXXII: Research and Development FY 2008. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2007.

Growing infrastructures for "citizen science" will help shape 21st century science

Hyungsub Choi — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 11:32:34 -0800

Description

We have thought a bit about the trend leading from the 20th century "science cities" to the 21st century "city science." This is the turn from the "Big" science and technology toward more distributed research activities. What would be the necessary infrastructure for this transition?

Jeff Johannes, medicinal chemist at a large pharmaceutical company, wrote an interesting posting on the blog Sceptical Chymist (http://blogs.nature.com/thescepticalchymist/features/10_miles_from_academia/):

Independence is a really good thing. Some amazing discoveries have come from qualified people or groups that were allowed to truly explore their own ideas, free of external bias or constraints. One clear example of the power of this concept exists in the context of popular music. During the 20th century there was an explosion of diverse musical genres that continues today. Many factors contributed to this process, but one of the most important was the fact that musical instruments and recording equipment gradually became cheaper while at the same time becoming more widely available. This made music accessible to anyone who had a desire to pick up an instrument and create music. Moreover, they could use their own recording equipment to communicate their ideas to interested parties. Today, with the advent of computers and digital recording, musicians can make home recordings of a rather high quality and easily share their songs on the internet. It is truly an exciting time to be a musician.

In terms of accessibility and expense, chemistry, and most modern sciences in general, are way behind music. A budding rock star can buy a $200 guitar at a local retailer and record songs at home, but when I think of chemistry, I think of $600,000 NMRs and $100,000 LCMS stacks installed in the hallowed halls of the worlds great schools. I consider myself extremely lucky to have access to such amazing equipment. But many scientists don’t.

While modern science is more technologically complex than music, I see no fundamental limitation to increasing the accessibility and reducing the cost of doing research. I think this is one of the great challenges facing science. Inexpensive scientific instruments would empower new scientists, give more independence to existing researchers, and lead to an increase in creativity in scientific research.

The indicator to watch to see whether scientific research is indeed following the trajectory of popular music is the availability of the scientific analogue of the "$200 guitar at a local retailer." Are there efforts to lower the cost of spectrometers, DNA analyzers, and NMR machines? Why don't scientific instruments follow the path of PCs, in a way that exponentially improves size and performance?

This has implications for the Brazilian case as well, about which Alex Pang has posted a few signals. In order to have a more diffuse model of scientific activity, one would need more readily available instruments. Perhaps science version of "One Laptop Per Child"?

Signals

The Amateur New York Subway Riding Committee - Collaborative Adventure Science

Citizens as sensors: the world of volunteered geography

Amateur cancer researcher (and patient) partners with academia and VC to prototype a cure

Diversification of research funding: from federal to industrial

Jerry Sheehan — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:31:49 -0800

Description

Historically, the modern university received substantial funding for scientific research from the federal government of the United States. These efforts, often driven by national priorities such as defense, helped support a research portfolio which balanced basic and applied research. In the coming decade this will change as we see an increase in the diversity of funding sources supporting academic research in America.

Recent concerns over American competitiveness lead to proposed increases in FY08 for federal support for academic research. However, federal R&D support is heading downwards (FY08 R&D budget growth is only 1.3%; Inflation is 2.4%; Non-Defense R&D spending has been stagnant for two decades). This lead the American Association for the Advancement of Science to conclude, "As a result, federal support for research in nearly all disciplines in now in decline, a decline that would accelerate in the 2008 budget..."[1]

Increased pressures on the discretionary budget, where academic federal research and development is primarily funded, will worsen as the burden from non-discretionary funding grow. Projections in this regard are dire enough that without intervention entitlements will crowd out other spending. As Brian Ridel noted in his testimony before the Budget Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives in February of 2006, "The real reason for concern comes from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, whose steep growth will likely crowd out ALL other spending."[2]

As the federal government struggles to keep pace with the breadth of investment necessary to support academic research other sources in particular from industry have increased. The most recent and substantial of these being when in November 2007 British Petroleum pledged to spend $500 million over the next decade to support alternative energy research led by Berkeley.[3]

The increased diversity of funding sources for scientific research in particular from industry will likely lead to new concerns on campuses about the ability to freely publish academic results and the balance between basic and applied research. In the extreme this will likely lead to campus protests over research partnerships. For example, the BP deal has already spawned a student led grass-roots effort to lobby the public and university to dump the contract, see http://www.stohpbp-berkeley.org

There is little academic research that has been conducted on the impact of funding source on the nature of scientific publications, quality of science achieved, etc. However, one of the few studies done in this area found no negative impacts. As Teresa Behrnes and Dennis Gray noted in 2001, "...according to our findings, industry-supported projects are just as likely as government-sponsored projects: to be doing academic quality research (as evidenced by the project being their thesis); to involve a faculty member who receives some support from industry; and to involve students who choose, as opposed to being assigned to, that project. Interestingly, while sponsored research was by far the norm, students report infrequent interaction with their research sponsors (whether industry or government). Consistent with this finding, industry-supported students perceive themselves to have as much influence on their research projects and to be doing research that is similar in terms of basic/applied, long-term/short-term, etc., as their government-sponsored counterparts. Since students supported by these two sectors appear to be having similar research experiences, it should come as no surprise that they also report similar outcomes in terms of publications, career goals and perceived climate for academic freedom."[4]

One of the unintended consequences of the increased acceptance of industrial funding for scientific research will a personnel based "technology transfer" as university research scientists leave to take on private sector research roles. This will occur as University researchers grow more familiar with business research and development and seeing their ideas taken to market.

[1] AAAS Report XXXII, Research and Development in FY08
[2] "Testimony Before the Budget Committee" Brian Ridel, U.S. House of Representatives, February 16, 2006.
[3] "Bell Labs is Gone. Academia Steps In" G. Pascal Zachary, New York Times, December 16, 2007
[4]"Unintended Consequences of Cooperative Research: Impact of Industry Sponsorship on Climate for Academic Freedom and Other Graduate Student Outcome" , Teresa Behrnes and Dennis Gray, Research Policy, Volume 30, Issue 2, February 2001, Pages 179-199

Signals

Corporate Labs Disappear. Academia Steps In.

Unintended consequences of cooperative research

Federal support for research in nearly all disciplines in now in decline (AAAS)

William Wulf's "Disturbing Mosaic"

"Made in USA" scientific innovation on the decline

Jerry Sheehan — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:55:14 -0800

Description

The last three years have seen increasing concern over the scientific and technological competitiveness of the United States vis a vis other industrialized and developing nations. These concern reached a zenith in 2006 with the publication of “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future” by the National Academies of Science.[1]

Examining any number of objective metrics shows that the “times are a changing” when it comes to scientific discovery: A) PhDs in Science and Engineering: By 2010 the European Union will grant roughly 2 PhDs in Science and Engineering for every one American PhD [2]. B) Scientific Publications: Since 1998 there has been an increase in scientific publications with international co-authorship with the EU, Japan, China, and Asia becoming increasingly prolific. C) Patents: American inventors in 2002 accounted for 52% of all patents granted in the United States. However, foreign patent applicants grew from 44% (1996) to 48% (2003) [3].

While there are numerous reasons for these changes (increasing population size and focus on science and engineering in China and India, more supportive basic research agenda, tax credits, etc) the conclusion that scientific and technological innovation will become more globally distributed seems certain.

The decentralization of technological and scientific innovation poses clear economic challenges for the United States. As Adam Segal noted in his 2004 article “Is America Losing its Edge” in Foreign Affairs: “For 50 years, the United States has maintained its economic edge by being better and faster than any other country at inventing and exploiting new technologies.”

One of the primary reasons this competitive edge existed was because basic research conducted in American Universities was transferred quickly to from the lab bench to the marketplace by industry. There exists a unique synergy between public research and private sector markets in the United States that can perhaps best be demonstrated by looking at the interaction and leveraged public and private sector investment that occurred from 1965 to 2000 in the area of information technology (see attached graph from National Academy of Sciences, 2003).

So, what are the likely impacts of growing decentralization of scientific and technological innovation?

First, in the short term that there will be an almost xenophobic reaction to the loss of primary production of scientific discovery in the United States that will manifest itself in concern for national security. As the Task Force on American Innovation led by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich noted “A robust research portfolio is a necessary part of a national security strategy that relies on knowledge and technology to keep the United States safe in a dangerous world.” These concerns will lead to short-term increases in research funding domestically but these will be tempered by the Iraq war, record budget deficits, and the entitlement crisis.

Second, American Universities will become increasingly involved in international scientific projects and global research partnerships. This trend will become increasingly dynamic as global problems such as climate change become crisis on the research agenda at the same time that new research talent is being produced in Asia and India.

Third, and most importantly, the American marketplace will need to develop new mechanisms for benefiting from technological innovations that are not produced in the American marketplace [5]. In these regards, the United States still appears to have a competitive edge in understanding how basic academic research can lead to applied research with industry. Increasingly, as seen in the recent King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) recruitment efforts, American universities will be targeted not just for their academic skills but also for insight into how to build sustainable models for technology transfer.

[1]NAS Gathering Storm Report, http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11463
[2] Richard Freeman, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 2005.
[3]+ [4] National Science Board, National Science Indicators, 2006
[5] Richard Freeman, Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership, July 2005, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=755693

Signals

Move over US -- China to be new driver of world's economy and innovation?

Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future

Does Globalization of the Scientific/Engineering Workforce Threaten U.S. Economic Leadership?

R&D Outsourcing and the Economics of Innovation

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:10:30 -0700

Description

A shift in R&D processes from "ivory tower" models to global networks of contractors and alliances could have a significant impact on the economics of innovation.

During most of the 20th century, the usual site for innovation in science and technology was the academic laboratory or the corporate research park. MIT's Lincoln Labs, Bell Laboratories, and Xerox PARC are notable examples of such laboratories. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a marked shift to regional innovation clusters, Silicon Valley in California and Cambridge, England, emerged as two of the global leaders. While large research organisations continued to exist in this new milieu of innovation, they were seen as less competitive. Firms like Cisco Systems, which shunned internal R and instead acquired innovative start-ups, were better able to maintain a competitive edge.

Over the next 20 years, the geography of R may shift again, from regional clusters in the developed world to global networks with large outsourced operations in the developing world. India and China, in particular, will provide large pools of highly skilled workers at 25% to 50% of the cost of their counterparts in the West and Japan. The Indian government estimates that outsourced R in India currently generates about $1 billion annually; this is projected to rise to $11 billion by 2008, mostly in software. China's manufacturing capacity gives it a natural advantage in computer hardware R Both nations also have the long-term potential for large-scale work in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.

The trend towards sourcing R off-shore may change the economic significance of sourcing services off-shore generally. Up to now, the practice has tended to free up capital and labour in developing countries and provided resources for the creation of new, higher value-added enterprises. However, some of the R jobs that may be outsourced are among the most highly prised.

Serious obstacles still remain, in particular, quality control and the protection of intellectual property. Furthermore, for the near future R outsourcing will be limited to 'modular innovation', namely incremental improvements in existing lines of research. Radical, breakthrough innovation will continue to be the domain of regional clusters in developed countries."

This will be enabled by:

Continued expansion of high-capacity global undersea fiber optic networks
Acceptance of English as the global business language
Continued development of domestic venture capital sources for export-oriented services firms
Increasingly widespread use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
Development of global intellectual property standards and enforcement

Early indicators include:

China is now the 2nd largest global cluster of researchers in the world 2004 (2nd only to the US)
Increase in the number of offshoring deals announced by Fortune 500 firms
Growth of services export clusters in India
Departure of Professor Andrew Yao from Princeton in 2004 for a position with the Center for Advanced Study at Tsinghua University

What to watch:

"By 2017, 3.3 million U.S. service industry jobs, including 1 million IT service jobs and $136 billion in wages, have moved offshore.
Outsourced R in India grows to $11 billion by 2008.
The first instance of a WIPO dispute over stolen intellectual property at a Chinese R outsourcing firm occurs.
The Turing Award is given for the first time to a researcher in a Chinese or Indian research lab.
Fortune 500 firms initiate major downsizing at their US/European R labs."

Signals

Brazil: A Potential Scientific Leader

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:10:30 -0700

Description

Brazil could emerge as one of the world's leading scientific powers by 2025, if it pursues a policy of intelligent investment and maximises the benefits of international collaboration.

In the last 20 years, Brazil's scientific community and infrastructure have grown substantially, both in size and quality. The number of scientists trained domestically has grown eightfold in the last 15 years; funding for scientific research has increased (though unsteadily); and output, as measured by numbers of patents and scientific articles, has also grown. Brazil has pockets of world-class scientific research, particularly in genomics, information technology, tropical medicine, and agriculture.

However, several forces have worked to keep the Brazilian scientific community from developing further. Science funding, while increasing, still remains low (about 0.5% of GDP). Intellectual property rights are not well enforced, and the patent system is costly and inefficient. More broadly, Brazil's economy is still dominated by extractive industries and agriculture, and only a minority of the population complete secondary school. If these trends continue, Brazilian science is likely to remain as it is today: strong in a few areas and world-class in a smaller number but contributing little to the national economy and public culture.

If Brazil is to expand the number of areas in which it is recognized as a world leader in the next 20 years and make a steady transition to more knowledge-intensive industries, several things need to happen:

International cooperation -- Brazil is a participant in a large number of research consortia and joint projects with scientists in North America and the EU. The best of these have proved successful in helping train Brazilian technicians and researchers, and in the future will likely contribute to institution-building efforts within Brazil and serve as an important channel for collaboration between Brazilian and international scientists.
Reverse migration -- Anecdotal evidence suggests that Brazil has less of a brain drain problem than other developing countries: a large number of Brazilian scientists eventually return to Brazil after training and working abroad, and most scientists trained in Brazil remain. Further, Brazilian scientific expatriates are beginning to establish research centers in their home country.
Changes in academic culture -- Academic scientists have demonstrated low interest in patenting and commercialising research. Establishing academic-industry joint ventures, campus incubators, and regional funds to provide angel-stage investment and advice would help improve transfer of academic expertise and greatly improve Brazil's track record of innovation.
Decentralization -- Fully half the nation's scientists are located in the state of Sao Paolo, and another quarter are in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Some of the most innovative emerging institutions, research efforts, and science parks, in contrast, are in smaller cities like Campinas and Refice.
Growth of the open source movement -- Brazilian technologists and science policymakers have developed a strong affection for open source software, and open source methods of producing and sharing knowledge more generally. This is partly a reaction against Brazil's attempt to develop a national computer industry in the 1970s and 1980s (which was a tremendous failure but which trained a generation of good computer scientists). Already there is an active open source software development community in Brazil, and the nation is an early adopter of open source software. In the future, other open source movements that play to Brazilian strengths -- most notably, the open source biotechnology movement -- may be met with equal enthusiasm in Brazil. More broadly, the open source world represents a radically different model from the closed intellectual autarky model that drove Brazilian science and technology policy through the 1980s. Brazilian policymakers and science administrators still harbor ambitions of developing a world-class scientific community, but as part of the global scientific network, not independent of it."

This will be enabled by:

Growth of international cooperative research efforts
Increasing reverse migration of people and programs
Stablisation of domestic research funding (in contrast to Brazil's tendency toward boom and bust cycles in science funding)

Early indicators include:

"Establishment by Duke University neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis of a neuroscience institute in Natal, in northern Brazil
Growth in science funding
Growth in scientific output as measured by patents and journal articles
Growth in MA and PhD production -- fewer than 5,000 MAs were awarded in Brazil in 1987, while more than 25,000 were awarded in 2003"

What to watch:

New international research projects and institutes are founded in Brazil.
New industry-academic initiatives are created.
Rates of patenting and start-ups among university faculty increase.

Signals

Building a Future On Science: Scientific American

Brazil's Expanding Technology Sector

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:10:30 -0700

Description

Brazilian technology has thus far developed a small number of world-class centres of excellence. In the next 20 years, overall domestic technological contributions to the national economy could expand, given the right conditions.

Brazil's scientific community has expanded greatly in the last 20 years. However, that expansion has not yet translated into greater technical innovation and commercialisation: compared to developed countries, Brazil has a lower ratio of patents to scientific articles. Nor has it led thus far to broad excellence in technology or the use of innovative technologies or practices outside a few industries like finance and aviation. Brazil has developed world-class technical competence in three areas: deep-sea oil exploration and drilling (through its national oil company, Petrobras), regional aircraft (through aircraft designer and manufacturer Embraer), and tropical agriculture. Each of these are large-scale enterprises, initially supported by generous state funding and now maintained by strong global sales.

In the next 20 years, technological innovation could extend across a wider range of industries in Brazil and have a greater effect on the economy. To make this happen, Brazil will need to better capitalise on the nation's growing pool of scientific talent and knowledge, encourage technology-driven entrepreneurship, and broaden the number of areas in which its technological expertise is well recognized. This will require several changes:

Encourage university-industry partnerships -- The vast majority of Brazilian science PhDs work in universities or state-funded research institutes. These institutions have tended to remain aloof from industry and (with a few exceptions) have a poor record of patenting inventions or encouraging spin-offs. For its part, Brazilian industry has tended not to be science-intensive (with the exceptions of Petrobras and Embraer).
Harness entrepreneurial activity -- Brazil has a paradoxical economic system: large segments of the economy have been state controlled, and the national economy still has substantial statist elements, but it also has a vibrant entrepreneurial culture, and one of eight adult Brazilians is self-employed.
Improve the patent system -- The Brazilian patent system today is inefficient and costly. This discourages universities and researchers from filing patents, which is a first step toward commercialisation of intellectual property."

This will be enabled by:

Improvement of Brazil's patent system
Development of closer academic-industry ties
Encouragement of technology-driven entrepreneurship
Growth of angel investing

Early indicators include:

"Founding of a number of science parks and university incubators in Brazil in the last decade
Current efforts to promote Brazil's strong but little-known IT companies globally
Early adoption in Brazil of social software, such as Google's Orkut service"

What to watch:

Institutions designed to mediate between academic/government science and industry are an increasing presence in Brazil.
Brazil's IT industry succeeds in increasing its visibility globally and serves as a model for similar programs in other areas.
New home-grown mobile and social software services catering to Brazilian small businesses and the self-employed signal that technical innovation is reaching a broader proportion of the Brazilian economy.