Demos Project : Atlas of Ideas 2.0

Brazil: The Natural Knowledge-Economy

kirsten.bound@demos.co.uk ( Kirsten Bound ) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:32:55 -0100

Last Tuesday we launched the most recent pamphlet in the Atlas of Ideas series - Brazil: the natural knowledge-economy - to a full house at the IET. If you couldn't make it, the clever chaps filmed the whole thing and it is now online. You can watch...:

Kirsten Bound's presentation of the findings here (and download a pdf of her presentation here)
Andrew Cahn, Chief Executive of UKTI's keynote here
The panel discussion with Fernando Rizzo form CGEE, biofuels expert Luiz Horta and Charlie Leadbeater here (you can download a pdf of Luiz Horta's presentation here).
The Brazilian Ambassador's closing speech here

If you want more detail, take a look at www.atlasofideas.org.

Brazil: The Natural Knowledge-Economy

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:21:59 -0100

1030am until 1pm, 8th July 2008 at the IET, Savoy Place, London

Speakers:
Andrew Cahn, Chief Executive, UK Trade and Investment
H.E. Carlos Augusto R. Santos-Neves, Brazilian Ambassador to the UK
Charles Leadbeater, Author of 'We-Think' & Demos Associate
Fernando Rizzo, Director, The Centre for Strategic Studies and Management, Brazil
Luiz Augusto Horta Nogueira, Bioenergy expert, Itajubá Federal School of Engineering, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Kirsten Bound, Senior Researcher, Demos

Launch of a new Demos pamphlet, followed by a panel discussion with UK and Brazilian thinkers and policymakers.

The landscape for innovation in Brazil is changing fast. R&D budgets are rising. Brazilian researchers are at the forefront of developments from biofuels to human genomics and ITC. And Brazil is now the 15th largest producer of scientific publications, up eight places in under a decade.

But in the UK and Europe, Brazil’s innovation capabilities are less well understood than those of its ‘BRIC’ counterparts China and India. So what are the real prospects for science, technology and innovation in Brazil over the next ten years? And how can we scale up collaboration with its new centres of excellence?

Demos will publish the results of six months of extensive fieldwork and interviews with leading Brazilian innovators, scientists and policymakers, undertaken in partnership with the Brasilia-based think tank CGEE. The launch will include a panel discussion with UK and Brazilian thinkers and policymakers.

To request a space for this event, please RSVP to: atlasofideas@demos.co.uk

This project is part of The Atlas of Ideas 2.0. Demos is grateful to UKTI, Microsoft Research, NESTA, the British Council and The IET for their generous support and to CGEE for a valuable research partnership.

A Brazillion and one things still to learn

kirsten.bound@demos.co.uk ( Kirsten Bound ) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:39:06 -0100

Just over half way through our Atlas of Ideas fieldwork in Brazil, we’ve been to six cities and interviewed around 70 scientists, policymakers and business people about the future of science and innovation in Brazil. We’re working in partnership with Brazilian strategy and innovation think tank, CGEE. And it still feels like we are barely scratching the surface...

Last week James and I met Sergio Rezende, the Brazilian science minister – a physicist hailing from the North Eastern state of Pernambuco (on our itinerary for next week). He emphasised a point to us made several times elsewhere: despite the media’s current preoccupation with biofuels, Brazil’s future impact in science and innovation will be far more diverse.

We’re beginning to get a good flavour of this diversity. Although the might of science and innovation in the State of Sao Paulo, by far the biggest spender, is clear from its publications tally, its industrial profile and its shiny synchrotron, the story doesn’t begin and end there. Rio de Janeiro for example, known for Copacabana and Carnival, is also home to a wealth of academic and research institutes. Just look at CENPES, the research centre for the giant Brazilian oil company, Petrobras. It is currently constructing a 183,000msq new extension to house its growing research on alternative energy.

And then there’s Florianopolis in Santa Catarina. The island, a popular tourist destination, is planning to develop the first “urban biosphere,” centred on a science and technology park that is integrated into the life of the city. The plans would make any budding entrepreneur parcelled off to a prefab on a UK industrial estate green with envy...

There is an extremely over-used joke in Brazil that appears to feature in almost every article ever written about the country: “Brazil is the country of the future...and it always will be.” This pessimism flows from a sense that Brazil has never quite fulfilled its potential as a global player. But what should we expect from Brazil over the coming years? How can we quantify the monetary value of the Amazon – in water production as well as biodiversity? Will Brazil’s investments in biofuels succeed in turning the country into a ‘green Saudi Arabia’? Can Brazil address persistent and striking economic inequalities?

As I told Minister Rezende, this is going to be a very challenging report to write...

New Perspectives on Chinese Innovation

natalie.day@demos.co.uk ( Natalie Day ) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:58:47 -0100

Those that attended our event - 'New Perspectives on Chinese Innovation' last week have possibly saved themselves from reading the upcoming 600 page OECD Report on China' s innovation system thanks to a highly informative presentation by Gang Zhang, the Principal Administrator at the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry.

Thank you also to Richard Halkett, Simon Collinson, Nikolas Rose, Rushanara Ali and David Tyfield who provided insightful presentations on a range of areas and themes that form different parts of China's ambitious innovation agenda (Click on speakers' names to download their presentation if slides were used).

We were delighted that the event proved a fruitful arena for more networking and exchange between the many UK-based projects now working in this field. As our collective knowledge and understanding grows, it is vital that we share experiences, advice and opportunities to further strengthen the UK-China relationship through innovation. Demos is alway happy to help facilitate such exchange.

A big thank you to NESTA, AIM Research, the Asia Pacific Technology Network and the China-Britain Business Council for their support of this event.

New perspectives on Chinese innovation

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:03:00 -0100

China has big plans to boost its capacity for homegrown innovation. It is rising fast up the global league tables for investment, publications and patents, and a recent review by the OECD concludes that China 'is now a major R&D player'.

But further progress will depend on the playing out of a complicated set of tensions: between the planned economy and the market; between national priorities and global networks; between the hardware of research infrastructure and the software of culture, skills and creativity.

This half day workshop aims to provide a series of fresh perspectives on Chinese innovation, whilst also encouraging networking and an exchange of ideas between the many UK-based projects now working on aspects of Chinese innovation.

Speakers include:
Gang Zhang, Principal Administrator, OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry
Richard Halkett, Executive Director of Policy and Research, NESTA
Simon Collinson, Professor of International Business and Innovation, Warwick Business School
Nikolas Rose, Professor of Sociology & Director, BIOS Centre, London School of Economics
Rushanara Ali, Associate Director, The Young Foundation
David Tyfield, Research Associate, Lancaster University & Demos

RSVP to atlasofideas@demos.co.uk

This event is proudly supported by AIM - the Advanced Institute of Management Research, and NESTA.

Demos in the Deccan Herald

james.wilsdon@demos.co.uk ( James Wilsdon ) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:25:36 -0100

Our event at IIM Bangalore last week has been written up in the Deccan Herald by Rajeev Gowda.

A passage to India

james.wilsdon@demos.co.uk ( James Wilsdon ) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:23:29 -0100

Last week, the Atlas of Ideas came full circle in India, when we presented the findings at a one-day conference in Delhi. The event, hosted by the National Institute for Science, Technology and Development Studies, brough together policy-makers and scientists from India, China, Korea and the UK to explore ways of increasing scientific collaboration.

Keynote speeches were given by the UK’s outgoing Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir David King and his Indian counterpart, Dr. R. Chidambaram. But the most inspiring intervention came from the new director-general of India’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Professor Samir Brahmachari. who made a passionate call for all the countries present to invest in an International Centre for Affordable Healthcare. Professor Bramachari declared his intention to pursue such models of ‘global science for global goals’ during his tenure as head of the CSIR.

The conference also heard presentations from Glaxo SmithKline and China’s ZTE about the changing dynamics of open innovation in corporate R&D. Most of the participants reacted warmly to the Atlas reports. Dr Jong Guk Song of Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute said ‘Demos has done an extraordinary job in describing the science and innovation system of Korea. I was enormously impressed.’

Two days earlier, we participated in a workshop at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore. This event was organised and hosted by the indefatigable Professor Rajeev Gowda, as part of a UKIERI project, in partnership with the STEPS Centre at Sussex University. Its focus was less on government-led initiatives, and more on Bangalore’s local innovation environment. Entrepreneurs, multinational R&D managers, venture capitalists and IIM faculty exchanged ideas about how Bangalore can retain its status as a ‘super-region’ of innovation – especially as new competitors emerge elsewhere in India and further afield.

One of the speakers, Mukhund Thattai, gave us a powerful reminder of India’s potential. Dr Thattai is a fiercely bright new member of the faculty at the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore. He works in the frontier field of synthetic biology, and recently led a team of Bangalore’s undergraduates to compete in MIT’s annual iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition. iGEM is hard-fought, with 56 teams from 20 countries taking part. But Bangalore triumphed – taking first prize for the best model, and only succumbing to Peking University in the battle for the Grand Prize.

We're very grateful to Rajeev Gowda, NISTADS and the British High Commission for all they did to arrange these two events. And we hope this will be the start of a fresh wave of Atlas research in India. We're particularly interested in exploring ‘hidden’ forms of innovation in India that don’t get picked up in conventional R&D indicators, building on NESTA's work in the UK.

Next people, next places, next science:

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:16:53 -0100

On Monday 3 December, Demos will announce the next phase of The Atlas of Ideas, including landmark studies of innovation in Brazil and the Islamic world, as well as further research in China and India.

Keynote speaker:
Ian Pearson MP, Minister for Science and Innovation

Panellists:
Jonathan Kestenbaum, Chief Executive, NESTA (Chair)
Lloyd Anderson, Director, Science, The British Council
Lorna Casselton, Vice-President & Foreign Secretary, The Royal Society
Stephen Emmott, Director, European Science Programme, Microsoft Research Cambridge
Ana Maria Sampaio Fernandes, Minister Counsellor, Embassy of Brazil
Razley Nordin, Director General of Science and Technology, Organisation of Islamic Conference
James Wilsdon, Head of Science and Innovation, Demos

Places are limited so register your interest at:

atlasofideas@demos.co.uk

Next People, next places, next science

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:31:43 -0100

At a special event on Monday 3 December, Demos will anounce the next phase of The Atlas of Ideas, including landmark studies of innovation in Brazil and the Islamic world, as well as further research in China and India.

You can download an invite here.

Please note: places are limited so register your interest at atlasofideas@demos.co.uk

Innovation in the Islamic world

james.wilsdon@demos.co.uk ( James Wilsdon ) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 08:59:56 -0100

I've written a piece for the FT today on the prospects for innovation in the Islamic world. This is a curtain-raiser for a new project that we'll be launching in February 2008 to map the changing dynamics of science and technology-based innovation across the 57 member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. We'll be doing this in partnership with the OIC, the journal Nature and others. Send me an email if you'd like to know more, or visit the Atlas of Ideas project page.

Pro-Poor innovation

james.wilsdon@demos.co.uk ( James Wilsdon ) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:42:04 -0100

The latest issue of id21, published by our friends from the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University, is just out. It includes an article on our nanodialogue in Zimbabwe, and another on our Atlas research on China. Plus biotech in Bangalore, social entrepreneurs in Kenya and rural innovation in Nepal - all this and more can be found here.

Innovative China

james.wilsdon@demos.co.uk ( James Wilsdon ) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:11:29 -0100

I've recently returned from Beijing, where I spoke at the launch of the OECD's review of China's innovation system. Most of the movers and shakers in Chinese S&T policy were present, and there was some lively debate about the balance between 'indigenous innovation' and the need for more international collaboration.

I've written a comment piece in today's China Daily which summarises what I said at the OECD event, building on the arguments in our Atlas of Ideas report. The National Science Foundation of China and the British Embassy in Beijing have also produced a Chinese translation of the Atlas reports, which we released at the OECD event.

I then travelled south to Guangzhou for a separate event with the Guangzhou Association of Science and Technology. This picked up a bit of local media interest. I spoke alongside Adrian Ely from the STEPS Centre at Sussex University, who has blogged the event here.

Sub-Saharan Science

james.wilsdon@demos.co.uk ( James Wilsdon ) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 12:02:28 -0100

I’m in Washington DC, at a World Bank meeting on science and innovation for development. A new consensus appears to be emerging amongst African leaders about the importance of building up their science, technology and innovation capacity. Yesterday we heard a series of impressive presentations from the science ministers of Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and South Africa, all of whom are scaling up their levels of investment and ambition. Nigeria, for example, is using part of its recent windfall from high oil prices to create a 5 billion dollar endowment for science and technology.

The World Bank meeting follows hot on the heels of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa last month, which agreed on a series of steps to boost science and technology across the continent. For me, the most encouraging thing coming out of these discussions is the open and honest way in which African policymakers are pursuing distinctive approaches to science and innovation, which place poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability at the centre. The prospects for a distinctive model of ‘sub-saharan science’ is one of the themes we hope to explore in the next phase of our Atlas of Ideas project.

Asian 'hotspots' come to London

molly.webb@gmail.com ( Molly Webb ) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:45:18 -0100

“I suggest we focus on the future, because it is where we are going to spend the rest of our lives,” said RA Mashelkar today at the Atlas of Ideas conference.

He was responding to the question “Why are we starting to collaborate with Asia now, why haven’t we done it sooner?” Mashelkar’s response is suitably diplomatic, but also reflects the general mood today at the Atlas of Ideas conference: that though the UK has a pretty good record of collaborating with other countries (in science and industry), increasing and investing in collaboration now can only benefit us 5, 10 or more years down the line.

The Atlas of Ideas report - and three country reports on China, India and South Korea - are getting a fair bit of attention today. Find out what others are saying, and we’ll let you know what we think as the 2-day event continues...

South East Asian economies herald a new dawn of technological innovation - Markets - Times Online

Scientists urged to work with innovation hotspots - Financial Times

Science fears loss of its superpower ally - World - Times Online

Demos warns Britain might get sidelined in global scienctific revolution – People’s Daily Online

The Atlas of Ideas Final Conference

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:28:44 -0100

The Atlas of Ideas conference took place on 17-18 January in London with over 250 delegates. Download speaker presentations below. Or watch videos of the speakers on the IET.TV website.

The second phase of The Atlas of Ideas begins in April 2007 and will run for another three years. As well as deepening our analysis of innovation in China, India and Korea, this phase will extend our approach to South Africa, Egypt and Brazil, and will explore cross-cutting themes such as scientific diasporas, low-carbon innovation and science in the Islamic world. For more information contact James Wilsdon at james.wilsdon@demos.co.uk

Day 1

Wednesday 17 January 2007

08:30 Registration and coffee

09:15 Session 1: The Atlas of Ideas
The Demos team will unveil its findings, followed by a keynote speech from a senior government figure.

Project overview
Charles Leadbeater & James Wilsdon, co-authors, The Atlas of Ideas (download the presentation)
Catherine Fieschi, Director, Demos (Chair)

Keynote speech
Sir David King, Chief Scientific Adviser, UK Government (download the presentation)

11:00        Coffee

11:30        Session 2: New geographies of innovation
Leading policymakers and scientists describe how the global map of science and innovation is being redrawn
Lord Rees of Ludlow, President, The Royal Society (Chair)
Zhang Xian’en, Director General of Basic Research, Ministry of
Science and Technology, China (download the presentation)
R A Mashelkar, Former Director General, Council for Scientific & Industrial Research, India (download the presentation)
Kwan Rim, Chairman, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Seoul Korea (download the presentation)
Denis Simon, Provost, Levin Institute, State University of New York (download the presentation)

13:00        Lunch

14:00        Special sessions

A) The globalised university
How can universities in the UK adapt to the rise of Asia, and develop better research links?
Un-Chan Chung, Former President, Seoul National University (download the presentation)
Baroness Warwick, Chief Executive, Universities UK
Lloyd Anderson, Director of Science, British Council
Caroline Quest, Managing Director of Innovation and Enterprise, Queen Mary, University of London (download the presentation)
Pam Alexander, Chief Executive, South East England Development Agency (Chair)

B) Can competitors collaborate?
Does the rise of Asian science threaten Europe or can we work together to mutual advantage?
David Concar, Science Counsellor, British Embassy, Beijing (download the presentation)
Wang Baoqing, Minister Counsellor for Science and Technology,
Chinese Embassy (download the presentation)
Adam Segal, Council on Foreign Relations, USA
Pierrick Fillon-Ashida, DG-RTD, European Commission (download the presentation)
Jonathan Adams, Director, Evidence Ltd (Chair) (download the presentation)

C) Is IP protection Asia’s Achilles heel?
Are frameworks of intellectual property protection tightening? Will Asian innovators force more rapid change?
Ian Harvey, Chairman, Intellectual Property Institute (download the presentation)
Andrew Mertha, author of ‘The Politics of Piracy’
Kalpana Chaturvedi, Open University (download the presentation)
Richard P. Suttmeier, Professor of Political Science, University of Oregon (download the presentation)
Robert Driver, Director, High Tech Sectors, UKTI (Chair)

D) Science at the bottom of the pyramid
Will the benefits of the high-tech boom spread to China and India’s poor?
R A Mashelkar, Director General, CSIR, India (download the presentation)
Melissa Leach, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex University (download the presentation)
David Dickson, Director, SciDev.Net (download the presentation)
Fu Jing, Science Correspondent, China Daily (download the presentation)
Denis Simon, Provost, Levin Institute, State University of New York (Chair)

16:00        Tea

16:30        Session 3: Next people, next places, next science
What areas of science and technology will Asia lead? Who are the people and places to look out for?

Richard Ellis, Chair, East of England Development Agency (Chair)
Chunli Bai, Executive VP, Chinese Academy of Sciences & Director, China National Centre for Nanoscience & Technology (download the presentation)
Jong Bhak, Director, Korean Bioinformation Centre (download the presentation)
Philip Campbell, Editor-in-Chief, Nature (download the presentation)
Swati Piramal, Director of Strategic Alliances and Communications, Nicholas Piramal India Limited (download the presentation)

18:00        The Ambassadors’ Reception
Riverside Room, The IET, Savoy Place

Welcome: John Loughhead, Deputy President, The IET
Speakers:
Malcolm Wicks MP, Minister for Science and Innovation, UK
H.E. Zha Peixin, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China
H.E. Kamalesh Sharma, High Commissioner of India
H.E. Cho, Yoon-Je, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea

Day 2
Thursday 18 January 2007

08:30        Coffee

09:15    Session 4: The war for talent: can Europe and the US compete?
As global competition for scientists, engineers and innovators intensifies, is Asia poised to take the lead?
Annalee Saxenian, University of California, Berkeley and author ‘The New Argonauts’ (download the presentation)
Drummond Bone, Vice Chancellor, Liverpool University and President, Universities UK
Boris Johnson MP, Shadow Minister for Higher Education
Will Hutton, Chief Executive, The Work Foundation
Charles Leadbeater, Demos (Chair)

10:45        Coffee

11:15        Special sessions
(choose from the breakout sessions below)

A) Is multinational R&D heading east?
How much corporate R&D is flowing to Asia? What are the opportunities and barriers to further growth?
Xue Lan, Dean, School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University, China (download the presentation)
Sylvia Schwaag Serger, Science Counsellor, Embassy of Sweden Science Office (ITPS), Beijing (download the presentation)
Bert van den Bos, Business Development Group R&D, Vodafone (download the presentation)
Kirsten Bound, Demos (Chair)

B) The New Argonauts: diasporas and talent flows
How can countries and companies benefit from the shift from brain drain to brain circulation?
Li Gong, Managing Director, Windows Live China, Microsoft
Cong Cao, State University of New York (download the presentation)
Shantanu Bhagwat, Partner, Amadeus Capital Partners (download the presentation)
AnnaLee Saxenian, University of California, Berkeley
James Keeley, Demos (Chair)

C) After Hwang: science, scandal and ethics
Has Korean science recovered from its recent scandal? What lessons have China and India learned?
Song Sang-yong, Fellow, The Korean Academy of Science and Technology (download the presentation)
Stephen Minger, Director, Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, King’s College London (download the presentation)
Qiu Renzong, Professor of Bioethics, Institute of Philosophy, CASS (download the presentation)
Molly Webb, Demos (Chair)

D) The high-tech path: one route or many through modernity?
Is the focus on science and technology in danger of blinding us to alternative development paths?
Jeanne-Marie Gescher, Founder, Claydon Gescher Associates, China (download the presentation)
Ehsan Masood, Associate Editor and columnist, OpenDemocracy.Net
Won Soon Park, Executive Director, The Hope Institute, Seoul (download the presentation)
Bob Jessop, Institute for Advanced Studies, Lancaster University (download the presentation)
Christopher Cullen, Director, Needham Research Institute (Chair)

13:00        Lunch

14:00        Session 5: The cosmopolitan scientist
Are there tensions between the struggle for national scientific success and global goals of development and environmental sustainability?

Colin Blakemore, Chief Executive, Medical Research Council, UK (download the presentation)
John Ashton, Special Representative for Climate Change, FCO
Sheila Jasanoff, Professor of Science & Technology Studies, Harvard University (download the presentation)
Qiu Renzong, Professor of Bioethics, Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (download the presentation)
James Wilsdon, Head of Science and Innovation, Demos (Chair)

15:20        Tea break

15:45    Final plenary: Gathering storm or breaking dawn? The prospects for EU-Asian collaboration
Reflections and recommendations on how Europe and Asia can develop new partnerships for science and innovation

Esko Aho, President, Sitra and former Prime Minister, Finland (play broadcast)
John Micklethwait, Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
Jonathan Kestenbaum, Chief Executive, NESTA
Lord Bhikhu Parekh, Emeritus Professor of Political Theory,
University of Hull
Charles Leadbeater, Demos (play broadcast)
Catherine Fieschi, Director, Demos (Chair)

17:15        Conference ends