Hot Topics
As we work with employers in the community, we frequently come upon areas of technology that are beginning to revolutionize industry processes and practices but where many of us need more information.
In this section, we provide you with easy access to Wikipedia definitions and articles on this topic but we encourage you to send us other articles that can broaden the knowledge base of the region.
Entrepreneurship
"Measuring Entrepreneurship: A Digest of Indicators" Despite the exalted views of entrepreneurship, measurement of the phenomenon, particularly at international level, has long been an issue. While the OECD has addressed entrepreneurship through various analytical studies and reports, no systematic effort was made to establish an ongoing database specifically devoted to comparing entrepreneurship across OECD countries. There have been numerous initiatives at a local, regional or national level, and even a few at the international level, but internationally comparable data are scarce. Moreover, National Statistics Offices have seldom been directly involved in developing data on entrepreneurship. The joint OECD-Eurostat Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme (EIP) addresses this gap. It is the result of a strong collaborative effort by Eurostat and the OECD and a willing commitment by many National Statistics Offices to harmonise methods and produce results. A number of other events and actors are also responsible for the success of the EIP and their contributions must be recognised (2008).
"Clusters as Vehicles for Entrepreneurial Innovation and New Idea Generation: A Critical Assessment" Recent theorizing in cluster literature emphasizes the importance of inter-cluster knowledge linkages in addition to local knowledge dynamics, enabling new and innovative ideas to flow from one cluster to the other. This paper contributes to this topic by studying inter-cluster knowledge linkages at an individual level of analysis, making use of qualitative social network measures (July 2008).
Innovation and Innovation Systems
"The Use of Data and Analysis as a Tool for Cluster Policy" A green paper on international best practices and perspectives prepared for the European Commission (November 2008). Scott Sheely, Executive Director of the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board, is mentioned as one of about 12 Americans among the 50 leaders of this work around the world.
"Attacking the Recession: How Innovation Can Fight the Downturn" A discussion paper from the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Art, an important part of the innovation system in the UK (December 2008).
"Who are the Brokers of Knowledge in Regional Systems of Innovation? A Multi-Actor Network Analysis" A discussion on regional innovation systems that emphasizes the duality of local and global links from the German Institute for Economic Research and the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Jena, Germany (2008-089).
"Towards Regional Knowledge Economies: Routes and Policy Options" Using the regional innovation system approach, this study examines which conditions, potentials and barriers exist in different types of RIS for developing knowledge based industries and activities, and which routes and policy options might be adequate in different regional settings. It investigates these questions at first conceptually, drawing on the literature on RIS, and location and clustering of knowledge based sectors. Paper presented at the 48th Congress of the European Regional Science Association in August 2008.
"Innovating to Learn: Learning to Innovate"
"High-Impact Firms: Gazelles Revisited" This study revisits and expands upon some of the conclusions on rapidly growing firms made by the small business research pioneer, David Birch, in the 1980s. Birch found that rapidly growing firms, which he termed "gazelles," are responsible for most employment growth. While Birch's definition of gazelles was based on their revenue growth, this study examines firms with significant revenue growth and expanding employment. These are termed "high-impact firms" to distinguish them from gazelles. The research offers summary statistics helping to define the scope and characteristics of high impact firms. The report sheds light on several previously unanswered questions, including: What are high-impact firms before they become high-impact firms? What happens after their high-impact phase? A Small Business Research Summary by the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration.
"The 2008 State New Economy Index: Benchmarking Economic Transformation in the United States" This index uses indicators of the New Economy to measure the relative competitive position of the states with the United States. A report of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (November 2008)
"Innovation, Growth, and Policy in Low and Medium Tech Industries: A Review of Recent Research" This paper discusses and appraises recent research on so-called low-technology and medium-technology industries (hereafter called 'LMT' industries). The paper reviews a major research project conducted within the EU's FRAMEWORK 6 programme, called PILOT (Policy and Innovation in Low-Tech), which explored the dynamics of innovation, growth and competitiveness in LMT industries. A publication of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Government of Australia (2008).
"Sectoral Innovation Systems, Corporate Strategies, and Competitiveness of the German Economy in a Globalised World" The EU Barcelona target assumes a close causal relationship between corporate R&D, the competitiveness of business firms and the economic performance of industrial countries. Testing this hypothesis, this paper contrasts innovation and production activities in four research-intensive manufacturing sectors (chemicals and pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles, machinery, and electrical engineering). The results show that there is no simple connection between R&D and competitiveness. Moreover, the likely consequences of promoting R&D differ substantially between industries (August 2008). A Ruhr Economic Paper #59 from RWI Essen.
"Varieties of Systems of Innovation: A Survey of their Evolution in Growth Theory and Economic Geography" The objective of this paper is to describe briefly the historical evolution of the systems of innovation concept within the academic literature and the policy sphere. This review primarily attempts to highlight some of the most important contributions that strongly assisted to the framework, by providing more consistency and a more theory-oriented perspective (July 2007).
Nanotechnology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology
Green Building
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_building
Sustainable Agriculture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_agriculture
Alternative Energy Production
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_energy
Energy Conservation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_conservation
New Uses for Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
