Science In Place

Talk for Swedish Incubators and Science Parks Network: "Designing Spaces for Networked Innovation"

Anthony Townsend — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:22:29 -0800

I haven't posted in the last month, but it's because I've been travelling extensively promoting the Science In Place program. On November 10, I had the pleasure of giving an invited talk for the annual conference of SiSP, the incubator and science parks asssocation of Sweden. The meeting took place in Lund, one of the oldest university towns in Scandinavia, and less than an hour's train ride across the Oresund from Copenhagen. This is in the Malmo region, home to SonyEriccson and numerous other high tech companies. Truly one of the world's great technopoles.

Science In Place

MIT and Harvard Leaders Make Policy Recommendations for the Next US President

Anthony Townsend — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:51:29 -0700

Technology Review is running an article today
comprised of three letters to the next US president, suggesting policy
initiatives that they think are needed to address future challenges.

First up is Ernest J. Moniz, Director of The MIT Energy Initiative,
who argues for plans to develop a "portfolio of proven low-carbon
technologies". His specific proposals include:

Science In Place

Lurching Towards Open Science

Anthony Townsend — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:57:29 -0700

Openness is rocking the scientific world. Accept it or proceed at your own risk. As an article last week in Nature points out: scientists are posting unprecedented amounts of experimental data online in “open notebooks”.

But wait.
Science in academia is becoming more closed, driven by regulatory shifts in how funding is tied to ownership of research products. As the New York Times reports:

Science In Place

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Should America Create Innovation Zones to Spur R&D?

Anthony Townsend — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:50:57 -0700

I spent the morning reading through a report released earlier this month by the Association of University Research Parks (AURP), titled “The Power of Place: A National Strategy for Building America’s Communities of Innovation”. AURP is industry association that represents several dozen leading research parks and real estate developers with strong connections to major universities in the US and Canada.

Science In Place

Characteristics and Trends in North American Research Parks

Anthony Townsend — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:21:10 -0700

The Association of University Research Parks represents several dozen university-based research parks and real estate organizations across the US and Canada, and this study builds on a comprehensive look at the state of research parks in 2007, "Characteristics and Trends in North American Research Parks: 21st Century Directions" (PDF). In that report, AURP identified several key trends that re-inforce several foundation forecasts at IFTF that have shaped the Science In Place agenda.

Science In Place

Timo Hannay on Web 2.0 and science

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:21:01 -0700

At a recent conference on Science in the 21st Century, I was lucky to hear Nature.com's publishing director Timo Hannay talk about Web 2.0 and the future of science. He recently gave a talk at the British Library with the provocative title "Scientific Researchers and Web 2.0: Social Not Working?" The whole piece is worth reading-- it's a good overview of Web 2.0 tools and their uses in science right now-- but he concludes on a somewhat pessimistic note:

I'm optimistic about the potential of the web to greatly improve the productivity – and joy – of doing science. I also think it can help to break down barriers between disciplines, and between science and the rest of society. That's why I've devoted my recent professional life to the pursuit of turning this into a reality.

But I'm less optimistic about the inevitability of this potential being fully realised, at least in anything less than a generational timescale. For every scientist who sees it as self-evident that they should be using these tools, or promoting open information-sharing, there are dozens who just don't see the point. For every publisher or librarian who 'gets it' there are many who don't – at least not fully and not yet.

Changing behaviours and expectations is difficult at the of best times – it is too easy to overlook the hundreds of companies that fail for every one, like Facebook or Google, that changes the landscape. In a conservative establishment like science, it's harder still. In some ways science – as an continual, collaborative, global endeavour – is the ultimate wiki. But this analogy misleads people into assuming that adoption of new tools and approaches by scientists is a foregone conclusion. It's not.

X2 Project

UPDATED: Letter From Johannesburg: Mapping The Future of Science and Technology Parks

Anthony Townsend — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:17:20 -0700

A small team of IFTF researchers are in Johannesburg this week, at the XXVth annual world conference of the International Association of Science Parks, being held for the first time ever in Africa.

We conducted a pre-conference expert workshop with 14 leading science park managers and experts, asking "what are are the big trends that will shape science and technology parks over the next decade?" and "what are some emerging innovation clusters that we'll be talking about in 2018?"

Science In Place

Science In Place is Coming to Scandinavia This Month

Anthony Townsend — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:53:28 -0700

The stars have aligned and I'll be visiting three Scandinavian countries over the next six weeks, for two events with the Academy of Finland and Swedish Incubators and Science Parks under our rapidly growing Science In Place program.

Science In Place

Using Patent Activity to Find Emerging R&D Hotspots

Anthony Townsend — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:26:15 -0700

London-based consultancy Innovaro, whose monthly Innovation Update newsletter is one of my favorite sources of critical insight, published an article yesterday on "Global Innovation Hot Spots".

The article argues that while there are many qualitative and quantitative indicators that point to various up-and-coming hubs of innovation, patenting activity is a "primary and hence critical source of underlying foresight that can help guide R&D location priorities".

Science In Place

Corporate Incubation: Big Pharma's Bold Move

Anthony Townsend — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:37:58 -0700

I've been meaning to write about this for a few months now, but the news this week about GlaxoSmithKline's cutbacks in internal R&D (I'll post something about this later in the week) brought me back to a March 2008 piece in Nature Biotechnology about the establishment of corporate biotech incubators at Biogen and Pfizer. (Nature Biotechnology, "Start-ups weigh benefits of corporate incubators", March 2008)

Science In Place

Does Corporate Venture Investing Work?

Anthony Townsend — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:01:08 -0700

One of my clients is a large global company trying to beef up its ability to source core innovations that go beyond new combinations and packaging - basic science and technology that will help it deliver new value over a sustained period.

Opening up their innovation process is clearly an important step, and as we have explored many of the potential vehicles for building a more networked R&D model, the idea of a venture investing fund has moved to the forefront of my thinking. If, as open innovation holds, many of the best ideas are outside the company, I can't think of a more aggressive way to scan, secure and inject them into an existing company.

But as the Wall Street Journal reports on Google's efforts in the area, corporate venture funds have a lot of inherent problems and a mixed record.

Technology Horizons

Will Open Science Make It Even Harder to Build Science Communities in China?

Anthony Townsend — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:54:01 -0700

A pair of reports last week suggest that China's science community, while thriving, still has a long way to go before it becomes the kind of knowledge-circulating system needed to support world-class technical innovation.

Science In Place

Labmeeting.com - Distributed Lab Management

Anthony Townsend — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:04:04 -0700

Interesting new startup that is building tools for managing lab documents in a distributed fashion via the web. One of their pitches is "manage your lab", that is - sharing protocols and data.

Science In Place

Preparing India's Workforce for R&D Offshoring

Anthony Townsend — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:01:45 -0700

The Kauffman Foundation released a study this week, How The Disciple Became The Guru (summary, full report) that offers an inside look at how Indian firms are preparing their workforce to serve global hub for offshore and outsourced R&D in Bangalore and other cities.

Written from a business perspective, the report is essential reading for anyone interested in economic development. While not every country has the advantages India does, the model that seems to be working there - aggressive recruitment, workforce development, and retention - is certainly portable. You can't make companies do that, but this report offers compelling evidence that massive investment in human capital can be done quickly, and with sustained returns.

Science In Place

How to Attract US R&D Outsourcing

Anthony Townsend — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:42:19 -0700

A recent article in Research Policy landed on my desk today, titled "The Maturation of Global Corporate R&D: Evidence From the Activity of U.S. Foreign Subsidiaries", by Deepak Hegde and Diana Hicks.

This review turned a lot of my assumptions about the globalization of R&D, and how poorly the current debate about offshoring of R&D in the US is based on fact.

Science In Place

Open Bioscience: Where Will the Distributed Scientists Go to Work?

Anthony Townsend — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:21:29 -0700

IFTF researcher David Pescovitz shared an article from Nature News today that covers the proliferation of crowdsourced biodata sharing. Recent months have seen a flurry of launches of open, loosely structured repositories of complex biochemical pathways like WikiPathways, Protein Data Bank Wiki and WikiGene.

X2 Project

Innovation in Africa: "Inside Nairobi, the Next Palo Alto?"

Cesar Castro — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:00:54 -0700

Interesting article describing the innovation capacity of Africa. Mobile devices may be the vehicle by which the African continent can flex it's innovation muscle. More than home electronics/computers/cars, mobile devices are in the hands of many people in the African continent and they are teaching the Western world how to innovate with these devices.

Article from NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/business/worldbusiness/20ping.html?ex=...

Mobile Health

New Program Announcement: Science in Place

Anthony Townsend — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:49:57 -0700

The global map of science and technology innovation is changing quickly. But it’s not just macroeconomics and demographics that is driving this tectonic shift in how scientific collaboration is organized globally, regionally, in cities and within buildings. Everywhere we turn, new structures are challenging the way research organizations create and apply new knowledge, and where they do it.

Science In Place

Bioenergy Hubs for the 21st Century: The Latin Axis, From Sao Paulo to Havana

Anthony Townsend — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:27:27 -0700

Joe Conason's recent piece in Salon makes a fairly compelling argument that normalizing relations with Cuba has become an immediate strategic priority, not because of Fidel's succession, but because it makes sense to secure a good supply of sugar cane for our ethanol needs before China makes an offer Raul can't refuse.

Science In Place

Chinese universities now top the NSF list of institutions sending students to American graduate schools

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:03:08 -0700

For decades, American graduate schools have attracted students from all over the world. Over time, of course, the origins of international graduate students has shifted. For years, the NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates has been following where Ph.D. recipients received their undergraduate degrees, and each year it publishes a list showing what universities and colleges graduate the largest number of students going on to get Ph.D.s in the U.S.

The latest survey shows that in 2006, two Chinese universities contributed more Ph.D. students to American graduate programs. This is notable because until now, American universities have dominated (but not monopolized) the top five slots.

X2 Project

Mercosur Announces Science, Technology and Innovation Plan

Anthony Townsend — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:45:23 -0700

From SciDev.Net today, we learn that "the presidents of the Mercosur member countries have signed a five-year plan for science, technology and innovation, aiming to add value to regional production. Not many details yet, but with Brazil's rapid advances in aviation manufacturing and biofuel, and Argentina's burgeoning expat fashionability, there are some interesting possible futures for attracting R&D money and talent to the region.

[Spanish full text only]
http://www.scidev.net/es/news/presidentes-del-mercosur-firman-plan-de-cy...

Science In Place

New report on the U.S. innovation system

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:47:57 -0700

The Institute does quite a bit of work these days on the future of innovation and innovation systems. So I was interested to see a report by the Information Technology and Innovation Forum (ITIF) on the U.S. innovation system. (It also caught my eye because long ago I took a sociology of work class with one of the report's authors.) From the press release:

IFTF Signals Pool

Global networks for remote clusters

Anthony Townsend — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:18:58 -0700

This article from Research Policy provides an excellent analysis of the particular problems of trying to create globally-competitive clusters in geographically isolated areas, using the biotech industry in Melbourne, Australia as its case study.

Science In Place

Cease-and-desist letter sent to California-based personalized genetics startups

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:51:09 -0700

California likes to think of itself as a high-tech friendly place, and generally it is. However, Alexis Madrigal reports that the state government has decided to go after personal genetics companies:

Last Monday, the state's laboratory field services group issued 13 cease-and-desist letters to genetic testing companies. Wired.com obtained a copy of the letters (pdf.) from two recipients. And the tough talk in a recent teleconference among regulatory officials confirms the seriousness of the department's intent.

"We [are] no longer tolerating direct-to-consumer genetic testing in California," Karen Nickles, Chief of Laboratory Field Services at the health department, told members of the Clinical Laboratories Advisory Committee on June 13.

Targeted companies include personal genomics startups 23andMe and Navigenics. These services are seen as the leading edge of a new type of health care in which consumers can use their genetic profile to tailor their medical and lifestyle choices. The established medical community, however, is wary of the technology arguing that the medical utility of some tests is unproven. Doctors also complain that direct-to-consumer services bypass them as the gatekeepers and analysts of medical information, which they worry could confuse consumers, not to mention cost them a billing event.

The health department's actions are a direct challenge to the viability of the infant DNA-testing industry, for which physician involvement is shaping up to be a major battleground. As far back as a September 2006 meeting, health department officials were voicing concerns over "nutrigenetic tests that analyze a limited number of genes to give personalized nutritional and lifestyle recommendations."

(via Virginia Postrel's Dynamist Blog)

Health Horizons

Pentagon moving into social science

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:21:02 -0700

The New York Times reports on a new Pentagon program to make more systematic use of social scientists.

Eager to embrace eggheads and ideas, the Pentagon has started an ambitious and unusual program to recruit social scientists and direct the nation’s brainpower to combating security threats like the Chinese military, Iraq, terrorism and religious fundamentalism.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has compared the initiative — named Minerva, after the Roman goddess of wisdom (and warriors) — to the government’s effort to pump up its intellectual capital during the cold war after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957.

Although the Pentagon regularly finances science and engineering research, systematic support for the social sciences and humanities has been rare. Minerva is the first systematic effort in this area since the Vietnam War, said Thomas G. Mahnken, deputy assistant secretary of defense for policy planning, whose office will be overseeing the project.

But if the uncustomary push to engage the nation’s evolutionary psychologists, demographers, sociologists, historians and anthropologists in security research — as well as the prospect of new financial support in lean times — has generated excitement among some scholars, it has also aroused opposition from others, who worry that the Defense Department and the academy are getting too cozy.

$50 million will be routed through the National Science Foundation, in an effort to make the program feel more familiar-- to reduce anxiety among researchers about working with the military, and increase the scholarly rigor.

X2 Project

iPhone and citizen science

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:07:18 -0700

Alexis Madrigal throws a link to the X2 Project in his post on the addition of GPS in the iPhone:

With Steve Jobs' announcement that the iPhone 3G will have geolocation built-in, plenty of people are excited about finding good restaurants near them or worried about the privacy implications....

X2 Project

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OCED on Innovation in China

Anthony Townsend — Mon, 19 May 2008 06:07:34 -0700

OCED Observer is running a good piece this month assessing the state of innovation in China:

Technology Horizons

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