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Balance and sustainability
This issue of eIQ considers two critical issues that face the R&D community in the first decade of the 21st century: sustainability and balance. These were the major topics of our annual conference, held in Switzerland from 21-23 May 2008. We consider industry's role in tackling sustainability, as well as the opportunities that doing so could bring. Our feature on balance looks at the ways in which companies are trying to make trade-offs between short and long-term priorities, and asks how much longer traditional portfolio management techniques will apply. There's also a report on how CERN is working with industry to build one of the world's most important experiments, and a report on progress towards a European Research Area.
Our Country Profile focuses on Switzerland, while our Day in the Life interview meets a man who has successfully innovated in what was believed to be a mature industry.
The contents in detail are as follows:
Feature - Sustainability: business threat or innovation driver?
The world's in trouble. Climate change, resource shortages and the likelihood of pandemics threaten our future. The scale of change needed to mitigate these threats will demand concerted global action. That's going to alter the context for business and for R&D, according to speakers at this year's EIRMA annual conference.
Feature - Striking a balance in R&D portfolio management
How can R&D managers deal with the conflicting requirements of running a portfolio of projects for best short and long-term performance? Delegates at this year's annual conference explored how to build a balanced R&D portfolio in a world that is changing increasingly quickly and yet faces issues that demand long-term solutions.
France Telecom has adapted its approach to innovation from a formal linear model to a much looser network of partnerships and projects, which it has started to call its Innovation Bazaar. But how does it manage intellectual property rights and relationships in this much more fluid environment?
by Francois Jamet, director of intellectual property and licensing, Orange
Switzerland's distributed approach to democracy is reflected in its attitude to innovation policy, which puts decisions about collaboration and technology transfer in the hands of the academics and industrialists doing the work.
by Mauro Dell'Ambrogio, secretary of state for education and research, Switzerland
The greatest dangers in making science, technology and innovation policy lie in over-simplification and in imagining that one-size-fits-all policy principles are appropriate. But some simple principles may help guide efforts to adjust these policies to the evolving context for science, technology and innovation.
by John Marburger, director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President, USA
Industry benefits from search for the secrets of matter at CERN
Industry can benefit from collaborating with researchers working at the cutting edge of science, but it isn't always easy. That's the conclusion of a discussion held between leading administrators and senior scientists at CERN - the European Organisation for Nuclear Research - and EIRMA.
Feature - A rationale for the future of the European Research Area
Europeans face major challenges and opportunities over the coming decades, in the face of economic globalisation and environmental and social issues. Research and development will continue to underpin the progress we make. How can the creation of a European Research Area help Europe to face these challenges and opportunities more effectively while drawing in industry's full participation?
A Day in the Life of ... John Irven, director of technology, packaged gases group, Air Products
Dr John Irven runs a team of 20 people innovating in the industrial gases industry. Using an innovation process that has evolved to take much greater account of customers' concerns, he and his team have managed to develop significant new products and markets in an apparently mature industry.
Switzerland recognises the value of research and channels its resources accordingly. It spends 2.93% of gross domestic product on R&D, among the highest research intensities in continental Europe. More than two thirds of this investment comes from the private sector.
Leif Kjaergaard, president
EIRMA