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4th APEC R&D Leaders Forum
20-22 November 2002
Phuket, Thailand
The 4th APEC R&D Leaders Forum was held at Merlin Beach Resort Hotel in Phuket, Thailand from 20 to 22 November 2002. This Forum was jointly organized by National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand (NSTDA), the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Chinese Taipei (ITRI) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). The theme of this Forum was 'The Challenges for Research and Technology Organizations in the Knowledge-based Economy'.
The purposes of the Forum were to allow RTOs leaders to reflect on the changed environment, to share their experiences on new projects and new ways of working that can be most productive in these circumstances, and to look to the future for the changes that they will all need to make. The Forum attracted 161 participants from 11 APEC member economies and 1 participant from Norway.
The Forum was divided into 3 main sessions which were:
- Plenary session for keynote addresses and invited speeches by prominent APEC R&D leaders
- Parallel break-out session to discuss on 3 main themes which would challenge RTOs in the knowledge-based economy, and
- Foresight session to explore the future for RTOs in the knowledge-based economy
In the plenary session, Dr Yang emphasized the fact that ICT, not knowledge itself, makes the knowledge-based economy differ from other traditional economy. ICT enables us to exploit knowledge in unprecedented ways and drives the growth of the service sector. ITRI recognized the power of ICT and made a transition to focus on a high value-added service sector. Dr Pairash stressed an urgent need for RTOs to revise their strategic positioning toward a KBE. He gave a real example on how NSTDA, one of the RTOs in developing countries, has repositioned itself for the arrival of a KBE. Lastly, Dr Carty highlighted a new model of innovation, using the analogy of a soccer game rather than a relay race as in the traditional model. He also illustrated this change from NRC strategic evolution.
In the parallel session, participants were divided into 3 groups. Each group focused on different themes which were:
- The 1st theme 'Management Techniques for Knowledge Effectiveness' was led by ITRI, Chinese Taipei. It was agreed that organizations should be more matrix in nature in order to liberate the entrepreneurial and innovation potentials of their researchers. This matrix should extend beyond organizational boundaries to network outside resources. The effectiveness of managing knowledge depends on each RTOs leaders to anticipate change and well plan to move in the right direction and meet the demand of customers
- The 2nd theme 'Creating Value from Knowledge through Entrepreneurship' was led by NRC, Canada. Participants pointed out that RTOs can create value through entrepreneurship in the following aspects:
- Human Resource - Introducing early understanding of S&T and training the people to become entrepreneurs
- Organization Culture - Breaking down bureaucracy
- Funding and Financing - Finding out ventures who can accept high risk from technology investment
- Process-related - Time and service are critical issues
- Communication - Information and good business plans are essential for supporting the innovative process, and
- Linkages, Networking and Capacity Building - Linkages to other R&D organizations to exchange the knowledge
- The 3rd theme 'Strategic Directions for RTOs' was led by NSTDA, Thailand. Each economy faces different situation in setting up RTO strategic direction. However, there was a consensus that the role of each RTO should correspond to its evolving national innovation system. Four key elements in shaping strategic directions of RTOs in the future were outlined as 1) internal capabilities of RTOs, 2) collaborations and partnerships, 3) human resources and, 4) political support.
The foresight session was held on the second day. This session started with an introduction to foresight by Prof Ron Johnston, and a recap of the 3 main themes of the conference. He then presented 10 key drivers which had been partly identified by participants through an email poll, and he discussed some of their implications. The drivers were: the Knowledge Economy, the Evolution of the Internet; Knowledge Management Capabilities; Global and Regional Competition; Demands for Direct Economic Contributions; Active Entrepreneurial Roles; International Collaboration; Skilled Talent Challenges; Access to Infrastructure; and New Organizations Processes and Practices. Two major challenges were then selected on the basis that they are expected to be highly significant and uncertain over the coming five years and that they potentially impact most or all of the APEC RTOs. These critical uncertainties were: the degree of challenges presented by the environment (environmental challenge - high or low), and the degree of public support for science and technology (support - high or low). Combining these 2 uncertainties created possible 4 scenario conditions:
- High environmental challenges / high support
- Low environmental challenges / high support
- High environmental challenges / low support; and
- Low environmental challenges / low support
Participants were then divided into 3 clusters corresponding to 3 main themes (entrepreneurship / knowledge management / collaborations and partnerships) and each cluster consisted of 4 groups of about 10 people. Within each cluster, each small group addressed one scenario condition. The task of the small groups was to elaborate the scenario conditions, attempting to describe what the future would be like in this scenario, focussing especially on how the RTOs might fare in such conditions. Once the scenarios had been characterised and debated by the clusters, the small groups then developed a set of policy and research management implications, pertinent to the prospective future of APEC RTOs. These policy implications were then reported back to the conference with an emphasis on potential policy initiatives that could be robust under all scenarios. Some examples included:
- Recognition of the need for an increase in collaborations and partnerships
- Greater attention to building public support for science and technology, since the negative consequences of low public support for S&T could be so severe
- While the RTOs may be broadening in scope and scale, a reduction in technology breadth may be necessary
In sum, RTOs in the future have to change their roles. Some RTOs could be intermediaries in the innovation process, while some RTOs could be innovative infrastructure and learning networks, or facilitators of the business environment. These new roles require new ways of thinking and working.
Besides a fruitful and interactive conference, this forum was also an excellent opportunity to get to know each other and build up connections among key players responsible for science, technology and innovation in APEC economies. Participants had chances to communicate with others facing similar issues and the Forum therefore offered opportunities for learning, cooperation and information exchange.
Seminar on Innovation Systems in Asian Economies
4-5 September 2003
Patumwan Princess Hotel, Bangkok
Papers can be downloaded from www.nstda.or.th/nstc
Thursday 4th September 2003
Keynote Speech: National Innovation Systems: Theoretical Foundations and Implications for Innovation Policy
Prof Bengt-Åke Lundvall, Aalborg University, Denmark
National Innovation Systems of Developed Asian Economies: Lessons for Others
Prof Hiroyuki Odagiri, NISTEP, Japan
Dr Wan-wen Chu, ISSP, Taiwan
Dr Kong-Rae Lee, STEPI, Korea
Thailand's National Innovation System from East Asian Perspectives
Presenter: Dr Patarapong Intarakumnerd
Project Manager of Thailand's National Innovation System Study
National Innovation Systems of Asian Transitional Economies: Experiences of systems' Reform
Prof Wu Guisheng, Tsinghua University, China
Dr Bach-Tan Sinh, NISPASS, Vietnam
Friday 5th September 2003
Thailand's Innovation Systems: Cluster Analysis
Dr Peter Brimble, the Brooker Group (Hard Disk Drive Cluster)
Dr Pun-arj Chairatana, KMUTT ('Tiger' Motorcycle Cluster)
Dr Kitipong Promwong, NSTDA, (Frozen Food Cluster)
Round Table Discussions on Future Cooperative Research on Asian Innovation Systems: Issues Identification and Methodologies
Discussants: Prof Bengt-Åke Lundvall, Aalborg University
Prof Hiroyuki Odagiri, NISTEP
Prof Wu Guisheng, Tsinghua University, China
Dr Wan-wen Chu, ISSP, Taiwan
Dr Kong-Rae Lee, STEPI, Korea
Dr Bach-Tan Sinh, NISPASS, Vietnam
Dr Yada Mukdapitak, NSTDA, Thailand
Dr Jan Vang, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Moderator: Dr Patarapong Intarakumnerd, NSTDA
Closing Remarks
Dr Chatri Sripaipan, Vice President, NSTDA
Next conference (the first Asia-LICs conference) will be held in Bangkok, April 1-2 2004
Contact for future seminars:
National Science & Technology Development Agency [NSTDA]
NSTDA Research Building, 73/1 Rama VI Rd, Rajdhevee, Bangkok
10400 - THAILAND
Tel: (+66) 26448150 to 94 Ext.706, 713, 716, 743, 768 Fax:
(+66) 2644 8191
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