Third International Seville Conference on Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA): Impacts and implications for policy and decision-making

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Third International Seville Conference
onFuture-Oriented Technology Analysis
(FTA)Impacts and implications for policy and
decision-making
16th- 17th October 2008
Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology exploring the most effective
model to integrate public and private research
systems
Colombo M., Pirelli L., Piva E.
Politecnico di Milano
Contact lorenzo.pirelli_at_polimi.it
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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Outline

• The concept of the European Institute of
  Innovation and Technology

• Research questions

• Research design, data, analyses
• - identification of the key dimensions and
  trade-offs to be taken intoaccount in shaping
  the EIT

• Findings and discussion
• - focus on the most critical and controversial
  dimensions

• Conclusions and further developments

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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Research objectives

• Investigate how organizations aimed at
  integrating public and private research systems
  should be shaped

• Identify which are the most critical elements in
  designing such organizations considering the
  points of view of the different stakeholders

Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology (EIT) as a way to explore which is
the most effective model to integrate education,
research and innovation
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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
The EIT concept

• Knowledge is a form of joint production, with
  strong complementarities between public and
  private research

• The EIT will be at the same time a university, a
  research centre and an industrial lab,
  performing
• - Master and doctoral education, courses in
  entrepreneurship- Cutting-edge research based on
  public-private partnerships- Dissemination and
  industrial exploitation of research results

• The envisaged impact of the EIT consists of
• - Graduates and PhDs with both an academic and
  entrepreneurial mindset
• - Publications, patents, technological
  innovations, spin-off companies
• - Improved performance of the European higher
  education and research institutions and of their
  collaboration with industrial partners

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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
The EIT mission and vision

• Mission strengthening the integration between
  education, research and industrial innovation,
  becoming a reference model for managing
  innovation across Europe

• Vision pooling the best minds and ideas
  reaching critical mass and coordinating their
  efforts towards the commercialization of the
  research outcomes

Innovation
Research
Education
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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
The EIT architecture

• Combining top-down and bottom-up approaches

Source Adapted from the presentation made by the
European Commission at the European Economic and
Social Committee on 18 December 2006
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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Research questions

• How do the potential participants in the EIT
  would like it to be organized?
• - What should be the role of companies in
  education and research?
• - Which model of governance and financing is
  most appropriate?
• - What should be the geographical layout of the
  EIT?

• Which are the most critical and controversial
  dimensions to be taken into account while shaping
  the EIT?

• What are the implications of the different
  possible configurations of the EIT?

• Why do different participants have different
  views on the model for the EIT?

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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Research design

• Literature review on university-industry
  collaboration and interviews with the EIT policy
  makers to identify the key dimensions and policy
  options in shaping the EIT

• Survey to investigate the preferences of the
  potential participants towards the EIT possible
  configurations

• Exploratory analysis of the most critical and
  controversial dimensions

• Ordered Probit econometric model to investigate
  which respondents attributes may explain the
  different levels of criticality and
  controversiality

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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Key dimensions

• Participants in the EIT
• Criteria for partners selection
• Role of companies
• Target of the training activities
• Type of research
• Level of inter-disciplinarity
• Degree of specialization of the KICs
• Model of Governance
• Financing model
• Resources ownership
• Geographical layout

Who should take part in the EIT?
How should activities be performed?
What should the structure of the EIT be?
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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
The respondents sample

• 312 Italian researchers took part in the survey

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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Key dimensions criticality vs controversiality
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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Respondents attributes explaining
controversiality

• Ordered Probit econometric model to investigate
  which respondents attributes may explain the
  different levels of controversiality

• Age
• Years of work experience inuniversities /
  research centres / companies
• Experience in managerial positions
• Experience in coordinating a EU project
• Level of basic/applied research
• Field of research
• EngIT / Life Sciences / Basic Sc. / Geo Sc. /
  Other Sc.

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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Role of companies
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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Partners selection criteria
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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Participants in the EIT
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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Level of inter-disciplinarity
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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Main general findings

• Potential participants in the EIT strongly
  converge on
• - focusing on use-inspired basic research
• - activities should be financed by the central
  Governing Board rather than directly by partners

• While participants tend to agree on the
  importance of
• - multi-/inter- disciplinarity in performing
  activities
• - involving single researchers or units and not
  entire organizations to avoid bureaucratization

• But participants strongly disagree on
• - the role of companies (funding/strategic/operat
  ive)
• - the criteria for partners selection

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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Main findings related to the respondents
attributes

• Applied researchers would focus on dissemination
  of the research results and flexibility involving
  single, but not necessarily excellent,
  participants

• While basic researchers and senior academics are
  skeptical towards the business interference in
  education and research, a broad involvement of
  partners and multi- disciplinary approach

• Respondents with experience in managing/coordinati
  ng projects would focus on pooling excellent
  researchers ensuring cross-fertilization and
  avoiding bureaucracy

• Young researchers have similar views with
  respondents performing applied research and
  having business experience

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Designing the European Institute of Innovation
and Technology
Conclusions and further developments

• Achievements
• - first exploratory research supporting the
  political debate around the EIT organizational
  model
• - identification of the most critical and
  controversial dimensions to be considered in
  designing the EIT (and similar boundary-spanning
  institutions)
• - analysis of the researchers attributes
  explaining the different views on the possible
  EIT configurations

• Further developments
• - geographical extension of the survey at a
  European level, including researchers working for
  the private sector
• - other analyses (case studies on the EIT pilot
  projects)
• - using other attributes to explain
  controversiality (e.g. differences across sectors
  in terms of tacitness of knowledge, need for
  critical mass or need for large infrastructures)

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Third International Seville Conference
onFuture-Oriented Technology Analysis
(FTA)Impacts and implications for policy and
decision-making
16th- 17th October 2008
Thank you for your attention
Contact lorenzo.pirelli_at_polimi.it