Governments around the world are committing high-level policy attention and significant resources to the challenge of knowledge-based competition and growth. Success in this endeavor depends on effectively transforming national investments in research into competitive products for the market.
Too often, national policy reflects a belief in a linear process of innovation, one that assumes that more funds for research will lead automatically to the development and commercialization of new products for the market. Yet real-world innovation processes are normally incremental, with technological breakthroughs often preceding, as well as stemming from, basic research.
Initial capital to encourage cooperation between universities and businesses is key to this transformation. |
