Global Challenges and the European Response the ERA concept and Australia

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European COoperation in Science and Technology
Global Challenges and the European Response the
ERA concept and Australia Dr. Martin Grabert
COST Office, Brussels
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This presentation will touch upon

• Some global trends
• Australia and the European Research Area
• Opportunities for linking and learning

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Global trends
Development population group 20-24 years by
regions
Source United Nations, Department of Economic
and Social Affairs, Population Division World
Population Prospects. The 2006 Revision, Extended
Dataset, New York, 2007 (ST/ESA/SER.A/266).
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Global trends
GERD (Gross Expenditures in RD) global
distribution
Source UNESCO Institute for Statistics
estimations, December 2004.
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Global trends
Researcher distribution
Source UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Estimations, December 2004.
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Global innovation trends
Global scoreboard
Source 2006 Global Innovation Scoreboard (GIS)
Report, Hugo Hollanders and Anthony Arundel
(MERIT Maastricht Economic and social Research
and training centre on Innovation and Technology)
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Global innovation trends
Global scoreboard
1 INNOVATION DRIVERS 1.1 New SE graduates
UNESCO 1.2 Labour force with completed tertiary
education World Bank 1.3 Researchers per million
population World Bank 2 KNOWLEDGE CREATION 2.1
Public RD expenditures 2.2 Business RD
expenditures 2.3 Scientific articles per million
population 3 DIFFUSION 3.1 ICT expenditures 4
APPLICATIONS 4.1 Exports of high-tech
products 4.2 Share of medium-high/high-tech
activities in manufacturing value added 5
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 5.1 EPO patents per million
population 5.2 USPTO patents per million
population 5.3 Triad patents per million
population
Source 2006 Global Innovation Scoreboard (GIS)
Report, Hugo Hollanders and Anthony Arundel
(MERIT Maastricht Economic and social Research
and training centre on Innovation and Technology)
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The European Research Area
Strategy to facilitate the Lisbon Agendas
innovation objectives by creating

• Develop a single labour market for researchers
• Maintain world-class research infrastructures
• Build on excellent research institutions and
  universities
• Foster effective knowledge sharing and private
  sector investments in RD
• Establish well co-ordinated research programmes
  and priorities
• Open ERA to the world

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The European Research Area
Policy rationale for the ERA concept

• Global problems demand global responses (climate
  change, energy security, health )
• Global shifts of centres of creativity
• Increased mobility of researchers following
  opportunities on a global scale

Striving to overcome persistent

• Drawbacks of fragmented national and regional RD
  systems, policies and programs
• Still-ailing business RD investments in some EU
  states

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Australia and the ERA
Multiple opportunities in the mutual interest

• On the basis of the EU-AUS ST agreement
  (building on 1997 joint declaration) and FEAST as
  a catalyst
• EU
• FP7 open for participation (Cooperation, ERC)
• Multilateral networking (COST, ESF, ESFRI)
• Bilateral networking schemes
• AUS
• DIISR international science linkages programme
• ARC linkage programme / Internationally
  Coordinated Initiatives fellowships
• Go8 fellowships

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Australia and the ERA
Benefits

• Linking to one large research areas
• Access to ideas/references in an trans-sectoral
  context
• Joining in agenda setting on the global scale
• Utilising the access to world class
  infrastructures/ gaining support for Australian
  infrastructure projects
• Exchange of best practice helps to avoid
  unnecessary investments
• Lay the foundations for stable policy
  interactions
• Offer advice in unique areas of opportunities

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Australia and the ERA
Risks and prerequisites

• Long term institutional strategy
• Definition of assets and mutual objectives
• Awareness of the respective dynamics of the
  research systems
• Transaction costs
• Time for travel and the necessary personal
  interactions
• Balance of benefits from national/international
  activities

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COST characteristics

• Co-ordination through cooperation in networks
• Pan-European, beyond the EU
• Multi-disciplinary,pre-competitive
  (pre-normative public utility)
• National financing of researchers and projects
  national responsibility

• Bottom-up no fixed programme/priorities
• Flexible participation join in if you are
  interested
• Trans-disciplinary Exploratoria
• Enabling agent focus on early stage
  researchers
• Open to global cooperation

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COST Actions global participation (March 2008)
Canada - 18
Russia - 40
Ukraine - 15
Moldova - 2
Bosnia Herzegovina - 2
Georgia - 2
Japan - 11
USA - 22
Armenia - 1
Algeria - 2
China - 6
Rep of Korea - 2
Egypt - 1
Tunisia - 2
Hong Kong - 1
Cuba - 1
Vietnam - 1
India - 1
Colombia - 1
Malaysia - 1
Brazil - 1
Australia - 23
South Africa - 1
Argentina - 1
New Zealand - 4
165 non-COST country participations in 58 Actions
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COST Actions Australian participation
pilot scheme active
approval pending (May 2008)
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Conclusions
On the political level

• New concepts (in Europe arching beyond the
  concept of the nation state) need to be explored
  to face future global challenges
• Stepwise, iterative approaches are appropriate to
  capitalise on global creativity and are
  cost-effective
• Networking of mobile researchers (trans-sector)
  is key for joint achievements on a global scale
• Knowledge transfer
• Peer review - Infrastructure coordination
• Efficient and sustainable innovation
• Adequate training (universities) schemes are
  essential

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Conclusions
On the institutional level

• Definition of mid-long term strategic scientific
  objectives
• Establishing / joining alliances in pursuing
  these goals
• Networking support for researchers to enable
  objective driven interactions
• High quality training might complement the
  targeted research priorities
• Adequate (joint) training schemes based on
  agreements defining the contents / quantity with
  quantifiable outcome

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Conclusions
On the personal level

• Curiosity, communication skills, cultural
  awareness and high frustration tolerance are key
  factors to success
• Funding opportunities need to be secured by the
  involved institutions
• Developing ones perspectives of the core
  activities
• Openness to identify synergetic opportunities in
  the mutual interest
• leading to new scientific revelations and
  personal satisfaction

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Lets start now!
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Thank you for your attention