Talks & Presenters
"Getting triple helix systems to work in emerging markets"
The talk will cover the following themes, using South Africa as an example of an emerging market struggling (from our perspective) to create a coherent national system of innovation:
- Overview of the THS and OI activities RIIS is undertaking;
- Organic vs synthetic development of triple helix interactions;
- Resource allocation by TH actors in emerging markets (as seen in Southern Africa), and impact on innovation activities
- Constraints on effective interactions, and impact on collaborative innovation efforts;
- Potential solutions to dealing with each of constraint
Davis COOK is the CEO of the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability.He is an entrepreneur and a leader, passionate about using collaboration to solve the diverse challenges of business and society. Under his leadership, RIIS has provided strategic support to a wide range of organisations to achieve innovation excellence.
Davis also currently fulfils a number of leadership roles in various innovation and entrepreneurial ventures. He sits on the Management Committee of the SA Innnovation Network, is a Non-Executive Director for the SA Innovation Summit Foundation, and a founding partner of an SA-based VC fund. He was the lead author for the Gauteng Innovation Strategy, a multi-helix focused strategic policy for the Gauteng Provincial Government, and has contributed in various ways to a variety of ‘innovation for economic development’ programmes in SA and globally. His academic background includes physics, applied math, politics, economics and development studies.
“Triple Helix Collaboration in making? – Case studies from Southern Africa”
Innovation is widely seen as the driver and catalysts of economic growth and well-being in modern societies. Innovation ecosystem describes the diverse array of participants and resources that are interrelated, contribute to and are necessary for innovation advancement towards and in a knowledge-based economy. This ecosystem encompasses companies, entrepreneurs, investors/financiers, researchers, universities/higher education units and the public sector in different forms and levels. In many cases the University-Industry-Government collaboration mechanism triangle forms an anchor and a key approach to the functioning of these ecosystems.
It can be argued that in the Southern Africa to a large extent the national and regional innovation ecosystems are still largely emerging and to some extent in infant phase. For the region and countries to move towards innovation and knowledge-driven economies these innovation ecosystems needs to be built up and operations remarkably enhanced.
The presentation strives for rsponding to the folllowing questions:
- How does the University-Industry-Government (Triple helix) collaboration portray in Southern Africa?
- What are the key challenges and opportunities related to the Triple helix interactions and collaboration in an emerging innovation ecosystem?
- What policy, funding and implementation instruments should be developed and used to strengthen University-Industry-Government collaboration in emerging innovation ecosystems?
The material has been compiled around a regional innovation development programme, The Southern Africa Innovation Support programme (SAIS, www.saisprogramme.com), aiming at supporting national and regional innovation systems in the SADC region by bringing together the elements of the systems of innovation in each participating pilot country Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia. The duration of the programme phase I has been April 2011 up to December 2015. The total budget mainly financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland is about 8 MEUR.
Dr Juha MIETTINEN is an experienced international innovation policy and instrument professional with some 20 years of experience in innovation systems development and innovation support, technology transfer, business development and methods in public-private – triple helix – collaboration regionally, nationally and internationally. Juha has resided in Africa (Namibia) for some last five years working as the Chief Technical Advisor and Team Leader being in charge of an extensive regional innovation funding programme; Southern Africa Innovation Support Programme, SAIS, aspired for strengthening innovation ecosystems in several Southern African countries (saisprogramme.com). Juha holds a M.Sc. (International Economics) degree from the University of Tampere and B.Sc. (Economics) from the University of Oregon, US. He is busy with his PhD around Triple-Helix Collaboration in emerging economies
Moderator: Prof. Panayiotis H. KETIKIDIS, Chairman South East European Research Centre & President of the THA Chapter of Greece
REGISTRATION FEE: 50€ which includes the access to the webinar and the annual THA regular individual membership.