Draft Report of the Expert Group on International STI Cooperation to ...

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The Emergenc(y)e <strong>of</strong> Global Challenges in international STI Cooperation With increasing material welfare, rising levels <strong>of</strong> consumption, based on accelerating globalising exchange relations, also global challenges multiply and gain importance ra<strong>the</strong>r than being solved in <strong>the</strong> short-term. Examples for global challenges are manifold, such as security and sustainability <strong>of</strong> energy and food supply, <strong>the</strong> threat <strong>of</strong> (re-)emerging infections diseases, climate change and <strong>the</strong> loss <strong>of</strong> biodiversity, chaotic mass migration phenomena, or <strong>the</strong> complexity <strong>of</strong> global financial systems moving out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> control <strong>of</strong> democratic legitimisation and regulation. What makes many global challenges even more difficult to trace is that <strong>the</strong>y are interlinked across regions and disciplines. In addition, effects <strong>of</strong> global challenges are unequally distributed and are sometimes impacting those later who bear <strong>the</strong> larger part <strong>of</strong> responsibility for <strong>the</strong>ir generation or acceleration. Science, technology and innovation (STI) can play a central role in understanding <strong>the</strong> interaction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> relevant environmental, technological and social factors <strong>of</strong> global challenges, in assessing risks and <strong>the</strong> possible unintended negative consequences <strong>of</strong> strategies, and – <strong>of</strong> course – in developing solutions (Stamm, Figueroa and Scordato 2012). The organisation <strong>of</strong> STI today, which is pre-dominantly embedded in national and sometimes local frameworks, rationales and policies, has to be scaled up in its international dimension and broadened in scope. The international cooperation strategy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> EU should include policies, actions and instruments to help STI create impacts on global challenges at an international scale. Global challenges do not stop at national borders but affect a wide range <strong>of</strong> actors, calling for increased cross-border and international cooperation to address <strong>the</strong>m and for building STI capacity at both national and international levels. Usually single governments cannot ensure effective solutions and policy makers have clear legitimisation disincentives to spend available R&D funding on multilateral undertakings. To lower individual risks for national decision makers and programme implementers internationally co-ordinated action and collaboration are required based on a clear political will (OECD 2012). Strong European engagement in <strong>the</strong> international STI arena will not only benefit <strong>the</strong> protection <strong>of</strong> public goods which naturally also benefit European citizens (e.g. <strong>the</strong> problem <strong>of</strong> over-fishing), but also <strong>the</strong> European economy through <strong>the</strong> boosting <strong>of</strong> environmentally friendly technologies, products, processes and services on world markets and green job development. However, “frugal innovation” that provide innovative goods and services at low cost to address global challenges that affect <strong>the</strong> poor (OECD 2011) can also be voiced. If adequate answers to global challenges are to be found, scientific input is also required from countries with limited availability <strong>of</strong> research infrastructures, human resources and financial means to support STI throughout <strong>the</strong> innovation cycle from agenda setting to <strong>the</strong> deployment <strong>of</strong> new solutions (Stamm, Figueroa and Scordato 2012). Thus, international STI cooperation also has to consider research for development (by applying recognised standards <strong>of</strong> excellence and relevance) and STI capacity building in developing countries. While hands-on S&T capacity building should be increasingly considered in, and financed through, European 28
and Member States <strong>of</strong>ficial development assistance programmes (to create necessary absorption capacities), strategic agenda setting and STI policy support (especially oriented towards global challenges and frugal innovation), as well as excellence based research for development should become an integral part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> EU’s international STI policy and embedded in international oriented Horizon2020 activities. It must be made clear that <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> STI for addressing global challenges cannot be reduced to a simple “technology fix”. Any strategy for using STI to address global challenges must also address potential unintended negative effects, since many <strong>of</strong> today’s global challenges are partly effects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> new technologies and innovations. This calls for an integration <strong>of</strong> ecological and social sciences and technology assessment approaches in technology development projects and for an enlightened STI policy dialogue with international partners. Prioritizing with instruments Policy levels and instruments As shown in Fig. 1 basically three aggregate levels <strong>of</strong> intervention to support STI internationalisation can be differentiated. The most basic level concerns a comprehensive framework to forward techno-globalisation and international STI cooperation in general. It is rooted in international alignments and agreements as well as regulatory measures aiming to create comparable and fair conditions for international exchanges and transactions in <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> science, technology and innovation. Examples are frameworks for technological standards, common IPR and <strong>the</strong>ir enforcement, anti-plagiarism regulations, reciprocal access conditions (e.g. for public procurement) etc. If once settled, <strong>the</strong>se measures contribute to a reduction <strong>of</strong> transaction costs (e.g. search costs, legal costs, communication costs, adaptation costs etc.). The addressed policy levels are manifold including competition policy, labour market policy, and economic policy. They go beyond <strong>the</strong> sphere <strong>of</strong> narrow R&D policy and can be subsumed under science diplomacy in <strong>the</strong> broad sense. Today’s science diplomacy, however, is in many regards not ready to oversee <strong>the</strong> complexity and shape inclusive frameworks for international STI cooperation. A close cooperation with and across o<strong>the</strong>r policy fields is required. The second level to foster international STI cooperation emphasises general opening measures. These include <strong>the</strong> participation and possibly funding <strong>of</strong> foreign researchers (and/or research organisations and/or companies) in national programmes, <strong>the</strong> portability <strong>of</strong> grants across borders (in- and outward), facilitation <strong>of</strong> mobility <strong>of</strong> researchers and students and especially also <strong>the</strong> opening <strong>of</strong> labour markets for foreign researchers. The latter also has to take into account adequate models concerning <strong>the</strong> attribution <strong>of</strong> social security payments and guarantees (e.g. contribution to pension system). Evidently, different policy areas are addressed on this level too. The overall aim <strong>of</strong> this aggregate level is to facilitate and mainstream quasi-automatic bottom-up cooperation <strong>of</strong> researchers across borders. 29
Page 1 and 2: International Cooperation in Scienc
Page 3 and 4: EUROPEAN COMMISSION International C
Page 5 and 6: Table of contents
Page 7 and 8: Composition of <st
Page 9 and 10: List of abbreviati
Page 11 and 12: Executive summary Changes in <stron
Page 13 and 14: Research and innovation infrastruct
Page 15 and 16: allow strategic partnerships with a
Page 17 and 18: 5. Variable geometry should be expl
Page 19 and 20: ERA was discussed as part o
Page 21 and 22: • Enable EU and MS to tackle glob
Page 23 and 24: innovation policy needs to anticipa
Page 25 and 26: • Developing economies with stron
Page 27 and 28: • The general opening principle a
Page 29: third countries, while the<
Page 33 and 34: intrinsic objectives of</st
Page 35 and 36: Fig. 2: Measures and instruments fo
Page 37 and 38: and lead to a significantly more at
Page 39 and 40: Fig. 4 Long and medium term priorit
Page 41 and 42: in nature, and in general occur bet
Page 43 and 44: egulations and values that make up
Page 45 and 46: Towards a strategic approach A stra
Page 47 and 48: Exploit variable geometry Objective
Page 49 and 50: third countries, typically with <st
Page 51 and 52: c) with a strong jointly accessible
Page 53 and 54: e) funded by the E
Page 55 and 56: The need for an evidence- and analy
Page 57 and 58: 1) Understanding the</stron
Page 59 and 60: Scientific collaboration: (priority
Page 61 and 62: • International acquisition <stro
Page 63 and 64: • a collaboration of</str
Page 65 and 66: • Information on national priorit
Page 67 and 68: Conclusions and key policy recommen
Page 69 and 70: educational level of</stron
Page 71 and 72: Kaiser L., Ganea P., Gibson J., and
Page 73 and 74: Annex 1: Mandate of</strong
Page 75 and 76: Consideration should include: - def
Page 77 and 78: Annex 2: Dimensions of</str
Page 79 and 80: Annex 3: Trends, Drivers and Impact
Page 81 and 82:
however, is not so far justified by
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companies from different countries
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competitors are located in
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This engineering pattern is, howeve
Page 89 and 90:
Researcher mobility schemes operati
Page 91:
SME are usually constricted due to
Page 95 and 96:
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