development report 2012 - UMAR

Development Report 2012
Development by the priorities of SDS – Efficient use of knowledge for economic development and high-quality jobs
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breakthrough in this area and that patent acquisition
incurs high costs to companies. The experience of
the lead countries shows that systematic support
must be given to intellectual property protection in
companies and to transfer of new knowledge generated
in universities and research institutions to business
sector. In Slovenia, universities and public research
institutions have only recently started to set up offices
for the transfer of knowledge. The reasons for poor
cooperation between scientific and research sphere and
companies lie with the sides involved as well as with
broader institutional environment 104 ; in this context we
must not overlook the impact of the habilitation criteria,
which favour scientific excellence and have contributed
to a sharp rise in the number of scientific publications
by Slovenian researchers in the recent years. But
insufficient consideration of other criteria for election
to academic title (e.g. cooperation with companies in
the development of new products and services) does
not encourage stronger co-creation and transfer of
knowledge to companies.
Compared to 2010, Slovenia saw a considerable
regression in other aspects of intellectual property
protection in 2011. The number of applications for
Community trade marks submitted to the OHIM 105
dropped by one third; there was also an 8.0% decrease in
the Community designs registrations. Most EU Member
States recorded poorer results in the area of Community
trade marks and designs in 2011 and we believe that this
trend can be partly attributed to the effects of the crisis.
Even though a smaller number of applications for legal
protection of the Community trade marks and designs
from Slovenia were recorded in 2011, the data show that
their average annual growth rate during the 2005–2011
period was among the highest in the EU.
Investments in information and communication
technologies (ICTs) have reached the EU average, but
are much lower than in some new EU Member States.
The broad applicability of ICTs makes investments in this
area vital to business and the public sector, where these
technologies contribute towards innovation, increase
efficiency and enable access to modern services. There
was only a slight nominal increase in the ICT investments
in 2010 over the year before and amounted to 5.3% GDP,
which is the EU average. In the 2006–2010 period, the ICT
investments as a share of GDP 106 in Slovenia increased at
a much quicker pace than in the EU and Slovenia closed
a gap to the EU average, which recorded a stagnating
trend in that time. From 2006 onwards, some new EU
Member States have made annual ICT investments
amounting from 6.5% to 7.0% of GDP (Bulgaria, Estonia,
Hungary). ICTs are also important to individuals because
they enable fast and efficient access to a large number
104
Zajc (2012).
105
Office of Harmonization for the Internal Market.
106
It should be noted in this context that the trend was probably
influenced by a sharper drop in Slovenia's GDP in 2009 compared
to the EU and its slower recovery in 2010.
of private and public services, provided that the
Internet access is affordable and people have adequate
knowledge.
Slovenia has ranked close to the EU average in the use
of the Internet since 2005, but is outrun by as much
as six new EU Member States. In 2011, the proportion
of the population in the 16–74 age group using the
Internet stood at 67% and stagnated over the previous
year. For several years a substantial lag behind the EU
was observed in the low-skilled and old population (55–
74 years of age) groups; the situation even worsened
in 2011. In the first-mentioned group the use of the
Internet decreased as much as 9 p.p.; this trend is partly
a reflection of the crisis. The below-average use of the
Internet by the old population group results from the
lack of appropriate measures to familiarise this group
with the use of the Internet. The success of the Simbioza
Project, 107 which was carried out in 2011, demonstrates
that this area offers many opportunities for social
innovation and partnership between various actors,
and for promoting Internet use with broader beneficial
impacts. The proportion of households with Internet
access increased in 2011 and reached 72%, which is the
EU average; household Internet access and its use have
some similar characteristics. A substantial lag behind the
EU is only observed in the households in the first two
income quartiles. Again, this shows a strong influence of
the education/training level and income bracket on the
access and use of the Internet in Slovenia. If no measures
are taken, this gap can get wider in the future and some
population segments might be excluded from the use
of modern technologies, which would have a negative
impact on the economic and social development. In
addition to increasing the Internet affordability and
providing training to the most vulnerable groups, a
provision of useful and various user-adapted e-services
should be strengthened. As regards the Internet
affordability, it is essential to ensure competition and its
effective supervision. Slovenia has many shortcomings
in this area; within the individual Networked Readiness
Index 108 categories, it scored lowest for the efficiency
of legal institutions (ranked 66 th ) and the efficiency of
the legal system in settling disputes (ranked 80 th ) and
highest for infrastructure (ranked 26 th ) and the use
107
Simbioz@ e-pismena Slovenija was the first Slovenian
voluntary project to link the younger and older generations
with a view to raising the computer literacy of older people
through intergenerational cooperation. From 17 to 21 October
2011, young volunteers taught computer skills to older people.
The training was carried out by 2,413 young volunteers and
was attended by 5,721 participants at 230 locations in 125
municipalities. The project's initiator and one of the organisers,
Zavod Ypsilon, mobilised volunteers throughout Slovenia and
attracted sponsors, partners and donors from the business
and public sector, and non-profit organisations. If supported
in some way by public funds, a similar model could be used to
address issues in other areas.
108
The index is composed of 71 indicators and measures a
country's capability to utilise modern technologies in order to
enhance competitiveness and the welfare of its citizens.