The Internationalization of Corporate R&D

THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF CORPORATE R&Dnationally competitive areas (e.g. information technology, biotechnology andnanotechnology); to support international research collaboration; and to design programsfor risk-sharing to support long-term and high-risk R&D programs. In addition,policies are promoting connections between the public science and technologybase and industry with programs for the commercialization of research results, university-industrycollaboration, as well as support for industrial research institutes andresearch programs for small- and medium-sized companies.In Sweden, the recent research bill focused on increasing the investments in R&D topromote high scientific quality, and concentrating of research efforts in three areas:medicine, technology and sustainable development. Priority should be given to internationallycompetitive research environments in Sweden. Other parts of the bill includedcollaborative R&D programs to promote the transfer of knowledge from academiato industry, and the strengthening of industrial research institutes (Regeringskansliet2005a). More recently, the Swedish government announced setting a targetof 1 percent of GDP for public R&D funding. In addition, in 2006, a new R&D programtargeting small companies was implemented in Sweden by the Swedish GovernmentalAgency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA).Investments in Talent: Education and Training (A2)A strong national science and technology base is dependent on the availability ofhighly educated researchers and engineers. Examples of government policies includeinvestments in the education system at all levels, promotion of science and engineeringeducation, life-long learning, encouragement of international student and researchermobility, new regulations for attracting qualified immigrants and support for languageand entrepreneurial skills. Some countries are calling for more comprehensive educationsystem reforms as in the case of the U.S.To meet the challenge of offshoring of services and production, the strategy is to increasethe educational level and thus the knowledge intensity of the domestic talentpool – in other words, to move up the value ladder. However, this might be increasinglydifficult since knowledge-intensive work can also be located abroad. At the sametime companies require new advanced skills to deal with an internationalized environment,such as the ability to manage remote teams and projects in multicultural andmultinational settings. These changes require a re-structuring of labor markets withnew combinations of low- and high-skilled workers.Sweden has a strong educational system but is addressing attitudes toward the value ofscience and entrepreneurship. Programs have been implemented to increase youngstudents’ interest in science and engineering careers, along with measures to stimulateentrepreneurship.39