National intellectual property (IP) systems can play a pivotal role in fostering innovation and knowledge diffusion. This report analyses Kazakhstan’s IP system with regards to its support of the country’s innovation performance. In particular, it assesses the organisation and governance of Kazakhstan's IP system as well as the needs and challenges faced by different groups of actual and potential IP users – ranging from universities and public research institutions to state-owned enterprises and small businesses. The review provides a comprehensive set of statistics describing the use of IP in Kazakhstan in recent years, identifies the system’s strengths and weaknesses, and presents a range of specific policy recommendations to address existing challenges.
In order to attain its objective of becoming a high-income economy by 2020, Malaysia is engaged in efforts to enhance the performance of its innovation system. A range of challenges need to be addressed and different policy tools can help in this respect. For this purpose the national intellectual property (IP) system can play a pivotal role. This review assesses how Malaysian's national IP system promotes innovation and offers recommendations to improve the design of the system. It does so by analysing the organisation and governance of Malaysia's IP system as well as opportunities and challenges for different local users - ranging from small businesses to frontier companies and public research institutions. Moreover, the review discusses the state of IP markets in Malaysia and related policies and provides a comprehensive set of statistics describing the use of IP in Malaysia in recent years.
Over the past two decades, most Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries have experienced robust economic growth and been able to make significant reductions in poverty and income inequality. However, growth in the region was not strong enough to ensure convergence towards levels of per capita income observed in advanced OECD economies. An important part of this underperformance can be explained by weak productivity growth. Should this weakness persist, it will be very difficult for LAC countries to achieve better lives for the majority of families. The present publication portrays the situation of LAC countries and discusses best-practice policies. Participation in global value chains is encouraged to enable knowledge spillovers and a process of learning by doing. More regional trade integration would help this process, as Latin America ranks very low and remains a sizeable outlier. The diffusion of knowledge and technology would be facilitated by making it easier to do business, notably allowing new entrants that are facing high barriers to operate and grow. Improved access to education is important to meet the demand for skills, and to boost innovation and research and development, which is particularly true in a context of fast technological change.
Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts, the Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU), is seeking to go beyond its traditional oversight role and help improve policy formulation, implementation and evaluation. This report identifies ways TCU can achieve this by applying principles of good governance to areas such policy coherence, strategic and long-term budgeting, internal control and risk management, and monitoring and evaluation. It suggests concrete steps TCU can take to adapt its own strategies, approaches and audit programming to provide valuable insight and foresight to policy makers in the centre of government. In this way, it can help ensure that policies and programmes are forward looking and based on evidence.
Reliable and high-quality connectivity is fundamental for the digital transformation. Furthermore, the COVID-19 health emergency has shown that access to high-quality broadband services at affordable prices, across different territories is essential to ensure that economic and social activities can continue in an increasingly remote manner. However, important disparities in terms of connectivity persist in G20 countries and especially within countries between different types of regions. Overcoming the territorial divide is essential to ensure that no region and its inhabitants are left behind, regardless of where they live. This report offers a roadmap to policy makers to reduce the digital divides experienced by people living in different places within countries. While this is a key policy goal, the reduction of regional disparities needs to be accompanied with sufficiently high levels of broadband speeds across regions for people to be able to fully benefit from the economic opportunities and services brought about by digitalization.
Despite substantial achievements in the recent past, the innovation climate in Russia is in need of major improvements. Comprehensive institutional and policy reforms are required, including in areas outside the remit of policy makers in technology and innovation. In this context, the Helsinki Seminar on "Innovation Policy and the Valorisation of Science and Technology in Russia" gathered government officials, scientists and businessmen from Russia and several OECD Member and observer countries -- Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Italy, Korea, the United States and Israel -- as well as from countries of the Newly Independent States (NIS). Participants examined the climate for innovation in Russia and discussed the lessons that can be drawn from the institutional reforms and recent policy initiatives in OECD countries to enhance the contribution of science and technology to innovation and growth.
Broadband connects consumers, businesses and governments and are now therefore a vital instrument in ensuring the competitiveness of OECD countries. This report examines broadband developments and policies, and highlights challenges such as connecting users to fibre-based networks or coverage of rural areas. It also outlines emerging issues that may need policy attention as we move to next-generation networks. The findings are also relevant to emerging and developing economies designing broadband strategies.
This joint initiative by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the OECD seeks to encourage the expansion of broadband networks and services in the region, supporting a coherent and cross-sectorial approach, to maximise their benefits for economic and social development. Drawing on a wealth of experience from LAC and OECD countries, the Toolkit outlines the main policy objectives in this area and provides guidance for their measurement, an overview of developments in the region, and a compilation of good practices in several areas related to broadband policy making.
This comprehensive volume encompasses a wealth of areas including digital strategies, regulatory frameworks, spectrum management, competition and infrastructure bottlenecks, broadband access, affordability, sector taxation, inclusion, convergence, regional integration, education, skills, business uptake, entrepreneurship, local content, e-health, digital government, consumer policy, and digital security and privacy.
In an increasingly digital world, the significance of cyber security for individuals, businesses, and governments has never been greater. Rising cyber attacks are challenging current defence and operational capabilities, highlighting a critical shortage of skilled cyber security professionals. This report delves into the demand for cyber security expertise by analysing online job postings in France, Germany and Poland in between 2018 and 2023. It examines trends in the demand for cyber security professionals, the geographical distribution of job opportunities, and the changing skill requirements in this field. Focusing on France, the report also explores cyber security education and training programmes, the characteristics of the programmes, the demographics of enrolled learners, and their outcomes. Additionally, it reviews French policies and initiatives aimed at broadening the cyber security workforce and enhancing educational opportunities in this field. This comprehensive analysis is part of a larger effort to understand the evolving landscape of cyber security policies and professional experiences worldwide.
As societies become increasingly digital, cyber security has become a priority for individuals, companies and nations. The number of cyber attacks is exceeding defence capabilities, and one reason for this is the lack of an adequately skilled cyber security workforce. This report analyses the demand for cyber security professionals in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States using information contained in online job postings. The analysis looks at recent trends in the demand for workers in different types of cyber security roles, the geographical distribution of cyber security job postings, and the changing skill requirements for professionals in this field. The report also looks at the supply side, zooming in on the landscape of cyber security education and training programmes in England (United Kingdom). It describes the different types of programmes provided in further and higher education, the profile of learners in these programmes and their outcomes. Finally, the report also looks at policies and initiatives adopted in England to make cyber security education and training programmes more accessible and relevant. This report is part of a larger initiative examining the evolution of policies and experiences in the cyber security profession around the world.
As societies become increasingly digital, the importance of cyber security has grown significantly for individuals, companies, and nations. The rising number of cyber attacks surpasses the existing defense capabilities, partly due to a shortage of skilled cyber security professionals. This report delves into the analysis of the demand for cyber security experts in Latin America, using information from online job postings in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. The analysis investigates recent trends in job demand for various cyber security roles, the geographical distribution of cyber security job postings, and the evolving skill requirements in this field. Additionally, the report focuses on the supply side by examining the landscape of cyber security education and training programmes in Colombia. It explores the different types of programmes offered in vocational and higher education, the characteristics of learners enrolled in these programmes, and their outcomes. Lastly, the report examines policies and initiatives implemented in Colombia to enhance the accessibility and relevance of cyber security education and training programmes. This report is part of a broader initiative that examines the evolution of policies and experiences in the cyber security profession around the world.
Education systems can build on school-led micro-innovations during the pandemic to develop more equitable learning. Empowering teachers to be autonomous, actively engaged in designing learning environments, and knowledgeable and dynamic in using multi-modal technology can encourage more peer-to-peer collaboration in schools and enrich pedagogy. This will be crucial in addressing the learning needs of disadvantaged students and boosting science proficiency with the goal of societal equity.
This study is concerned with trends in and key features of policies and programmes used by governments to support innovation in the business sector. In addition to identifying good practices across a range of programme types, it compares business innovation policies across several countries, with a particular focus on Canada.
The bioeconomy brings opportunities for economic growth while tackling climate change. Fossil carbon resources can be replaced by bio-based carbon resources, especially biomass. To allow these solutions to be scaled up without threats to biodiversity and the environment, it is necessary to develop the bioeconomy as a circular economy. With this carbon management approach, other sources of carbon complement biomass: industrial waste, including gases such as CO and CO2, as well as physically and chemically recycled carbon. In the future, direct air capture (DAC) may become competitive and form part of the solution. These approaches can be considered ‘circular’ because they close material loops and keep carbon recycling in the economy rather than emitting carbon to the atmosphere. This report reviews a number of hybrid technologies that can be deployed to ‘defossilise’ economic sectors and sets out policy options to bring these technologies to commercial scale.
This book discusses the often diverging risks and opportunities associated with genetically engineered organisms in terms of the environment, food safety, and economics and trade. These issues were raised at the OECD Workshop on Challenges and Risks of GMOs - What Risk Analysis is Appropriate? Options for Future Policy Making Towards Integrated Agro-Food Systems, held in Maastricht, Netherlands, in July 2003. Discussions also covered the relevant WTO Agreements and their relationship with other multilateral accords as well as regional and national approaches.
The semiconductor value chain is essential for modern economies but is prone to disruptions that pose considerable risks. Policy makers need robust data to help address a wide array of issues such as identifying bottlenecks, monitoring the balance between supply and demand of specific semiconductor types, as well as managing disruptions in the value chain. This paper establishes a common taxonomy for semiconductor types and production facilities to enable harmonised data collection and sharing. The taxonomy divides semiconductor products into four broad categories: “logic”, “memory”, “analog” and “others”, with further sub-categories based on their prevalence and specific functions. Semiconductor production facilities are classified according to the technology they use, the types of semiconductors they can produce, their production capacity, and other key characteristics. This taxonomy will be the basis for a semiconductor production database – it will be revised in the future to keep pace with technological advancements.
This publication explores the success of major innovation and entrepreneurship clusters in OECD countries, the challenges they now face in sustaining their positions and the lessons for other places seeking to build successful clusters. What are the key factors for cluster success? What problems are emerging on the horizon? Which is the appropriate role of the public sector in supporting the expansion of clusters and overcoming the obstacles?
The book addresses these and other issues, analysing seven internationally reputed clusters in depth: Grenoble in France, Vienna in Austria, Waterloo in Canada, Dunedin in New Zealand, Medicon Valley in Scandinavia, Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom, and Madison, Wisconsin, in the United States. For each cluster, it looks at the factors that have contributed to its growth, the impact of the cluster on local entrepreneurship performance, and the challenges faced for further expansion. It also puts forward a set of policy recommendations geared to the broader context of cluster development.
This publication is essential reading for policy makers, practitioners and academics wishing to obtain good practices in cluster development and guidance on how to enhance the economic impact of clusters.
In developing countries, 6 out of 10 people die from infectious diseases. Nearly 1 billion humans suffer from a neglected infectious disease, according to the World Health Organisation. Yet less than 1% of the new drugs placed on the market from 1975 to the turn of the century were developed for these diseases. This book looks at ways of improving the availability of medicines for infectious diseases through strengthened coherence in health, trade, science and technology, development co-operation and finance.
Public research is the source of many of today’s technologies from the GPS and MRI to MP3 technology. Public research institutions (PRIs) and universities are also an engine of entrepreneurial ventures from biotech start-ups to Internet giants like Google. Today, globalisation, open innovation and new forms of venture financing such as crowd funding are changing the way institutions promote the transfer and commercialisation of public researcher results.
This report describes recent trends in government and university level policies to enhance the transfer and exploitation of public research and benchmarks the patenting and licensing activities of PRIs and universities in a number of OECD countries and regions, including the EU, Australia, Canada, and the US.
Finally, it also showcases, based on case studies of leading institutions in Finland (Aalto Center for Entrepreneurship), Germany (Fraunhofer Institute), the Czech Republic (Technology Transfer Office of the Czech Technical University), Japan (open innovation in firms), United States (National Institutes of Health) a number of good practices for increasing the number of university invention disclosures, accelerate licensing contracts and promote more open innovation practices between universities and firms.
The OECD Recommendation on Children in the Digital Environment provides guidance for governments and other stakeholders on putting in place policies and procedures to empower and protect children in the digital environment. The Recommendation was developed in recognition that the digital environment is a fundamental part of children’s daily lives, and that strong policy frameworks are needed to both protect children from any potential harm, and to help them realise the opportunities that it can bring.
This companion document aims to assist governments and other stakeholders in implementing the Recommendation. It expands upon the context in which the Recommendation was developed, and considers in detail specific aspects of the Recommendation, in particular different stakeholders and their roles (e.g. parents, governments, digital service providers) as well as key underlying concepts such as children’s privacy, digital literacy and child safety by design.