This book examines the contributions that space technologies can make in tackling some of the serious problems posed by climate change. Focusing on examples of water management, marine resources and maritime transport, it sets out the rationale for further developing satellite systems to measure and monitor climate change and help mitigate its consequences. The report underlines the need to consider satellites not just as research and development systems, but as an important component of a critical communication- and information-based infrastructure for modern societies. The tool box for decision makers that concludes the book reviews different methodological options for deciding on investments in space-based earth observation.
This book explores the contribution space systems might make in dealing with looming societal challenges related to threats to the physical environment and the management of natural resources, growing mobility and its consequences, increasing security concerns, and the shift to the information society. It discusses the challenges for developing space applications. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks that currently govern space activities in the OECD area and beyond. Finally, it formulates an overall policy framework that OECD governments might use in drafting policies designed to ensure that the potential that space has to offer is actually realised.
Over the years, advances in space technologies have led to the development of increasingly sophisticated military and civil space assets.
Where is the space sector heading now? What are the obstacles to its further development? What are its future prospects? What are the applications that are likely to be successful in the future?
To answer these questions, this report adopted a scenario-based approach to explore the future evolution of major components of the space sector (military space, civil space, commercial space) over the next thirty years. It covers four major factors of change: geopolitical developments, socio-economic developments, energy and the environment, technology.
"Outstanding review, especially useful for the three sophisticated scenarios, useful to many futurists."
Future Survey, August 2004.
This book provides high-level experts’ visions of how the information and communication technologies are providing exciting new research opportunities in the social sciences. It looks at the related infrastructure requirements, particularly at the international level, and highlights some of the barriers to the pervasive use of infrastructure.
The book tackles complex questions such as developing infrastructure investments, disseminating best policy practices, developing new surveys - including a global social survey - and sharing research and information resources. It contributes to a better understanding of how policy reform could enhance the impact of the social sciences on efforts to solve global societal problems.
Social science research should lead to a better understanding of current societal developments and enable policy makers to propose solutions to problems and design policies that can serve the public more effectively. Governments are increasingly aware of the need and opportunities to improve the contribution of social science knowledge to policy making and are keen to realise this potential. Can the social sciences act as an agent of societal change? How can they contribute to social practice? How can their policy relevance be increased? Can best practice in other research fields and economic sectors be a source of inspiration on new approaches to sharing knowledge? And how can the divide between the two communities - social scientists and decision makers - be narrowed? These are some of the enduring questions tackled by academics and policy makers at the Workshop on the Contribution of Social Sciences to Knowledge and Decision Making, Bruges, 26-28 June 2000.
What is the contribution of the social sciences to improving our understanding of social and technological innovation processes? How can they help to overcome some of the barriers to technological and social innovation and improve the management of innovation by limiting the negative side-effects of new technologies and social change? And how can social and technological innovations contribute to the better functioning of social science?
These were some of the questions tackled at the Tokyo Workshop on Social Sciences and Innovation which brought together high-level experts and policy makers from the OECD countries as well as from Asia, Africa and South America to discuss the role of the social sciences in fostering innovation.
This report presents the most recent trends in the labour market demand for digital professionals and skills, highlighting where bottlenecks are emerging and policy action is – and will be – needed to support individuals who aim to thrive in the digital transition. The report analyses a wide range of digital occupations and the associated skill and technology demands using a unique set of data collected from millions of job postings published online in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore and Spain. The evidence contained in this report is key for governments to design targeted retraining and upskilling policies, and for workers to fully benefit from the digital transition.
Innovation holds the key to ongoing improvements in living standards, as well as to solving pressing social challenges. Skilled people play a crucial role in innovation through the new knowledge they generate, how they adopt and develop existing ideas, and through their ability to learn new competencies and adapt to a changing environment.
This book seeks to increase understanding of the links between skills and innovation. It explores the wide range of skills required, ranging from technical to "soft", and the ability to learn; it presents data and evidence on countries' stocks and flows of skills and the links between skill inputs and innovation outputs. Given the importance of meeting the demands of knowledge-based economic activity, the book investigates the issues of skill supply, education, workplace training and work organisation. It highlights the importance of enabling individuals to acquire appropriate skills and of optimising these at work.
This report discusses policies and approaches to spur sustainable and inclusive digital transformation in the LAC region across seven action areas: enhancing access to digital technologies; strengthening their effective use; enabling digital innovation; ensuring quality jobs for all; promoting an inclusive digital society; strengthening trust; and fostering market openness. The report also aims to contribute to the preparation of an action plan that will support the region’s efforts to reap the benefits of the digital transformation.
This publication was prepared to support the discussions of the OECD Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Programme’s Third Ministerial Summit on Productivity “Harnessing the Digital Transformation to Boost Productivity in in Latin America and the Caribbean”. It draws on OECD work on carried out in the context of the Going Digital project, as well as a range of work specific to the LAC region, such as the OECD-IDB report Broadband Policies for Latin America and the Caribbean, the OECD Reviews of Telecommunication Policies in Mexico and Colombia, and the OECD Going Digital Reviews of Colombia and Brazil.
As the pace of technological change accelerates, reaching the digital frontier – and staying there – is increasingly challenging. This report analyses Norway’s digital performance, policies and priorities to inform the development of a new national digital strategy that seeks to sharpen Norway’s competitive edge and ensure that digital transformation benefits all Norwegians. It outlines the digital priorities and trends that will shape Norway’s digital future and maps its digital policy ecosystem. The report further assesses Norway’s digital performance based on the OECD Going Digital Toolkit dashboard of indicators and analyses its digital policies through the lens of the OECD Going Digital Integrated Policy Framework. It concludes with policy recommendations to achieve a more digital, innovative and inclusive Norway.
The OECD Secretary-General's annual report to ministers covers the OECD’s 2017 activities and some 2018 highlights. It includes the Secretary-General's activities and those of his office, the OECD’s horizontal programmes and directorate activities, as well as the activities of its agencies, special entities and advisory committees.
For more than 50 years, the OECD has sought to promote better policies for better lives in almost all areas of policy making and implementation through co-operation, dialogue, consensus and peer review. The OECD is one of the world’s largest and most trusted sources of comparable statistical data on economics, trade, employment, education, health, social issues, migration, the environment, and many other fields.
This report looks at how scientific advice can best support crisis management during transnational crises, such as those provoked by natural hazards or pandemics. Scientific advice has an important role to play in all phases of the crisis management cycle - preparedness, response and recovery. It can be particularly valuable during the sense-making period when a crisis occurs and develops. However, this value is dependent on the quality and timeliness of the advice and most importantly its relevance to the decisions that crisis managers and policy-makers have to make during a crisis. Generating rigorous scientific advice requires access to relevant data, information and expertise, across scientific disciplines and across borders. Ensuring this advice is useful requires effective connections between scientific advisory processes and crisis management mechanisms, including at the international level.
This book offers a comprehensive assessment of the innovation system of Viet Nam, focusing on the role of government and providing concrete recommendations on how to improve policies that affect innovation and R&D performance.
As the world interconnects, science, technology and innovation policies cannot be seen as standing alone. There is a growing interest from central banks and ministries of finance in improving the understanding of how science, technology and innovation create value in the form of increased productivity and profits, and contribute to the valuation of enterprises, and ultimately stimulate the growth and competitiveness of economies. This conference proceedings of the OECD Blue Sky II Forum describes some of the policy needs, measurement issues, and challenges in describing cross-cutting and emerging topics in science, technology and innovation (STI). It also presents ideas to exploit existing data and develop new frameworks of measurement in order to guide future development of STI indicators at the OECD and beyond.
The impact of information technology, innovation and entrepreneurship on economic performance is the subject of heated debate. Despite the current economic downturn, changes in these factors have brought about crucial, lasting changes to the growth dynamics of OECD countries.
This special edition of the Science, Technology and Industry Outlook takes a closer look at the ways in which these factors are evolving and how they relate to each other. It examines the main problem areas and recommends a number of policy responses. The areas which receive in-depth consideration include policies to increase returns from ICT investment, software, telecom reform, raising returns from R&D, industry science relations, and policies to facilitate the entry of new firms as well as the exit of existing uncompetitive ones. A key message is that an improved performance requires coherent and comprehensive policy responses. While domestic policy must take the lead in many areas, some of the obstacles to communication, scientific development, innovation and entrepreneurship cannot be removed through national measures alone. The report highlights a number of issues which require international solutions that can only be implemented through improved international co-operation.
Science, technology and industry are in a period of change, reflecting an ongoing move to a knowledge-based economy. Rapid technological progress, driven by a productive scientific community and increasingly efficient business practices, the growing role of information and communications technologies (ICT), a continuing shift to services, and the globalisation of economy and society are among the key forces behind this transformation. The 1998 Science, Technology and Industry Outlook provides a broad and integrated assessment of this transformation process across the OECD area.
The reader will find a discussion of recent trends and prospects in science, technology and industry, based on comparative indicators, such as output, investment and productivity, research and development (R&D), patent activity and innovation and knowledge flows, and an overview of the broad changes in science, technology and industry policy across OECD countries. This 1998 edition also includes special thematic chapters on: the determinants of productivity performance; the impact of advanced technologies in traditional industries; recent changes in R&D expenditure and their impact on innovation and growth; and how ICT is improving performance in the science system.
A 50-page statistical annex updates OECD data on science, technology and industry and provides information on the main OECD databases covering these areas.
The S&T Statistical Compendium 2004 was prepared for the January 2004 meeting of the Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy (CSTP) at Ministerial level and mainly draws on databases, indicators and methodology developed by the CSTP’s Working Party of National Experts on Science and Technology Indicators (NESTI) Working Party, and compiled by the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI). It presents a wide selection of the most policy-relevant and internationally comparable indicators currently available in the field of science and technology.
The document looks at the state of science and technology in the OECD across four broad dimensions:
• Section A: Innovation and R&D.
• Section B: Human Resources in Science and Technology (HRST).
• Section C: Patents.
• Section D: Other areas (ICT, globalisation, industrial structure).
The books on “Safety Assessment of Transgenic Organisms” constitute a compilation of the OECD Biosafety Consensus Documents. When published, Volume 1 and 2 contained the documents issued before 2006; Volume 3 and 4 are a continuation of the compilation up to 2010.
The OECD Biosafety Consensus Documents identify elements of scientific information used in the environmental safety and risk assessment of transgenic organisms which are common to OECD member countries and some non members associated with the work. This is intended to encourage information sharing, promote harmonised practices, and prevent duplication of effort among countries.
These books offer ready access to those consensus documents which have been issued on the website thus far. As such, it should be of value to applicants for commercial uses of transgenic organisms (crops, trees, microorganisms), to regulators and risk assessors in national authorities, as well as the wider scientific community.
More information on the OECD's work related to the biosafety of transgenic organisms is found at BioTrack Online (http://www.oecd.org/biotrack).
The books on “Safety Assessment of Transgenic Organisms” constitute a compilation of the OECD Biosafety Consensus Documents. When published, Volume 1 and 2 contained the documents issued before 2006; Volume 3 and 4 are a continuation of the compilation up to 2010.
The OECD Biosafety Consensus Documents identify elements of scientific information used in the environmental safety and risk assessment of transgenic organisms which are common to OECD member countries and some non members associated with the work. This is intended to encourage information sharing, promote harmonised practices, and prevent duplication of effort among countries.
These books offer ready access to those consensus documents which have been issued on the website thus far. As such, it should be of value to applicants for commercial uses of transgenic organisms (crops, trees, microorganisms), to regulators and risk assessors in national authorities, as well as the wider scientific community.
More information on the OECD's work related to the biosafety of transgenic organisms is found at BioTrack Online (http://www.oecd.org/biotrack).