Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
between Nordic countries in developing a Nordic ICT network
(Ainamo, 1997) and the strategic transition of the company from
wood processing into electronics (Ainamo, 1997), Nokia was in a
prime position to benefit from the advantages of the focus placed on
national innovation as a system.
The Nokia example is a short-hand reference within innovation
policy studies that highlights how governments can create the right
conditions for innovation and thus commercial success of national
companies. By the strategic management of particular policy decisions,
the Finnish government was able to radically reform the role that
research and development played in economic growth for the nation.
Since then, increasing emphasis placed on transitioning to the global
knowledge economy worldwide has seen other countries attempt to
follow the Finnish model. An emphasis on managing innovation for
economic development is now a core feature of many regional, national
and state governments. Attention to the role that managing innovation
in specific industries can contribute to the development of the strength
of those industries is an ongoing challenge for governments.
3.1 The international context of stem cell science
Since the mid-1990s, using the NIS approach to managing innovation
in specific industries has been a key development in innovation
policy around the world. Over the last decade, specific policy
initiatives targeted at developing capacity for innovation in the stem
cell sciences has been tried with stem cell science in the UK, Canada,
China, India, Singapore and Australia. Some of the features of a
national innovation systems approach to building policy in the stem
cell sciences have included the introduction of specific regulation
governing the conduct of stem cell science, specific funding
programmes for research in the stem cell sciences, more funding for
postgraduate and postdoctoral research training places, the
establishment of new research facilities and the establishment of
networks of professional researchers in the field.
In the UK, in an inquiry in 2005 into the development of the stem
cell sciences the Pattinson Report made eleven recommendations as
