State-led, Rapid-Innovation-Based Industrial Development is Key
Prof Dan Breznitz, a leading expert on State-led development strategies for high technology industries, is arriving in Ireland today (Tuesday 5th June) to meet with key government agencies that are working together to build Ireland’s knowledge economy.
The purpose of his 4 day visit is to share his research findings on rapid innovation-based industries and the role of government in developing science and technology policies under the constraints of globalisation. He will give specific guidelines to help Irish State agencies make advantageous decisions about research and development, relationships with foreign firms and investors, and other critical issues.
Prof. Breznitz conducted his research for his latest book called Innovation and the State: Political Choice and Strategies for Growth in Israel, Taiwan, and Ireland, in which he looks at one of the most unexpected changes of the 1990s: the fact that firms in a number of emerging economies not previously known for high-technology industries, including Ireland, moved to the forefront in new information technologies (IT).
Contrary to popular belief, Breznitz’s new book argues that under the current conditions of intensified globalisation, emerging economies have more options for developing their high technology industries then at any time since WWII.
Each of these ways fits into a specific stage in the modular global production network, and hence, each option confers different benefits and disadvantages, as well as different distribution of the gains of success. “The role of the State in economic development has changed,” says Breznitz, “but it has by no means disappeared”.
He is expected to offer Ireland’s government agencies an insight into a new way of thinking about State-led rapid-innovation-based industrial development that takes into account the ways production and innovation are now conducted globally. In particular, Breznitz’s goal is to discuss his ongoing research into the new ways in which innovation transfers (or not) into economic growth in different localities and industrial systems.
His schedule for the week includes meetings with the Government’s Chief Science Advisor (Prof. Patrick Cunningham) and Technology Ireland, the dedicated support structure for industrial R&D which incorporates the Office of Science & Technology at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Forfás, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland. He will also meet with the Irish Universities Association and the Irish Management Institute.
Ends
Grace FitzGerald
Communications & Media Relations Officer
Research Commercialisation & FP7
Enterprise Ireland
Glasnevin
Dublin 9
t: +353 1 8082746
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email: grace.fitzgerald@enterprise-ireland.com
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