Innovation at the edges of the metropolis: An analysis of innovation drivers in Sydney's peripheral suburbs

Abstract

This article discusses using the concept of innovation ecosystems to assess innovation intensity in peripheral areas of metropolitan regions. Innovation is a significant driver of prosperity, industrial growth, and job creation. Emergent areas of new technology applications have their roots in entrepreneurial and innovative practices. However, studies have focused on the strengths that cities—and central business districts and inner suburbs in particular— have relative to the industries of the emerging knowledge economy, notably information technology and financial, property, and business services. Most of the time, the peripheral suburbs have been neglected.

The results from a study of innovation drivers in Sydney, Australia, show that peripheral suburbs in metropolitan areas have local innovation processes that require specific planning measures to promote innovation intensity. Some of these processes are linked to local suburban characteristics that might not apply to the entire city or metropolitan region.     

通识教育视域下我国高校思政课教学的困境与革新

通识教育是许多发达国家对大学生进行思想政治教育的重要途径。我国高校已将思政课列为大学生的通识教育课程之一,但在实际教学过程中却与通识教育的目标要求呈现出"两张皮"的现象。提高我国高校思政课的教学实效,教师必须深入分析教学过程中面临的诸多困境与挑战,不断转变教学理念、关注教学过程、革新教学内容、转变教学模式、营造教学环境和变革教学评价体系,实现教学方法体系的创新。     

社会管理法治化中的社区警务——基于衢州市“公安群众工作综合体”的实证研究

公安机关社会管理是政府社会管理的重要组成部分,其管理成效直接影响到群众生活和社会稳定。一直以来,公安作为国家的专政工具,围绕着高度集权的政府行使专政与社会管理,在政治、经济、社会领域承担着管控的职能。随着服务型政府的转型,公安行政也面临着服务转型,尤其是社区警务,必须以服务社区为导向,寓管理于服务之中。“公安群众工作综合体”将社区警务嵌入社区生活,为社区警务的转型提供了有效的载体,推动了社会管理的创新。     

公安高校实验教学示范中心教学资源共享的探索

公安高校实验教学资源的有限性,决定了公安高校实验教学资源应当使用共享。当前这方面存在一些急须解决的问题。警务技能综合实训教学中心项目建设实践,为实施资源共享,从实验教学资源共享的规章制度和实验室管理共享平台的建设等方面入手,以实验硬件、软件资源共享为核心,资源整合为手段,对实验教学的资源进行战略重组和资源优化,以完善公安高校实验教学资源共享机制。     

Vice-Premier Li Hsien-Nien gives Banquet in name of Premier Chou En-Lai for Madame Marcos

This article provides empirical light on the debate concerning whether manufacturing firms in China are becoming major innovators. Based on an innovation survey carried out in Jiangsu Province, the article finds that most firms engage in innovative activities but these are mainly of an incremental nature. Radical innovation, as a proportion of sales, is relatively low if compared internationally. Innovation in China is mainly to catch-up and is novel relative to the firm and the domestic market. A small proportion of innovation is new to the world. Intensity and productivity indicators suggest that small, foreign and textile firms are leading innovative efforts. Firms innovate to improve their general competitiveness, including improving product quality and extending market share, obtain income from technology and defend themselves from research and development expenditure by competitors. Innovators value significantly more than non-innovators the range of innovative objectives they seek to achieve. The main obstacles to innovation arise from technical and marketing weaknesses; the perception of these obstacles varies widely between radical innovators and non-innovators. The article concludes that while innovative activities are emerging it will still take some time for China to have a major role in the international division of innovative labour.     

Participatory planning as a deliberative democratic process: a response to Hodgson's critique

This paper is a response to Hodgson's recent critique of our model of participatory planning through negotiated co-ordination. His critique focused on four issues: the coherence of our distinction between market exchange and market forces; our understanding of tacit knowledge; the scope for innovation in our model; and the alleged problems of information overload and cognitive limitations. In this response we argue that Hodgson misinterprets our model as being based on the aggregation of individual preferences, whereas it is in fact a model of participatory planning through a process of deliberative democracy.     

African research and development surveys: Highlights from the South African success story

ABSTRACT

Science and technology have a major role to play in current and future developments on the African continent as a whole. With the vast array of developmental challenges, current thinking needs to be expanded, so that technologies provide increased and enhanced solutions, such that African scientists produce an African response to the very many shared challenges affecting Africa – both as individual nations and as regards African people collectively. Key to developing an integrated science and technology network, within and across nations, is firstly to understand the extent of research and development (R&D) currently undertaken within individual territories and on the continent as a whole. In light of this, the article examines the value and importance of national surveys of research and experimental development undertaken in Africa. Within the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), many member states now have dedicated departments overseeing state science and technology (S&T) development initiatives. South Africa has the most developed science and technology system on the continent. In recent years, other SADC countries like Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia have initiated projects to measure R&D activities within their territories. Despite this, further North, R&D measurement on the continent is uncommon, both as a result and as a cause of underdevelopment.

The article explores the limited data from selected African R&D surveys in an attempt to understand measurement issues that exist and to detail the value and importance of mapping S&T systems and their applications to developmental issues in Africa. In countries like Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, where S&T systems exist, effective means of measurement need to be established, so that the power of these systems can be harnessed, shared and exploited to benefit the African people. To this end, the African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (ASTII) initiative was set up at a meeting in Addis Ababa with the aim of delivering a survey of these countries’ R&D output and potential. This is eagerly awaited by the African S&T community.

At the forefront of African R&D measurement is the South African national R&D survey, administered by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Being an established survey, the South African team is often called upon by other African nations to support the setting up of surveys. The HSRC also trains visiting African scientists in the delivery of accurate and reliable R&D survey data. This article will, for the first time, present detailed results of the most recent South African national R&D survey (2008/2009), together with a trend analysis of historic South African R&D surveys.     

警务变革的理念转变与取向抉择

随着世界经济、政治、文化与社会的发展进步,警务活动也在不断发展变化。回顾我国警务改革的历程,警务法治化、现代化、专业化雏形已然建立,但仍有较大提升空间。以推进警务现代化转型、加强警察公共关系建设、改进警务工作模式、创新新时期警务工作范式等四方面为切入点,对新形势下警务变革的理念创新及模式取向作探索并提出初步设想,旨在促进公安警务理论创新和完善,有效满足维护国家安全和民众安全需要。     

公安高职院校教学质量监控体系的构建理念

公安高职院校以培养高素质应用型公安后备人才为使命,人才培养质量是衡量高职院校综合办学能力、办学水平高低的重要标准,而教学质量则直接影响甚至决定人才培养的质量。因此,为了提高公安高职院校人才培养质量,就必须建立一套高效和谐的教学质量监控体系,及时发现、正确分析并有效解决教学中的相关问题。本文结合甘肃警察职业学院构建教学质量监控体系的实际,就公安高职院校构建教学质量监控体系进行理论和实践的探讨。     

Technological diversity,scientific excellence and the location of inventive activities abroad: the case of nanotechnology

Our contribution to the expanding literature on the globalization of research and innovation is to investigate the extent to which sector-specific developments in an emerging technology (such as increasing interdisciplinarity and complexity) affect inventive activities developed abroad. We look at how technological diversity and scientific excellence of host countries in the field of nanotechnology affect the development of inventive activities by US multinational companies (MNCs). We identify the most active US-based MNCs in nanotechnology-related patenting and examine location decisions of these companies and their international subsidiaries. Econometric results confirm our hypothesis that the technological breadth of host countries positively influences the expected number of inventions developed abroad by US MNCs. Science capabilities of countries also have a positive impact on the decision to invent abroad, while the influence of market specific factors is less clear. We interpret these results as suggesting that host country science capabilities are important to attract innovative activities by MNCs, but as the interdisciplinary and convergent nature of nanotechnology evolves, access to a broadly diversified knowledge base becomes important in increasing the relative attractiveness of host locations.