Showing papers in "Science and Public Policy in 2013"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify three knowledge brokering repertoires: supplying, bridging and facilitating, which differ with respect to whether they maintain clear boundaries between knowledge production and use or set out to blur them.
Abstract: It has been suggested that in order to address current complex problems, scientists have to take on new roles that link the production and use of knowledge. However, what exactly these new roles mean is often not clearly identified. This paper contributes to this by discussing relevant literature related to different roles of science in society and by presenting the results of a study on the perspectives and activities of knowledge brokering. We identify three knowledge brokering repertoires: supplying, bridging and facilitating, which differ with respect to whether they maintain clear boundaries between knowledge production and use or set out to blur them. Based on our findings, we conclude that new roles of science not only afford, but may even strengthen traditional disciplinary scientific ideals. Thus, it is crucial to look beyond the intentions and ideals of new roles of science to how they are taken up in practice.
218 citations
TL;DR: The paper discusses dimensions of RRI as well as weaknesses of the current approach towards RRI and provides future directions for research and practice that will allow RRI to live up to its promise and ensure that past and present work on privacy and data protection find an appropriate place within this framework.
Abstract: Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University, The Gateway,Leicester LE1 9BH, UK; Email: bstahl@dmu.ac.uk.The concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI) is increasingly used to describe novelways of governing research and the relationship between key research stakeholders includingresearchers, industry, policy-makers and civil society. It is thus of key importance for science,research and innovation policy. This paper defines RRI as a higher-level responsibility or meta-responsibility that aims to shape, maintain, develop, coordinate and align existing and novelresearch and innovation-related processes, actors and responsibilities with a view to ensuringdesirable and acceptable research outcomes. It shows the role privacy has in the developingframework of RRI. The paper discusses dimensions of RRI as well as weaknesses of thecurrent approach towards RRI and provides future directions for research and practice that willallow RRI to live up to its promise and ensure that past and present work on privacy and dataprotection find an appropriate place within this framework.Keywords: responsible research and innovation; privacy; meta-responsibility.
133 citations
TL;DR: The relationship between disciplines is strongly influenced by national funding agencies and a great deal of tacit knowledge about the management of interdisciplinary research programs and projects is held by such bodies.
Abstract: The relationship between disciplines is strongly influenced by national funding agencies and a great deal of tacit knowledge about the management of interdisciplinary research programmes and projects is held by such bodies. Funders' support is critical to achieving the potential value-added of interdisciplinarity and these agencies have key roles to play, especially in shaping large-scale interdisciplinary initiatives. This paper reports on an empirical study and offers some lessons for public policy aimed at promoting learning and generating benefits that are broadly applicable across future efforts to tackle complex, multi-dimensional research challenges. There are key practical organisational steps that could be taken to promote and support collaborative working and integration for large-scale interdisciplinary research initiatives. Awareness of these critical processes can benefit funders as well as practitioners if interdisciplinary research is to achieve its full potential. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
111 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a summary of smart solutions and definitions, and draw on the surveillance literature to address issues and risks related to the global drive to outsmart competing cities in a context of global governance.
Abstract: The possibility of so-called 'smart' technologies to improve city life has filled both pages of concern and PR leaflets. While the corporations driving these developments have emphasized how smart technologies can improve efficiency, critics have warned against the risks associated with the proliferation of smart surveillance. However, a critical discourse about the potential, limits and risks of the proliferation of smart technologies has not yet emerged, and in most instances public officials and decision-makers are ill-equipped to judge both the value and the externalities of the technologies being sold under the label 'smart cities'. This paper presents a summary of smart solutions and definitions, and draws on the surveillance literature to address issues and risks related to the global drive to outsmart competing cities in a context of global governance. Using a multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary approach, it aims to provide a starting point for a public debate that involves policy-makers, developers and academics. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
73 citations
TL;DR: The benefits of such experiments in research capacity-building can be both intellectually rewarding and confer added value to public investments by encouraging significant social and economic returns as mentioned in this paper, and support for relationship building with a range of stakeholders through this type of research may also lead to a greater likelihood of research impact beyond the academy.
Abstract: Research funding agencies in many countries support interdisciplinary collaboration in order to tackle the 'grand challenges' facing societies worldwide but there is uneven guidance as to its effective conduct. Different types of interdisciplinarity require different approaches and there is no single model for success. Moreover, 'problem-solving interdisciplinarity' often runs contrary to academic conventions, structures and norms which are still predominantly discipline-based. The stability offered by public investment over the longer term may offer advantages for the personal research and publication strategies of interdisciplinary researchers. Support for relationship building with a range of stakeholders through this type of research may also lead to a greater likelihood of research impact beyond the academy. The benefits of such experiments in research capacity-building can be both intellectually rewarding and confer added value to public investments by encouraging significant social and economic returns. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
71 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the way in which innovation in science policy in the UK over the last 25 years has been built around a discourse of changing preferences for modes of communication with citizens, and highlights the overwhelming influence of public understanding of science approaches and attends to the question of the viability of public dialogue as the mainstream activity in science communication and policy-making.
Abstract: This paper examines the way in which innovation in science policy in the UK over the last 25 years has been built around a discourse of changing preferences for modes of communication with citizens. The discussion, framed in debates and developments that deal with deliberative democracy and public engagement, draws on discourse analysis of key policy documents, statements made by members of the science policy network, and on interviews with public engagement practitioners. The relationship between science and society emerges as a 25-year old project of crisis management organised into three distinct models: public understanding of science,public engagement, and public dialogue. The analysis questions the existing narrative of progress and evolution constructed around key switch points, highlights the overwhelming influence
of public understanding of science approaches, and attends to the question of the viability of public dialogue as the mainstream activity in science communication and policy-making.
69 citations
TL;DR: The concept of participatory interdisciplinarity as mentioned in this paper explores the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders by groups of researchers from different disciplines to explore the synergies offered through combinations of different research attributes.
Abstract: Calls for new models of knowledge production demand more interdisciplinary research in order to: develop holistic solutions, increased stakeholder participation, to consider a plurality of perspectives, and to support a more deliberative democracy approach. However, knowledge production debates have rarely explored the synergies offered through combinations of different research attributes. We develop the concept of 'participatory interdisciplinarity' to explore the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders by groups of researchers from different disciplines. This paper examines the benefits and challenges of: interdisciplinarity, stakeholder participation, the integration of interdisciplinarity and participation. We conclude that participatory interdisciplinary approaches can quickly improve understanding and communication amongst both researchers and stakeholders involved in management, with less evidence of immediate instrumental benefits. We outline how 'participatory interdisciplinarity' can assist in breaking down barriers between traditional knowledge roles (researcher/stakeholder) and knowledge forms (academic/local) and in activating more integrated environmental management. Language: en
67 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that actors mobilise two non-mutually exclusive, coexisting repertoires: a two-world repertoire and a repertoire of exploration, where intermediators evolve in uncertain worlds, their role consisting of exploring and performing new worlds including their own place and role within these.
Abstract: This paper explores some of the difficulties in accounting for the value of knowledge intermediation, focusing on two types of knowledge inter-mediators: science shops and knowledge brokers. We analyse the way in which actors themselves 'situate', and thus value, their work and practices. Drawing upon theorisations by Antoine Hennion and Bruno Latour, who have distinguished between intermediaries and mediation, we show that actors mobilise two non-mutually exclusive, coexisting repertoires: a 'two-world' repertoire and a repertoire of 'exploration'. In the two-world repertoire, knowledge inter-mediators are seen as actors placed between two (pre-existing) worlds: as a result, their task becomes connecting these two worlds. The repertoire of exploration refers to the fact that inter-mediators evolve in uncertain worlds, their role consisting of exploring and performing new worlds including their own place and role within these. We argue that the tensions between these two repertoires are a potential resource for theory and practice. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
51 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared three internationally representative regulatory frameworks for pesticides, including the USA, Brazil, and the EU, in terms of risk assessment criteria and corporate financial liability, revealing a prevalence of concerns involving social-environmental regulation.
Abstract: This paper compares three internationally representative regulatory frameworks for pesticides. We look first at the USA, which shifted regulatory powers from the US Department of Agriculture to the Environmental Protection Agency in the early 1970s, during a historical transition from a predominantly economic to a predominantly social regulatory model. The second country is Brazil, currently the world's largest consumer of pesticides, followed by the USA in second place. In the early 1990s, Brazil's new regulatory model adopted a troika of decision-making ministries (agriculture, health and environment), with the prevalence of economic over social-environmental interests. The third case is the regulatory framework adopted in 2011 by the EU, where shifts in risk-assessment criteria and corporate financial liability reveal a prevalence of concerns involving social-environmental regulation. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
45 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an overview of the literature on knowledge governance with a particular focus on the principles of knowledge governance: self-organization, transdisciplinary knowledge production and dissemination, social learning, reflexivity and boundary management.
Abstract: Knowledge governance opens new pathways for collective action and is especially suited for solving complex societal problems. This paper analyses knowledge governance in two ways. First, it presents an overview of the literature on this topic with a particular focus on the principles of knowledge governance: self-organization, transdisciplinary knowledge production and dissemination, social learning, reflexivity and boundary management. Secondly, it presents the results of a case study to investigate the impact of, and the barriers to, knowledge governance. The case study is of the Dutch Northern Frisian Woodlands region, where a group of farmers, policy-makers, and scholars engaged in knowledge governance. We found that a limited ability and willingness of participants to commit themselves to the different principles was a major barrier to the functioning of knowledge governance. Furthermore, boundary management and the openness of organizations to learn about and change policies are crucial to gaining impact with knowledge governance.
45 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce the concept of coordinated unbundling as a strategy that can facilitate this purpose and present a framework for organizing public procurement for innovation around this unbundeling strategy.
Abstract: Public procurement for innovation is a matter of using public demand to trigger innovation. Empirical studies have demonstrated that demand-based policy instruments can be considered to be a powerful tool in stimulating innovative processes among existing firms. However, the existing literature has not focused on the role this policy instrument can play in the promotion of (knowledge-intensive) entrepreneurship. This paper investigates this link in more detail and introduces the concept of coordinated unbundling as a strategy that can facilitate this purpose. We also present a framework for organising public procurement for innovation around this unbundling strategy and provide a set of challenges that need to be addressed.
TL;DR: In this paper, a special section analyses the practices and the performativity of intermediaries in science, policy and the economy, focusing on how they mobilise, reframe and structure expertise and policy imperatives.
Abstract: This special section analyses the practices and the performativity of intermediaries. Rather than conceiving intermediaries as agents that passively transfer knowledge and objects between the worlds of science, policy and the economy, the focus is on how they mobilise, reframe and structure expertise and policy imperatives. The papers demonstrate that intermediaries come to: collectively explore new worlds and ventures; perform, define and constitute new scientific fields; and actively constitute logics such as scientification or forecasting in the development of techno-logical regulation. In this way, the papers that comprise this special section contribute to a performative understanding of the practices engaged in intermediation that extend and challenge documentary and ideographic modes of analysis that dominate current scholarhip.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that bibliometrics have the potential to widen scientific participation by allowing non-academic stakeholders to access scientific decision making, thereby increasing the democratisation of science.
Abstract: The ability of metrics to represent complex information about research in an accessible format has previously been overlooked in preference to debate about their shortcomings as research evaluation tools. Here, we argue that bibliometrics have the potential to widen scientific participation by allowing non-academic stakeholders to access scientific decision making, thereby increasing the democratisation of science. Government policies from 3 countries (UK, Australia and Spain) are reviewed. Each country outlines a commitment to the democratisation of science for one set of policies whilst ignoring this commitment when developing parallel research evaluation policies. We propose a change in dialogue from whether bibliometrics should be used to how they should be used in future evaluations. Future research policies should take advantage of bibliometrics to foster greater democratisation of research to create more socially-reflexive evaluation systems.
TL;DR: In this article, the utility and feasibility of integrating privacy and ethical impact assessment methodologies have been discussed, and some researchers have been thinking about the utility of integrating these two methods.
Abstract: New and emerging technologies often raise both ethical and privacy issues. The analysis and assessment of such issues is the task of privacy impact assessments and ethical impact assessments. Although there are various privacy impact assessment methodologies and ethical impact assessment methodologies, the two have not been integrated. Nevertheless, some researchers have been thinking about the utility and feasibility of integrating privacy and ethical impact assessment methodologies. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the results of an exploratory study into the perspectives, experiences and understandings of senior bureaucrats from provincial/state and federal government agencies dealing with environmental issues across Canada and Australia.
Abstract: Public sector environmental management involves complex and dynamic interactions between those responsible for the science, management and policy responsibilities of government. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study into the perspectives, experiences and understandings of senior bureaucrats from provincial/state and federal government agencies dealing with environmental issues across Canada and Australia. Participants described numerous social capital-related factors as influencing the use of science-based knowledge in government policy processes, including a lack of communication, trust and collaboration. Further, knowledge integration was raised as a major challenge facing governments seeking to enhance co-ordination among agencies and foster innovation. Participants also outlined a desire for more inter-disciplinary and socially robust environmental science to increase its understanding, legitimacy and relevance to decision-making. This paper offers grounded insights into some of the contemporary challenges and opportunities facing senior bureaucrats as they work to improve the connection between environmental science and policy in government. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
TL;DR: In this article, an analysis of contemporary and future understandings of the bioeconomy using a co-evolutionary and interactive approach to examine the extent to which it may be different from other technological transformations is presented.
Abstract: Investment in biotechnology has yielded relatively disappointing results and illustrates the gap between the promise and reality of new science. This begs the question: Does research on ‘life’ bring different complexities and uncertainties that act as a barrier to the application of new biology in global health and agriculture? There has been high-quality research on the social and ethical impacts of new biology and on the economics of biotechnology but few systematic and integrated attempts to undertake interdisciplinary research and address these constraints. This paper provides an original empirical analysis of contemporary and future understandings of the bioeconomy using a co-evolutionary and interactive approach to examine the extent to which it may be different from other technological transformations. We focus on the Innogen Centre’s extensive research results on three important and contemporary themes: food and energy security, life science and healthcare translational medicine, and global health.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the dynamics of a large and promising interdisciplinary program in the emerging field of ecological genomics and derived practical recommendations for improving the societal outcomes of large research programs.
Abstract: National large-scale interdisciplinary research programmes funded to boost scientific, economic and societal advancement often have difficulty realizing their goals. Reasons include: the monodisciplinary nature of academic research; insufficient interaction with societal actors; and funding conditions. To better understand the mechanisms for dealing with these tensions, we analysed the dynamics of a large and promising interdisciplinary programme in the emerging field of ecological genomics. As part of the programme, with responsibility for its societal valuation, we were able to investigate its initiation and implementation processes in depth, using participative observations, interviews, and process interventions. We adapted the multi-level perspective to analyse the constraining and enabling conditions, and derived practical recommendations for improving the societal outcomes of large research programmes. Our main conclusion is that programmes with an interdisciplinary and societal mission should work explicitly towards this mission from the start, as reorientation at later stages of the programme can be problematic. Copyright The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the mobile and conditional quality of current perceptions of the risks and benefits of nanotechnologies, and of judgments of trust in regulation, and find that presenting risk information after benefit information had a significant impact on acceptability ratings as compared to the reverse order.
Abstract: Communications from scientists and engineers indicate concern about the potential for public aversion to nanotechnologies. Recommendations that policy dialogues occur early and often as public perceptions emerge have followed, and multiple surveys indicate high benefit ratings. This paper explores instead the mobile and conditional quality of current perceptions of the risks and benefits of nanotechnologies, and of judgments of trust in regulation. Drawing from a nationally representative phone survey of 1,100 US residents, we found that presenting risk information after benefit information had a significant impact on acceptability ratings as compared to the reverse order. Trust judgments were also mobile, and interacted with affective predispositions towards nanotechnologies. Overall, for policy purposes and dialogues, we find high attitudinal uncertainty suggesting considerable openness to context-specific considerations as linked to acceptability of new technologies. We also caution against over promotion of benefits and an avoidance of appropriate risk discussions in the short term.
TL;DR: In this article, a quantitative and qualitative approach is presented to discuss the developments, discussions, and silences concerning nanotechnology in India, with notable silences on ethical issues and the relation to the public.
Abstract: In the last decade nanotechnology entered the policy arena as a technology that is simultaneously promising and threatening, and with a similar Janus-like face, nanotechnology entered the development agenda. How does a developing country like India deal with nanotechnology? Combining a quantitative and qualitative approach, this paper outlines the developments, discussions, and silences concerning nanotechnology in India. The nanotechnology landscape in India is dominated by government initiatives. Government investments led to a steady rise in global publication rankings, scientific collaborations and the number of institutions involved. This growth is mainly rooted in fundamental research and public research institutes. Industry involvement and patenting activity are at a nascent stage and developing slowly. Issues that were raised in the Indian context relate to funding, capacity, commercialization, regulation of risks, and the distribution of benefits. Nanotechnology is positively viewed across the board, with notable silences on ethical issues and the relation to the public.
TL;DR: It is argued that the emerging usage of SNS (social plugins, increasing role of biometrics and mobile computing) multiplies privacy challenges as all types of privacy become affected, raising additional demand for public policy to foster privacy-by-design combined with awareness-raising mechanisms to improve informational self-determination.
Abstract: With social network sites (SNS) becoming a pervasive phenomenon, already existing conflicts with privacy are further intensified. As shown in this paper, online and (once) offline contexts increasingly conflate, thereby posing new challenges to the protection of the private sphere. SNS quickly evolve their features and challenge privacy preferences, often without user consent; 'social graphs' make social relations highly transparent; social plugins interconnect user traces from within and outside the SNS. As the large amounts of personal information available in SNS are processed with context-rich information, the individual's informational self-determination is heavily strained. These data attract potential and real observers for behavioural advertising and also for profiling by security authorities. We argue that the emerging usage of SNS (social plugins, increasing role of biometrics and mobile computing) multiplies privacy challenges as all types of privacy become affected. This raises additional demand for public policy to foster privacy-by-design combined with awareness-raising mechanisms to improve informational self-determination. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this article, the reconfiguration of national research and innovation (R&I) systems towards a European Research Area (ERA) is discussed, where R&I activities are either integrated at European level, coordinated with other European partners or nationally juxtaposed.
Abstract: This paper is concerned with the reconfiguration of national research and innovation (R&I) systems towards a European Research Area (ERA). We conceptualise R&I activities as either: integrated at European level, coordinated with other European partners or nationally juxtaposed. Such a conceptualisation can be usefully applied to the measurement of progress towards the ERA along the lines of: providing orientation for R&I, programming and funding of R&I, and performing R&I. Based on a newly constructed set of indicators, and using purpose-collected budgetary data from major pan-European R&D initiatives and other R&D statistics, we apply this framework empirically to the process of Europeanisation of publicly funded R&I. Our estimates show that Europeanisation of R&I has increased substantially over the past ten years. Europe has entered a new phase of Europeanisation of R&I, a phase that opens up the opportunity to achieve a further intensification of Europeanised R&I.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors quantitatively compare the proposed broader impacts of 360 funded abstracts from biology, engineering, and mathematical/physical sciences from the US National Science Foundation (NSF).
Abstract: Though the US National Science Foundation introduced a broader impacts criterion to their merit review process in 1997, policy evaluations remain still scarce. Reactions from different scientific fields varied. This paper aims to quantitatively compare the proposed broader impacts of 360 funded abstracts from biology, engineering, and mathematical/physical sciences. Specifically, it considers whether or not certain fields are more likely to propose certain types of broader impacts activities, whether women principal investigators are more likely to propose broader impacts, and the effect of grant size. This study demonstrates that cultural differences exist between scientific fields and also supports existing policy recommendations that encourage the creation of organizations and partnerships at university level to allow scientists to more easily participate in activities with broader impacts. Emphasizing broader impacts activities may also attract a more diverse scientific workforce, as many individuals do not pursue science because of a perceived lack of impact. Copyright The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: Developments in biotechnology, genomics and nanotechnology in the period 1998--2008 are studied, showing changing interdisciplinary characteristics in relation to distinct co-evolutionary dynamics in research, science and society.
Abstract: In this paper we study developments in biotechnology, genomics and nanotechnology in the
period 1998–2008. The fields show changing interdisciplinary characteristics in relation to
distinct co-evolutionary dynamics in research, science and society. Biotechnology emerged as a
discipline in publication patterns at the same time as the number of biotechnology departments
increased, whereas genomics emerged as a stable discipline, while the number of genomics
departments declined. Nanotechnology maintains an interdisciplinary journal citation pattern
while the number of nanotechnology departments increased. In all three fields the importance
of industry–university collaborations increased, albeit to different degrees. Patterns of interdisciplinarity
can thus be distinguished, as different ways in which the three dynamics co-evolve. From
a governance perspective, this conceptualization provides distinct rationales for policy interventions
in relation to interdisciplinarity in research, science and society.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the science/industry intermediation role of academic spin-offs by distinguishing two models, which they qualify as transfer and exploration, and identify three main points of divergence, relating to socio-technical stability, dynamics and devices, and highlight the challenges raised by the exploration model, both in terms of scholarly analysis and public policy design.
Abstract: The creation of academic spin-offs, which are new ventures exploiting knowledge and technologies generated in public research organizations, has become a central aspect of contemporary innovation policies. This paper examines the science/industry intermediation role of academic spin-offs by distinguishing two models, which we qualify as transfer and exploration. While the transfer model has been predominant in both the literature and policy making, its assumptions have been questioned by studies depicting spin-offs as mediators that transform the entities that they transmit and the worlds between which they move. Building on a case study that traces back the emergence of a French spin-off, this paper contrasts the transfer and exploration models of science/industry intermediation. We identify three main points of divergence, relating to socio-technical stability, dynamics and devices, and highlight the challenges raised by the exploration model, both in terms of scholarly analysis and public policy design. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify some of the limitations facing innovation policy in Europe and put forward some ideas based on interdisciplinary thinking and methods which may help overcome these limitations, and propose two approaches to address the challenge of innovation policy formulation: an evolutionary life cycle approach to deal with the dynamic nature of innovation and the development of emerging sectors; and an approach to value chain and value system analysis to determine areas of potential growth or possible bottlenecks in the delivery of innovation.
Abstract: The encouragement of innovation at the regional level has been the subject of a series of EU initiatives, but there is, as yet, no overarching framework that provides clear, effective and widely accepted guidance for policy-makers We identify some of the limitations facing innovation policy in Europe and put forward some ideas based on interdisciplinary thinking and methods which may help overcome these limitations We propose two approaches to address the challenge of innovation policy formulation: first, an evolutionary life cycle approach to deal with the dynamic nature of innovation and the development of emerging sectors; and second, an approach to value chain and value system analysis to determine areas of potential growth or possible bottlenecks in the delivery of innovation These two approaches address innovation challenges from the perspectives of policy-makers and of innovators, and can help to overcome the policy and societal challenges facing Europe Copyright The Author 2013 Published by Oxford University Press All rights reserved For Permissions, please email: journalspermissions@oupcom, Oxford University Press
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a comprehensive analysis of the NME crisis and discuss possible solutions, such as increasing the efficiency of corporate R&D, as well as several alternative strategies for pharmaceutical research, including academic drug discovery centers and the public-private partnerships that have been so successful in attacking neglected diseases.
Abstract: The major research-intensive pharmaceutical companies (big pharma), are facing a profound crisis. Their R&D expenditures have grown at a staggering rate, while the creation of drugs that represent truly novel advances in therapy, so-called new molecular entities (NMEs), has stagnated. Here I present a comprehensive analysis of the NME crisis and discuss possible solutions. This includes proposals to fix the problem by increasing the efficiency of corporate R&D, as well as several alternative strategies for pharmaceutical research, including academic drug discovery centers and the public--private partnerships that have been so successful in attacking neglected diseases. Finally, a new policy initiative, the creation of non-profit drug development corporations (NPDDCs) designed to bring key aspects of early-stage drug development into the pre-competitive public arena is proposed. The creation of effective NPDDCs will be challenging, but promises to provide the health care system with less costly and more effective medicines. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that the process of managing federal fisheries stocks now requires a lengthy dialogue between the two groups revolving around issues of risk tolerance, management buffers, and data availability that has resulted in the development of explicit rules for setting biological boundaries on catch.
Abstract: Following a 2006 revision to the US Magnuson--Stevens Act, the eight Fishery Management Councils that manage the nation's stocks have been restricted from setting regional catch levels that exceed the recommendations of their primary scientific advisory committees. This paper reviews the impact of that new requirement using principal--agent theory. After demonstrating that the advisory committees are still agents of the Councils, I show that the process of managing federal fisheries stocks now requires a lengthy dialogue between the two groups revolving around issues of risk tolerance, management buffers, and data availability that has resulted in the development of explicit rules for setting biological boundaries on catch. Copyright , Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that dominant online business models conflict structurally with users' need for privacy and the users themselves work on their own powerlessness in this regard, and that there is a privacy discourse that is possessive individualistic in nature but broadly informs the public policy process.
Abstract: This paper critically explores, from a political economy perspective on public policy, the commodification of privacy on the Internet as a practical-economic and a discursive process. On the one hand, dominant online business models conflict structurally with users' need for privacy and the users themselves work on their own powerlessness in this regard. On the other hand, there is a privacy discourse that is possessive individualistic in nature but broadly informs the public policy process. It is argued that this discourse is not suitable to prevent economic-practical commodification of personal data and its problems. Criteria and strategies for improvement are identified, and concrete legal, self-regulatory, and technical implications for public privacy policy are derived. This paper uses material from a qualitative interview study and the example of social networking sites to exemplify its theoretical claims. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze how researchers in leading roles at a Swedish research university relate to the integration of academic and entrepreneurial roles in the field of nanotechnology and argue that researchers can develop a positive approach towards entrepreneurship and discuss how this, in certain situations and in a specific research area, can lead to new innovation networks and provide important input to early development and commercialization.
Abstract: This article analyzes how researchers in leading roles at a Swedish research university relate to the integration of academic and entrepreneurial roles in the field of nanotechnology. In contrast to earlier studies that characterize researchers as being either ‘critical towards’ or ‘unfit for’ entrepreneurial activity, the article argues that researchers can develop a positive approach towards entrepreneurship and it discusses how this, in certain situations and in a specific research area, can lead to new innovation networks and provide important input to early development and commercialization. This is encouraging in the view of current science and innovation policy of nations, which promotes the entrepreneurial scientist and yet hesitates to give him or her adequate control over resources for innovation management processes.
TL;DR: The World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews) project as mentioned in this paper was a pioneering effort to hold simultaneous citizen deliberations focusing on questions of climate change policy addressed at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in December 2009.
Abstract: Leading a coalition spanning 38 countries, the Danish Board of Technology organized World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews) on September 26, 2009. WWViews represented a pioneering effort to hold simultaneous citizen deliberations focusing on questions of climate change policy addressed at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in December 2009. Sponsors and organizers envisioned WWViews as a means to affect the COP15 negotiations, and the project included numerous strategies to influence policy-making. This paper examines the success of such strategies in the USA through the lens of 'policy pathways,' routes of influence to affect the behavior of policy-makers and policy-making bodies. Our analysis highlights the difficulty of connecting citizen deliberations to meaningful policy pathways, and the importance of recognizing and enlisting policy networks, which we define as the collection of relationships, nodes, or pre-existing organizational ties that can be mobilized in the service of agenda- or alternative-setting. Copyright The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.