Collaborative Research and University Relations -- Karl Tilli -- June 4, 2003, 10:15 a.m.

Symposium: "A New Base for Corporate Relations: From Strategic Deceit to Trustworthy Action", Nokia House, Espoo Finland, Tuesday, June 3, 2003.

This digest was created in real-time during the meeting, based on the speaker's presentation(s) and comments from the audience. These should not be viewed as official transcripts of the meeting, but only as an interpretation by a single individual. Lapses, grammatical errors, and typing mistakes may not have been corrected. Questions about content should be directed to the originator. These notes have been contributed by David Ing (daviding@systemicbusiness.org) at the IBM Advanced Business Institute ( http://www.ibm.com/abi ).

[Dr. Karl Tilli]

TEKES role is implementation of technologies, not creation

Reports to Ministry of Trade and Industry

• Apart from Science and Technology Policy Council

1970s:  government investment in houses

1980s:  government thinking about science and industrial policy

Today, industrial policy and innovation policy

Many countries have similar policy

• Unity in the Finnish context:  small country solutions for problems that all countries have
• Because small, can create centralized organizations
• Two funding mechanisms: Academy of Finland and Tekes
• In Sweden, many more.

Tekes provides expert services and coordinates programs

• For enterprises, competitiveness, profitability and growth
• Research universities:  direct social and environmental impacts

Many countries have tax reductions for R&D investment - Finland doesn't

• This requires high trust on work
• If you're not performing well, government doesn't help

R&D funding, about $400M Euros

• For research at universities and research centers:  144M Euros (fixed)
• Industrial research in large companies:  115M Euros
• Product development in small and medium sized companies:  119M Euros

Since research to universities is fixed, the only decision is large versus small companies, currently 50/50

Academy of Finland is doing similar work, and therefore funding university programs

• Tekes has the challenge of how to create innovation from universities
• Researchers think mostly about papers, not starting up companies

In large companies, 115M Euros is small

• Need to find segments where there will be an effect
• Emphasize networking

Small companies are mainly startups

National programs

• Want to create a framework for collaboration
• Cooperation networks are mainly national
• Local networks are important, face-to-face communications are important
• Want to promote more international networking

Technology programmes:  34 ongoing programmes

Money flows:  IP rights are an issue in the network, but Tekes doesn't own IP

• Researchers need to set up their own agreements
• In funding to companies, EU approval is required
• In large companies, can fund only research, and not production
• Need to have networking to research to universities
• When Tekes gives funds to large companies, it requests subcontracting to universities and small companies
• If the company gets all the benefits, then the company should fund it.  If the country benefits at large, and it's public, then government can fund it.
• Challenge is the subcontracts:  managed by large companies, not enough risk-sharing with small companies

Diagram:  technology programs as a social system

Plot:  Share of cooperating companies of all innovating companies

• ~70% in Finland, compared to 55% in Sweden - Tekes contributes to this, but not all of this.

Plot:  Finland in the middle, in comparison of countries with company investments in universities

Comment:  Finland and Sweden are about the same size.  Sweden has the Nobel prize, and do more academic research, rather than technology research

• Sweden had good programs in 1980s and 1990s, but don't anymore
• They are more scientifically oriented
• Tekes doesn't believe all innovation is linear

In the U.S. Republican approach, don't believe government should be involved in industrial policy

• Need to demonstrate pure research, as not good for any business application
• Swedes attracted to this

Challenge:  Finland may be too successful

• Now need to invest in higher risk areas