Asian Innovation: the current debate May 21, 2009

The inaugural Asian Innovation seminar from the Asia-Pacific Technology Network and the R&D Society

Panel:

Professor Sandro Macchietto, Professor of Process Systems Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering; Director of the cross-faculty Energy Futures Lab, Imperial College (Chair)
Gavin Costigan, Joint Head of the International Science and Innovation Unit in the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills on "The work of the UK’s Science and Innovation Network in Asia"
Professor Mike Hobday CENTRIM (Centre for Research in Innovation Management), University of Brighton on "Asian Innovation in a time of crisis"
Dr Nermeen Varawalla, President & CEO, ECCRO on "Innovation within the Asian Life Science sector"
Jim O'Reilly, Technology Information Officer, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) Europe on "Innovation within the Asian electronics/ICT sector"
L K Sharma, Editor of InnovativeIndia Rises (2009) and Innovative India (1999) on "Asian Innovation from an Indian perspective - some comments"
Eva Gerhards, (Commentator) Coordination officer for Innovation policy at the European Commission " Comments from an EU perspective"
Nermeen Varawalla, discussing innovation in Asian Life Sciences

This will be the first in a regular series which will be run by APTN and the R&D Society and which will cover the general area of "Asian Innovation". These seminars will range across sectors and countries within the region, and will focus on the issues thrown up by the emergence of world-class scientific centres in Asia.

- What kinds of innovation are we seeing in Asia? What is the balance between imitation (catch-up) and genuinely cutting edge innovation? ... and what other varieties of innovation are found in the region?
- What are the comparative paths to innovation taken by the various Asian countries?
- What are the barriers facing Asian innovators?
- What is the quality of the scientific and educational institutions underpinning the innovators?
- What contribution do entrepreneurs and venture capitalists make to the health of Asian innovation?
- How do Asian innovators interact with the innovation systems of Europe and the USA?
- Where are the most promising sectors for collaboration, and what are the areas of potential friction?

Official Website: http://rdsoc.org/09S2.html