Mix

CENTRIM News — spring 2012

By gjp4 from CENTRIM news. Published on May 14, 2012.

The spring 2012 edition of CENTRIM News is now available in portable document format (PDF).

Brighton Fuse Project provides new perspectives on innovation

By dlf from CENTRIM news. Published on Mar 06, 2012.

A fusion between arts and sciences can facilitate innovation. The Brighton Fuse Project seeks to understand the conditions that promote Fusion-Based innovation in one of the UK's most creative cities.

Profitnet praised in the Wilson report on Business-University Collaboration

By gt34 from CENTRIM news. Published on Mar 06, 2012.

According to the latest government report on Business-University Collaboration, Profitnet is an exemplar programme to connect businesses to universities in research matters. The Wilson report refers to Profitnet as a "structured networking" programme which "enable effective networking, exposing members to mutual learning and university capacity".

Using sociological methods to study how Top Management Teams manage innovation

By dlf from CENTRIM news. Published on Feb 28, 2012.

An organisation's innovation culture is largely set by the Top Management Team. Currently, CENTRIM researcher, Dr Dave Francis, is conducting a study of how Top Management Teams decide where innovation is needed and how it should be facilitated.

Innovation Hub in Brazil

By dlf from CENTRIM news. Published on Jan 30, 2012.

CENTRIM's researchers share ideas with a leading Brazilian Professor

Editorial

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 12, 2009.

Welcome to the February issue of Freeman Centre News. You've all been very busy since November; Matias Ramirez has been to Peru, Jeff Readman has been investigating furniture manufacture, and Sussex Energy Group were promoting energy security. Oliver Johnson suggests a novel way of getting rid of work stress and we have lots of other activities and publications to tell you about.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their news. The next issue will be just after Easter so please do get in touch and let us know what you're up to between now and then. Also, we're always looking for new members of the editorial team so if you're interested in news gathering then let us know.
Cheers,


FC News Editorial Team

Increasing the Sustainability of Contract and Office Furniture Manufacture and Supply

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 12, 2009.

By Jeff Readman

This two year project was funded by the Technology Strategy Board with collaboration from furniture manufacturers, the British Furniture Manufacturers’ Association, Kingston University and the University of Brighton. The objective of this study was to develop a series of good practices in the furniture supply chain in order to move towards more sustainable production. Five keys areas were considered:

1. Product service systems
2. Environmental design for furniture
3. Material evaluation
4. Remanufacturing
5. Sustainable consumption

Working with several leading contract and office furniture manufacturers, the University of Brighton was responsible for identifying and assessing the technical and managerial processes which could be introduced to reduce the environmental impact of furniture products using environmental benchmarking to aid the redesign process. Our findings point out that:

* Re-designed furniture using environmental criteria can be achieved without a detrimental effect on product function or aesthetic.

* There is no evidence of a standard set of design solutions and re-designs should be approached on a case by case basis. If there is any commonality in solutions it is the need to provide longevity in the design, and for creative approaches to tackling environmental issues. This lesson has been taken on board by some of the leading overseas furniture companies.

* Environmental benchmarking techniques have a key role to play by identifying areas of high environmental impact which provides the designers with a clear focus for individual design improvement.

* The preferred benchmarking methodology is the Life Cycle Analysis methodology in accordance with ISO 14040.

* Success requires good communication and team working skills, as solutions required the co-operation of many parties, including environmental and materials scientists, designers, information system staff and supply chain experts.

* Success also requires a positive attitude to change, and acceptance that development requires time.

For more details including access to project reports, please visit the project website at: http://www.bfmenvironment.co.uk/EOL.htm or contact Jeff Readman.

Fragmentation and uncertainty in Peru’s agriculture networks

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 11, 2009.

By Matias Ramirez

Between the 1 and 15 November 2008 I visited Piura in the north of Peru, which is at the heart of the county’s thriving agricultural export cluster.

The research, funded by the British Academy, aims to analyse the knowledge networks of the producers, exporters and service provides in the booming mango cluster. During the two week visit, I attended the Mango exporters Congress and met a number of leaders of industry association, State service organisations and visited a cooperative of small producers.

Three reflections from the visit stuck in mind. The first is the challenge and difficulty of achieving high levels of coordination or “asociatividad” between the different actors that make up the industry due to the structural divisions between small producers on the one hand and larger exporters on the other. This division of networks impedes key flows of knowledge and learning to all actors in the sector. Secondly, unlike in the economically advanced countries, innovation policy appears framed fundamentally around issues of poverty reduction. Finally, the incredible difficulty of innovating when the ability to take personal risks, in terms of investment or career change is very low. In an industry subject to high levels of instability due to erratic climate, market uncertainty and inherently delicate products, the above factors appear inherently interlinked. This research will feed into the ongoing discussion in the Freeman centre’s LA VISION GROUP over the not uncontroversial bet being made by a number of Latin American economies that the boom in the export of natural resource-based products will transform living standards and allow the modernisation of economic infrastructures.

SEG Security Seminar

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 11, 2009.

On 27 January 2009 65 delegates attended Sussex Energy Group’s Seminar UK energy security: What do we know, and what should be done?

The seminar, lead by senior people in government, industry and academia, was intended to review what we know about energy security in a UK policy context and to consider what actions are critical to safeguard it.

The day started by introducing the different framings of energy security, including Government, industrial and academic perspectives on the subject. It then considered the security of UK energy infrastructures and supplies. At the end of the day a panel discussion aimed to define the critical actions needed to maintain or improve our energy security.

The other topics covered included the electricity system (addressing worries about 'electricity gaps' as well as the longer term security of 'decarbonised' systems) and the possible impact of climate change on energy infrastructures. Presentations from sessions can be seen at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexenergygroup/1-2-23.html

Feedback received by Andy Wilson was extremely positive.

Make fufu, not war

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 11, 2009.

Quality versus quantity

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 11, 2009.

Roughly 9 months after conception, SPRU gave birth in the Spring Term to a new seminar series on Qualitative Research Methodology. The series, aimed at DPhil students, facilitates discussion of various qualitative data collection and analysis techniques through interactive seminars and workshops informed by research experiences. Sessions are led by DPhil students and faculty across campus and include gems such as ethnography/grounded theory, discourse analysis, action research, social network analysis, multi-criteria mapping and interview techniques.

The series follows neatly on from the Autumn Term’s Research Methods course and runs in tandem with Introduction to Statistical Research Methods. We hope it will provide opportunity for more in-depth discussion about particular qualitative methodologies. The series already enjoys active institutional support, and we hope positive and constructive evaluation of this pilot series by participants will ensure it becomes a SPRU regular.

For further information or to get involved, contact Rob Byrne or Oliver Johnson.

Profolio programme

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 11, 2009.

Profolio programme 2009 starts this term, and 1st and 2nd Year Doctoral Researchers are invited to participate! Four professional development workshops combined with professional development tools (the Profolio Pen-drive and a university supported online Researcher Profile) have been developed specifically for doctoral researchers. 92% of participants in 2008 said they would recommend Profolio to other DPhils. Details on the Profolio webpages at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sp2/profolio

Activities

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 13, 2009.

With Chinese partners, Adrian Ely and Adrian Smith co-hosted 2 policy workshops in Beijing for the STEPS Centre "Rethinking Regulation" project. The workshops, which took place in early December 2008, focussed individually on the governance of China's seed market and the regulation of antibiotics in rural China.

Several Freeman Centre representatives contributed to the OECD-UNESCO workshop on "Innovation for Development: Converting Knowledge to Value" on 28th-30th January in Paris. Adrian Ely made a presentation on "Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto", Geoff Oldham spoke on knowledge brokers and the link between research and policy, Martin Bell acted as a discussant on a session focussing on R&D, knowledge sharing and IP issues and Erika Kraemer-Mbula acted as the official rapporteur for the event.

Simona Iammarino and Elisabetta Marinelli the IAREG (Intangible Assets and Regional Economic Growth) PROJECT (FP7) meeting, held in Brussels on 15-16 January, with the 10 IAREG Partners and DG Members.

Simona Iammarino will be visiting professor at Yokohama National University, Department of Economics, from 01/03/2009 to 31/05/2009 (3 months).

Sheridan Nye travelled to Leeds for an ESRC-funded workshop on Knowledge Exchange, January 22-23. The ESRC aims to encourage PhD researchers to engage with the private sector and to better understand the uses made of social science research. The event was hosted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

On 11 March Sussex Energy Group will host a Climate Change Debate between two teams of local sixth form students. Further information can be found at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexenergygroup/climatedebate

Sussex Energy Group went to Poznan/UNFCCC in December. Tao Wang gave a presentation on it last week and SEG had a stall at the event. Tao's slides can be found at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexenergygroup/1-2-16.html

Markku Lehtonen presented a paper "History of electricity network control and distributed generation in the UK and western Denmark" at the First International Conference on Infrastructure Systems, "Building Networks for a Brighter Future", in Rotterdam, 10-12 November 2008.

Markku Lehtonen presented a paper "Le rôle de l'OCDE dans les domaines de l'environnement et du développement durable", at the "Séminaire Interdisciplinaire sur le Développement Durable", at the Maison Européenne des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société, Lille, 18 December 2008.

Katharina Welle was a discussant in an ODI (Overseas Development Institute) public event organised to capture current debates in the water sector in the run up to the World Water Forum in Istanbul in March 2009. The session that I was a discussant in looked at the role of aid in achieving the Millennium Development Goals i.e. at progress in achieving greater Aid Effectiveness at sector level. We discussed results from studies reviewing progress towards Aid Effectiveness in water, health, education, agriculture and the wider infrastructure sectors also picking up on discussions held at the Accra High Level Forum in September 2008. A summary of the issues is posted on ODI's website: http://www.odi.org.uk/events/details.asp?id=396&title=water-under-pressure-coping-changing-environments-competing-demands


Sheridan Nye attended the third PhD Academy hosted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, February 1-6, 2009. Sheridan was one of 14 PhD candidates to present work under the theme "Organisations and climate change". Each presenter received detailed feedback from hosts, Dr Volker Hoffman of ETH, Dr Monika Winn of University of Victoria, Canada, and Andrew Griffiths of University of Queensland, Australia.

In Nov, 2008 Sylvan Katz was appointed a Research Fellow at Science-Metrix. Science-Metrix is a Montreal, Canada based company dedicated to the evaluation of science, technology and innovation (STI) for economic development and the advancement of knowledge. Science-Metrix was founded by Dr. Éric Archambault a SPRU graduate. (http://www.science-metrix.com/eng/index-htm.htm)

Jan 2009 Sylvan Katz gave a presentation to Physics and Engineering faculty and students at the University of Saskatchewan title "Complex Innovation Systems and Research Evaluation: A scale independent perspective". A pdf copy of the Powerpoint presentation is available from http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/sylvank/pubs/CIS&RE.pdf

Recently a paper title "The Chinese Innovation System: A scale independent perspective" written by Sylvan Katz in collaboration with colleagues from School of Management, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing and School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai was submitted for publication. Anyone interested in this paper can contact Sylvan for details.

In Nov 2008 Sylvan Katz began an informal collaborative research project with Diana Hicks and Juan Rogers at the Georgia Tech looking at the citation distributions to scientific papers using 1996-2007 Scopus data. The data was provided by Science-Metrix. The objective of this project is to examine the evolution and nature of power law or heavy tailed citation distributions. In particular they are interested in how recent insights into these types of distributions have on indicators commonly used to inform public policy.


Sandro Mendonca has given a number of presentations over the past few months:
*Sectoral Systems of Production and Creativity: A Supply Side Development Tool?. Presented at EconTel Lisbon Workshop, 24-26 November, 2008. ISCTE.
*O navio a vapor como plataforma económica no Reino Unido do Século XIX: Avaliação de uma transformação tecnológica. Presented at Jornadas do Mar 2008, “O Oceano: Riqueza da humanidade”, 10-14 November. Escola Naval, Alfeite.
*Mapping and measuring sectoral systems of production and creativity. EconTel Workshop, Zurich, 24 -26 September, 2008. Communication Systems Group CSG, Department of Informatics IFI, University of Zürich UZH.


Jae Hwan Park presented a paper entitled "Heterogeneity of the role of higher education in design knowledge creation and transfer" at the DRUID-DIME Winter Conference 2009 at Aalborg, January 22-24, 2009


Dave Francis went to India, 29 January to 8 February, for a series of meetings and lectures in Chennai. He lectured on “Innovation Skill Development Processes” and ”Innovation in Paradigm” at the FLS Forum and started investigating process innovation in India, in preparation for a workshop in China, to be held at the end of February.

Howard Rush, Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Puay Tang and Chris Smith presented NESTA colleagues and experts in the field with their research on Crime and Innovation on 26 January.

Shaun Gannon and Anna Maron attended the consortium meeting for the SM-BIO-Power project in Rome, 19-20 January.

The CENTRIM January work-in-progress seminar was presented by Howard Rush on 12 January and was entitled “Organised Crime and Illegal Innovation”

Jonathan Sapsed was invited to attend the PRIME conference in Aix-en-Provence, 15-17 December, where he presented the agenda to the plenary session: “The Creative Industries Research Agenda for Policy and Practice.

Georgina Voss gave was invited to present at the Workshop on Open Innovation in Services, at University of Cambridge on 10 December. She presented her paper, “Appropriation Dynamics in Outlaw Innovation: A resource view” as part of the “The Dark Side of Innovation” stream.

On 1 December Andre de Campos presented the CENTRIM work in progress seminar, “A Review of the Literature on University-Industry Links: Towards an integrated approach in the study of influencing factors”, at the Freeman Centre.

On 1 December George Tsekouras made a presentation on the ProfitNet scheme at the 2nd Public Sector Skills Conference at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

Jonathan Sapsed organised an AIM workshop on Designing Successful Proposals for Engaged Research on 24 November 24 in London.

Dave Francis and John Bessant co-edited a special issue of Journal of Technology Management which was published in November.

Yolande Cooke, Tim Brady, David Knowles and Paul Levy presented at the work in progress seminar on 3 November. Their presentation, entitled “To Trust or not to Trust, that is the Question: The purpose and findings of an applied research project”, investigated trust amongst employees of a large UK company, and made suggestions for building a trusting environment.

Nine Venezuelan guests attended the Freeman Centre for a 2 week “Train the Trainer” programme. The latest in this series of programmes, delivered by CENTRIM in association with Barnes & Conti, was run by David Francis, Howard Rush and Shaun Gannon from 27 October to 7 November.

George Tsekouras presented his and Jeff Readman’s paper, ‘Constructing New Networks for Economic Development: Findings from the ProfitNet learning networks in Southeast England’ at the TCI 2008: 11th Annual Global Conference of The Competitiveness Institute, Clusters 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa, 27-31 October.

Juan Mateos-Garcia, Jonathan Sapsed and Andrew Grantham concluded a 2-year project investigating routines and creativity in the UK videogames industry with a testing and validation workshop on 15 October of the first in a series of process upgrading workbooks.

George Tsekouras and Despina Kanellou presented their paper, The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Inter-organisational Routines and Activities of Learning Networks, at 6th International Conference, The Global Network for the Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (GLOBELICS) in Mexico City, 24 September 2008.

Research news

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 11, 2009.

George Tsekouras and Anna Maron travelled to Sweden where they met with colleagues at Malardalem University, to explore avenues of joint research and discuss a potential Profitnet scheme in Sweden. They also attended meetings at Linkoping University to discuss joint research opportunities as well as meeting with the Knowledge Foundation (a government established foundation, that channel central funds for university and industry co-operation) to discuss university-industry links in Sweden.

The South African ProfitNet programme ProfitNet South Africa, funded by the British Council, and jointly organised between CENTRIM and the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal came to an end in December. The summary of research findings showed that the project had been extremely well received, and had many positive results from the participating companies. CENTRIM is also happy to announce that the programme has received another year of funding via the British Council.

Andre de Campos won an ESRC Placement Fellowship in January as well as winning a University of Brighton Creative Fellowship in November.

News from the Harvard Sussex Program

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 11, 2009.

HSP Co-Director, Matthew Meselson, contributed to “Your inbox, Mr. President,” which was published in Nature on January 15, 2009.

“Oversight of biodefence activities is likely to come under examination by the new Congress, which could devise guidelines and procedures applicable throughout government. Topics to be considered should include the authority and composition of compliance review boards, criteria for approval of projects, harmonization of procedures, procedures for ensuring the reliability of personnel engaged in biodefence work, provision for site visits, a requirement for periodic reports, and the inclusion of State and Justice Department observers to promote both independence from parochial influences and familiarity with treaty commitments and applicable US law.”
For the full op-ed, go to: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v457/n7227/full/457258a.html

Catherine Jefferson, HSP DPhil student, rapporteured for the 29th Workshop of the Pugwash Study Group on the Implementation of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions: Moving Towards the Seventh BWC Review Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, 29-30 November 2008. The report of the workshop is available on the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs website: http://www.pugwash.org/reports/cbw/cbwlist.htm

The December 2008 issue of the HSP Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions Bulletin is now available to download on the HSP website: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/spru/hsp/bulletin/CBWCB%2081.pdf

This issue includes:
*An invited article by Detlef Maennig: The Problem of Thousands of Other Chemical Production Facilities Under the Chemical Weapons Convention: Are Some More Relevant Than Others?
*A report from Geneva by Graham S Pearson: The Biological Weapons Convention Meeting of States Parties, December 2008.
*Plus regular features: News Chronology (May 2008 - July 2008), Forthcoming Events and





Recent Publications
On 19 November 2008 Daniel Feakes appeared before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee to give oral evidence as part of the Committee’s inquiry into Global Security: Non-Proliferation. Daniel answered questions from the MPs present about the current status of the treaties banning chemical and biological weapons and the challenges that they face. Video of the session is available at: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/VideoPlayer.aspx?meetingId=2862 and the transcript of the session is at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmfaff/c1176-ii/c117601.htm. Daniel was also invited to make a written submission to the Committee which is at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmfaff/memo/1176/ucm5702.htm. The remit of the inquiry covers the proliferation of all weapons of mass destruction in addition to conventional weapons. The Committee will publish its report in Spring 2009.

Daniel Feakes, “Synthetic Biology and Security: A European Perspective”, WMD Insights, December 2008/January 2009, http://www.wmdinsights.com/I29/I29_EU1_SynthBioSec.htm.

Publications

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 11, 2009.

Boschma R., Iammarino S. (2009), "Related variety, trade linkages and regional growth in Italy", Economic Geography, forthcoming.

The Brazilian edition of "The Economics of Industrial Innovation" by Prof Freeman and Prof Soete has finally been published. The translation from English to Portuguese was done by Janaina Costa and André Luiz Sica de Campos (SPRU Alumni). The Brazilian Edition is called: "A Economia da Inovação Industrial". The web link to the State University of Campinas Press for this book is: http://www.editora.unicamp.br/lancamentos.asp

Book: Bengt Hultqvist, Space, Science and Me, ESA Publications Division, European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands (2003) 180 pp., Price: €30, ISBN: 92-9092-996-0. Review by Carol White: Research Policy 37(9)2008 pp 1649-1650. On-Line: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.208.05.009

Marttu Lehtonen’s chapter "OECD Peer Reviews and Policy Convergence: Diffusing Policies or Discourses?" was published in International Organizations in Global Environmental Governance. Edited by Frank Biermann, Bernd Siebenhüner, Anna Schreyögg. Pp. 71-90. Routledge Research in Environmental Politics. http://www.routledgeeconomics.com/books/International-Organizations-in-Global-Environmental-Governance-isbn9780415469258

Sussex Energy Group are planning a launch event for a new publication: Energy for the Future: A New Agenda by Edited by Dr Ivan Scrase and Professor Gordon MacKerron. http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?PID=319701
The launch will take place at Coin Street on London’s Southbank (http://www.coinstreet.org/howtofindus.aspx) on 1 April 2009.


Mendonça, S. (forthcoming in 2009), ‘Brave old world: Accounting for “high tech” knowledge in “low-tech” industries’, Research Policy.

Mendonça, S., M.P. Cunha, F. Ruff and J. Kaivo-oja (forthcoming in 2009), Venturing into the Wilderness: Preparing for Wild Cards in the Civil Aircraft and Asset-Management Industries’, Long Range Planning.

Caraça, J., B.-Å. Lundvall, S. Mendonça (forthcoming in 2009), ‘The changing role of science in the innovation process: From Queen to Cinderella?’, Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

Cardoso, G., R. Espanha, J. Caraça and S. Mendonça (forthcoming in 2009), ‘The politics of open access policy’, in William H. Dutton and Paul Jeffreys (eds), World Wide Research: Reshaping the Sciences and the Humanities in the Century of Information, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Mendonça, S., Cardoso, G. and Caraça J. (2008), ‘Some notes on the strategic strength of weak signal analysis’, LINI Working Papers nº2. http://www.lini-research.org/



Brady, T. (2009) New Challenges to Managing Organisations in Project Business, (eds) V. Minina, K. Wikström, M. Gustafsson, S. Kosheleva, St Petersburg: Agraph+.

Mateos-Garcia, J. and Steinmueller, W.E. (2008): “The Institutions of Open Source Software: Examining the Debian community” Information and Economics Policy. 20(4), 333-344.

Sapsed, J. and Salter, A. (2008) “The Extraction of Manufacturing Capability: A case of a sophisticated transferee” International Journal of Technology Management 44(3/4), 391-405.

Bessant, J. and Francis, D. (2008) “Editorial” International Journal of Technology Management 44(3/4), 293-297.

Sapsed, J. (2009) “Management in the Creative Field” Britain in 2009 January, p77.

Sapsed, J. (2009) “The Electronic Games Business” Britain in 2009 January, p110.

Upcoming

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 11, 2009.

Professor Lucy Gilson of University of Connecticut will return in March to work on joint project proposals with Jonathan Sapsed. Professor Gibson will be visiting as part of a Visiting International Fellowship arranged by Jon.

André de Campos will be working in an ESRC research placement within Research Councils UK for six months starting in April. The topic of the research will be research impact assessment. He will be spending time with the seven research councils, in RCUK in Swindon and in DIUS in London.

CENTRIM’s next work in progress seminar will be presented by Tim Franklin, one of CENTRIM's doctoral students. Tim will be giving a presentation titled “The organizational cultures of work groups: linkages with continuous improvement capability and lean performance”.

Steve Flowers' success with his proposal to NESTA on 'Measuring UK User Innovation'. This work is in collaboration with Erik von Hippel of MIT and further consolidates our UK leadership in the field of user innovation.

Other new, upcoming projects at CENTRIM over the next couple of months will include: ProfitNet Development and Guide Book, UoB Business Services Commercial Fellowship, a Collaborative Solution to Employer Demand: the Centre for Work and Learning (HEFCE), and a Rider Industries Managing Innovation workshop.



Ben Martin's Professorial Lecture, entitled Why science policy research?, takes place on Tuesday 3 March, 6.30pm in the Chowen Lecture Theatre, Brighton and Sussex Medical School. If you want to attend then contact Sussex University Events by email or phone on ext. 7488

Staff news

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Feb 11, 2009.

CENTRIM is happy to welcome Louise Streeter who is the new Centre Administrator

Congratulations are in order for George Tsekouras and Jeff Readman who have both been promoted.

On 28 November, Georgina Voss successfully completed her viva voce examination at the University of Sussex.

Editorial

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 18, 2008.

Welcome to the Autumn edition of Freeman Centre News. This issue includes reports on SPRU's invasion of Mexico City and STEPS Centre's New Manifesto, as well as regular spots for publications, activities, and staff comings and goings. Thanks to everyone who has contributed.

FC News needs you! Due to various non-work commitments (weddings, babies, that sort of thing) this issue is later and shorter than we'd hoped. As well as members of SPRU and CENTRIM letting us know about thier travels, conferences, publications and media appearances, we need new members of the editorial team to help gather news and stories. If you are interested in joining the team please get in touch. If not, then don't forget to let us know your news so we can keep everyone informed about what everyone else is doing.

FC News will be back in early 2009. Have a great festive season.

Cheers,

FC News Editorial Team

SPRU Takes over Mexico City …. briefly

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 18, 2008.

Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 25, 2008.

In 1970 the publication of a radical document by SPRU Science and Technology Policy Research and Institute of Development Studies academics helped shape modern thinking on science and technology for development. Written at the behest of the United Nations, it was called The Sussex Manifesto: Science and Technology to Developing Countries during the Second Development Decade.

Forty years on, the worlds of innovation and development have evolved beyond recognition. What kind of Manifesto is needed today? Standard policies link innovation, science and technology to development in ways that are not always sustainable and equitable solutions in an uncertain, dynamic and rapidly changing era.

The Sussex-based STEPS Centre (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) - itself a collaboration between SPRU and IDS - and its partners are creating a new manifesto with one of original authors, Professor Geoff Oldham. Seeking to bring cutting-edge ideas and some Southern perspectives to current policy, the New Manifesto will recommend new ways of linking science and innovation to development for a more sustainable, equitable and resilient future.

A series of events running from 2008 will help shape the New Manifesto, to be published in 2010, 40 years after the original report. Roundtable events with partners across the globe in 2009 will help shape the Manifesto's agenda and we would like SPRU alumni to be involved. To register your interest, please


The STEPS Centre is an interdisciplinary global research and policy engagement hub uniting development studies with science and technology studies, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Ian Kenyon

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 18, 2008.

Harvard Sussex Program loses valuable adviser and friend, Ian Kenyon.

It is with deep sadness that we announce that Ian Kenyon died on Thursday 7 August 2008. Ian was a long-serving member of the HSP Advisory Board and more recently a Visiting Fellow at SPRU. In recent years, Ian worked closely with Julian Perry Robinson and Daniel Feakes on a project to record the history of the OPCW Preparatory Commission. That project resulted in the publication in 2007 of The Creation of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons: A Case Study in the Birth of an Intergovernmental Organisation, (TMC Asser Press: The Hague, 2007)

Ian was a frequent visitor to HSP Sussex where he often participated in meetings and seminars and he was an inspiration to our staff and students. He made a significant contribution to HSP and his advice was always warmly received. He will be sorely missed by all of us at both Sussex and Harvard.

At Ian’s funeral on 18 August in Tunbridge Wells, a eulogy was given by HSP Research Fellow Daniel Feakes, view this at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/spru/hsp/People/Ian%20Kenyon%20Eulogy.pdf Messages of condolence have also been posted on the OPCW and Foreign and Commonwealth Office websites and on the website of the Mountbatten Centre for International Studies where Ian was a Senior Visiting Fellow.

An obituary of Ian will be published in the forthcoming issue (no. 80) of The CBW Conventions Bulletin which will be posted on the HSP website at the end of October http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/spru/hsp/Harvard-Sussex-Program-CBW-Conventions-Bulletin.htm

Peer-to-peer

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 25, 2008.

A introductory Peer-to-Peer seminar was held on October 20, 2008. The special session was designed for new and old(er) DPhils to find out about each other's research and discover overlaps with colleagues. Over 30 people attended and each summarised their project and methodology and outlined their contribution to SPRU and/or the world. The discussion revealed a wide diversity of approaches - with a methodological leaning to qualitative techniques. A summary document is available from Sheridan Nye.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) is a series of seminars for SPRU DPhils to try out a formal or informal presentation on a small group of friendly peers. If you have a conference appearance coming up, or just want to clarify your research plans, P2P could be a good forum to try out your ideas and get feedback. Contact Sheridan to arrange a time slot.

CENTRIM

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 20, 2008.

Activities
Andre de Campos and George Tsekouras presented a paper at the British Academy of Management (BAM) conference in Harrogate, September 9-11. The paper was entitled “Linking Universities with SMEs: Do they know what they want from each other?”

Jonathan Sapsed presented a paper at BAM co-authored with Juan Mateos-Garcia entitled ‘Adopting Agile and Scrum Practices as Organizational Becoming’. He also presented the paper to the EuroMOT conference at CERAM, Sophia Antipolis, over 17th-19th September.

Yolande Cooke authored a paper for the 9th International Continuous Innovation Network (CINet) Conference, 5-9 Sept 2008. Eugenia Aguilar Nova presented the paper, “Is it possible to construct an entrepreneur's personal network: what can the ProfitNet project tell us?”, in Valencia on behalf of Yolande.

Mike Hobday gave the keynote speech to World Association of Sustainable Development conference: 'The Rise of Asian Innovation: Business and Policy Implications', Presentation to WASD Conference, Brighton, UK, 27th August 2008.

Georgina Voss and Jonathan Sapsed presented in the symposium on 'Creativity and Innovation: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' at the Academy of Management Conference in Anaheim, USA, over 8-13 August.

Howard Rush and Dave Francis gave keynote addresses at an International Symposium on the Management of Innovation in Santiago Chile on the 8th August for 28 public servants. They also ran the Innovation management course at Foundation Chile, 5-6 August.

Steve Flowers presented a paper, “Drawing User Innovation into Policy: The UK Experience” at the Harvard Business School (HBS) & Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) User and Open Innovation Workshop at Harvard Business School on 4-6 August.

Juan Mateos-Garcia, Andrew Grantham and Jon Sapsed presented a session, ‘Secrets of Process Excellence’at Develop 2008, the annual video games industry conference, at the Metropole, Brighton, over 29-31.

News
Congratulations are surely in order for Muriela Hinard de Padua for her successful
viva!

Activities

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 25, 2008.

Sheridan Nye gave a presentation on "Net benefits of energy-efficiency services: A counterfactual model" to the International Telecommunication Union's Focus Group on ICT and Climate Change. The inaugural meeting in Geneva, September 1-3, debated its remit to establish standards and methodologies for measuring the impacts of ICT on CO2e levels. The group will also publicise to members the work of universities on this issue.

Molly Morgan spent the summer in the US doing field work at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

As part of his role as International Coordinator of UNESCO Chair on Transfer of Technology, Allam Ahmed is involved in organising the First Sudanese Diaspora International Conference at Holiday Inn Brighton, UK 23rd - 25th January 2009, entitled 'The Role of Diaspora in Technology Transfer and Achieving Sustainable Development in Sudan'. World-renowned speakers will be speaking at the conference: Dr. El Tayeb Mustafa, UNESCO Director of the Division for Science Policy & Sustainable Development. Dr. Mansour Khalid, Vice-chairman of the World Commission on Environment and Development. Professor Geoffrey Oldham, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Science and Development Network (Scidev.net). Professor Mohamed H. A. Hassan, Executive Director of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) and President of the African Academy of Sciences. Professor Dave Cavanagh, Head of Corporate Affairs and Communication, Institute for Animal Health and Chairman of the UK Poultry Disease Group.
More information about UNESCOTT and the conference can be found at: unescott.org

Simona Iammarino was in Paris at the OECD recently, and it was greed that she will contribute (with co-author Philip McCann) to an OECD publication on Policy for Regional Innovation (forthcoming 2009).

André Campos obtained funding from the Creativity Centre of the University of Brighton to design a workshop aiming at training small and medium enterprises on how to link with universities. The workshop will be based on his research on the 'Profit Through Networks' programme of Brighton University - a constructed learning network implemented in South Africa and ongoing in Sussex and the Republic of Ireland covering over 400 firms. The design of the workshop is part of the dissemination of the research results, following presentations to the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Business and Social Engagement of the University and at the British Academy of Management.

During the summer, Jim Watson spent three months in the United States as a Visiting Scholar at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He was hosted by the Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group which has many common research interests with the Sussex Energy Group. Examples include work on government policies to develop and deploy low carbon technologies, research on energy and climate policy in China and India, and work on the sustainability and governance of biofuels. Jim gave a number of talks on Sussex Energy Group research on future scenarios for China's carbon emissions (at the Kennedy School and the Woodrow Wilson Centre for Scholars in Washington DC) and decentralised energy systems (at the Tellus Institute). He also produced a working paper for a Kennedy School discussion paper series on priorities for energy innovation policy. Follow on activities are planned as a result of Jim's visit including visits by members of the ETIP team to SPRU and joint research projects and papers. Jim’s talks are available at the ETIP website and at wilsoncenter.org.

In November Jim Watson was one of 31 energy experts consulted by a BBC News questionnaire. Jim was quoted on the Radio 4 Today programme saying that the government need to act more quickly on energy saving / efficiency and the need to do more on carbon capture and storage. Details of the questionnaire can be found at the BBC News website

Sheridan Nye attended a Stakeholder Engagement lunch November 12, 2008, hosted by Vodafone to discuss the company's strategic response to climate change. Other diners included representatives from major environmental NGOs and specialist media.

Published

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 25, 2008.

Marshall, N. (2008) 'Cognitive and practice-based theories of organizational knowledge and learning: incompatible or complementary?' Management Learning 39(4): 413-435.

Articles in press: Mateos-Garcia, J. and Steinmueller, W.E. (2008): “The Institutions of Open Source Software: Examining the Debian community”. Information and Economics Policy.

Forthcoming: Sapsed, J. and Salter, A. (2008) “The Extraction of Manufacturing Capability: A case of a sophisticated transferee” International Journal of Technology Management.

Forthcoming: Cooke, Y. (2008) “Caribbean Brand-Owners Thirst for More from Global Value Chains” International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development.

Forthcoming: Patel, P., Campos, A. and Klitkou, A. (2009) “Meta analysis of co-authorship and co-inventorship between science and industry” Research Policy.

Forthcoming: Hobday, M. (2008), “Latecomer Entrepreneurship: a Policy Perspective” in: G. Dosi (ed.), Industrial Policies for Development. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

Forthcoming: Sapsed, J. (2008) 'Visions and Innovation Strategy' in Constanzo, L.A. and Bradley MacKay, R. (eds.) The Handbook of Research on Strategy and Foresight. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar

Forthcoming: Mateos-Garcia, J. and Steinmueller, W.E. (2008): “Open, but how much? Growth, conflict and institutional evolution in open source communities” in Roberts, J. and Amin, A. (eds.) (2008): “Organising for Creativity: Community, Economy and Space”. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


Molly Morgan was published in in an American online science policy journal entitled Science Progress. The article was entitled 'Open-Up' and was about the need for transparency in science policy decision making and it described Multicriteria Mapping, the interview technique Molly is using for her doctoral research and that was developed by Andy Stirling. The article can be seen at http://www.scienceprogress.org/2008/08/open-up/

Ahmed, A. (2009) "Building Open Access in Africa", International Journal of Technology Management, 45(1/2), 2009: 82-101. Inderscience Publishers, UK (with Dr. Williams E. Nwagwu)http://www.sciencebase.com

Ahmed, A. (2008) "Marketing of Halal Meat in the United Kingdom: Supermarkets Vs. Local Shops", British Food Journal, 110(7), 2008:655-670.http://www.emeraldinsight.com

Iammarino, S., Padilla R., von Tunzelmann N., (2008) “Technological capabilities and global-local interactions. The electronics industry in two Mexican regions”, World Development, 36, 10, October, 1980-2003.

Josie Ellis, Rossitza Rousseva, Alma Rocha Lackiz, Yari Borbon Galvez, Irene Makar and Carol White have all written book reviews for Research Policy over the past few months. The reviews can be read at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00487333

Staff

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 20, 2008.

CENTRIM would like to welcome Tracy Kellock to Freeman Centre.

Everyone at CENTRIM would also like to say goodbye to Samantha Cochrane.

SPRU is pleases to welcome Gemma Feldwick who joined the teaching Office in late September but was sorry to lose Merrill Jones who has joined Iain Forster on secondment to the Vice Chancellor's Office.

SPRU says a temporary farewell to Sarah Birchmore who is off on a six month secondment to Sussex House at the end of the month.

Congratulations go to SPRU DPhil student Josie Ellis who gave birth to baby Rafa (weighing 8lbs), and HSP's Caitriona McLeish who had a baby boy, Gabriel, both on Tuesday 11 November. Both mums and babies are all doing well.

Sussex Energy Group is delighted to welcome Frank Geels, Professorial Fellow and Alex Mallett, Research Fellow.

Freeman Centre Christmas Party

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 18, 2008.

The Freeman Centre Christmas Party takes place on Friday 12 December, 7.30 to 11.30, in The Jazz Place at Smugglers, 10 Ship Street, Brighton. Tickets cost £5 and will be sold every day in The Street, 1 to 2pm, and in the Library at other times until Friday 5 December.

Table tennis table

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Nov 18, 2008.

Note from the Editor: As you may know, the table tennis table is currently undergoing a risk assessment but the University's powers that be. However, here is a guidance note from Frank Geels regarding ping pong etiquette which should be useful should the table tennis reappear.

Dear all

Upon my arrival at Sussex University I have consulted 13 people from SPRU and CENTRIM about the possibility of getting a table tennis table. This 'initiative from the workfloor' was then passed on to the leadership team, who in their wisdom decided to accept and implement the idea.

At Eindhoven University, where I worked previously, we also had a table tennis table, which people used in the lunch break (or when they got stuck in writing their articles). This provided an opportunity for fun, social interaction, gossip (an important but overlooked social interaction process), relaxation and/or physical exercise. Within the Freeman Centre it may further serve as another interaction space between CENTRIM and SPRU people.

Some guiding principles:

1) In terms of practical implementation, the main guiding principle is that it should NOT create nuisance or burden for other people. I propose that we work out practical details through learning by doing

2) In terms of location, let’s begin in the Social Space (the seminar rooms may form an alternative). After playing, the table should be folded, and placed against the wall so as not to take much space. Do not create extra work for Kevin (in terms of rearranging chairs and tables). Playing table tennis should not disrupt people who want to have an (intellectual?) conversation during lunch. If you want to play during lunch, please first ask the people in the Social Space if they mind.

3) An issue for consideration is oversight over the balls, bats and net, without creating additional bureaucratic responsibilities. Initially my plan was to keep the balls, bat and net upstairs to prevent theft or ‘disappearance’. But this would restrict students from playing. Following feedback at Forum meeting (1 October), it was decided that table tennis facilities should be open to staff, PhD students, undergraduate and master students. Because we don’t want to burden teaching or library staff with extra tasks, we will initially operate on the basis of trust, i.e. balls, bats and net will be kept downstairs in the Social Space. If material does appear to ‘disappear’, we may need to move to constructions with more control and oversight.

4) Many people may want to use the table. We expect politeness so as not to monopolize the table, and let other people play as well. You can book the table in advance, by writing your name in a book (also located in the social space) for a particular day and time (for a maximum of 15 minutes)

5) If you're playing, please close the door, so as not create too much noise which may hinder other people.

You are of course entitled to bring your own table tennis bat. I have already learned that some people are quite competitive, so this may start off an innovation/arms race, where people buy increasingly sophisticated material to give the balls more spin. If this leads to too large discrepancies between players, we will be forced to take counter measures (e.g. blindfold the better player).

After an initial practice period (of some weeks/months), we may even organize some kind of competition/tournament. But the main thing is to have fun and facilitate cross-group interaction.

If you have complaints or suggestions about practical implementation, please don't hesitate to contact me, and we'll see what kind of adjustments we can make.

Enjoy.

Frank Geels

Editorial

By Clareypops (noreply@blogger.com) from Freeman Centre News. Published on Aug 01, 2008.

Welcome to the second edition of the new-look Freeman Centre News. This month's issue is a little shorter than the last, due to everyone seeming to have gone on holiday, but members of CENTRIM and SPRU have managed to fit in some work (and some parties) in between trips to the seaside.

This month we have a report on AIM's visit to the Freeman Centre, accounts of the frustrations of field work and getting a visa, and tell you who has been doing what where in our regular 'Activities' column. Plus, there's news of an exciting speaker at the Marie Jahoda Lecture this October. On the more social side, we celebrate SPRU's first graduates and dance the night away at the Freeman Centre Summer party.

FC News will be taking its own summer break now but will be back, suntanned and refreshed, in October with more news of the Freeman Centre's movers and shakers. If you have any reports of moving and shaking (or visits, presentations, fieldwork, and publications) do get in touch. We look forward to bringing you more news-packed issues next academic year.

Have a good summer.

Cheers,

FC News Editorial Team