Welcome to APEC Center for Technology Foresight, Bangkok, Thailand
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Visits since August 3, 2002: 
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PROGRAM
(Listen to audio presentations, use Winamp or
Windows Media player programs.)
WEDNESDAY, 20 NOVEMBER
2002
16:00-18:00 Registration
18:30 Welcome Reception (cocktail)
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THURSDAY,
21 NOVEMBER 2002
08:30-09:00 Registration
09:00-11:40 Opening Plenary Session
Chairman: Mr. Jacques Lyrette
Vice President, NRC, Canada
09:00-09:10 Welcome
remarks
by Mr. Phinij Jarusombat
Thai Minister of Science and Technology
09:10-09:30 Opening
speech
by Mr. Suwit Khunkitti
Thai Deputy Prime Minister
09:30-10:00
Managing for Knowledge
Effectiveness
by Dr. Jih-Chang Yang
Executive Vice President, ITRI, Chinese Taipei
10:00-10:30
Strategic Positioning
of RTOs in the Knowledge-Based Economy
by Professor Pairash Thajchayapong
President, NSTDA, Thailand
10:30-11:00 Coffee / tea
11:00-11:10
Reflections and Actions
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences  (8.09MB)
Professor Yan Yixun
Former Vice President, Chinese Academy of Sciences
11:10-11:20
New Environment of Research
& Technology Organizations in Japan (11.13MB)
Mr. Kaname Ikeda
Executive Director, National Space Development Agency Japan
11:20-11:30
The
co-evolution of innovation intermediary organizations and national innovation
systems in Asia (5.76MB)
Dr. Mark Dodgson
Director,Technology and Innovation Management Center, University of Queensland
11:30-11:40
Government Research
and Development Mechanism and Its Evaluation: Current Status in Chinese
Taipei
(7.59KB)
Dr. Chia-Cheng Lin
Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, Executive Yuan, Chinese
Taipei
11:40-12:15 Questions and Answers
Session
12:15-14:00 Lunch
14:00-14:30 Plenary Session
Creating Value from
Knowledge through Entrepreneurship(25.82MB)
by Dr. Arthur J. Carty
President, NRC, Canada
14:30-14:40 Moving to Break-out Sessions
14:40-16:30 Parallel Break-out Session
- 3 themes:
Theme 1: Management
Techniques for Knowledge Effectiveness
Theme 2: Creating Value
from Knowledge through Entrepreneuship
Theme 3: Strategic Directions
for RTOs
16:30-17:30 Plenary Session: Chair
- Professor Greg Tegart
Recap of day 1
Short presentations by Facillitators(26.35MB)
18:30-21:00 Dinner and Loy Krathong
Festival |
09:45 Moving to Parallel break-out
Clusters A, B, C
09:55-11:00
Scenario Development in small Groups with each Cluster
11:00-11:30
Report back by Scenario Groups within Cluster
11:30-12:15
Each group develops 3-5 Policy Initiatives
12:15-12:30
Report back within each Cluster
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00 Final Plenary Session
14:00-15:15
Plenary Report by Each Cluster Facilitator and list of Policy Actions
15:15-15.20 Summing up by Prof Ron Johnston(6.06MB)
15:20-15:35 Coffee / tea
15:35-15:50
Summary &
Conclusion (8.71MB)
by Professor Ron Johnston
Director, Australian Center for Innovation, University of Sydney
15:50-16:00 Closing remarks:
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Dr. Jih-Chang Yang, ITRI, Chinese
Taipei
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Dr. Arthur J. Carty, NRC, Canada
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Professor Pairash Thajchayapong, NSTDA,
Thailand
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Summary Report
4th APEC R&D Leaders Forum
20-22 November 2002
Phuket, Thailand
The 4th APEC R&D Leaders Forum was held at Merlin
Beach Resort Hotel in Phuket, Thailand from 20 to 22 November 2002. This
Forum was jointly organized by National Science and Technology Development
Agency of Thailand (NSTDA), the Industrial Technology Research Institute
of Chinese Taipei (ITRI) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC).
The theme of this Forum was "The Challenges for Research and Technology
Organizations in the Knowledge-based Economy".
The purposes of the Forum were to allow
RTOs leaders to reflect on the changed environment, to share their experiences
on new projects and new ways of working that can be most productive in
these circumstances, and to look to the future for the changes that they
will all need to make. The Forum attracted 161 participants from 11 APEC
member economies and 1 participant from Norway.
The Forum was divided into 3 main sessions
which were:
1) plenary session for keynote addresses and invited speeches by prominent
APEC R&D leaders,
2) parallel break-out session to discuss on 3 main themes which would
challenge RTOs in the knowledge-based economy, and
3) foresight session to explore the future for RTOs in the knowledge-based
economy.
In the plenary session,
Dr. Yang emphasized the fact that ICT, not knowledge itself, makes the
knowledge-based economy differ from other traditional economy. ICT enables
us to exploit knowledge in unprecedented ways and drives the growth of
the service sector. ITRI recognized the power of ICT and made a transition
to focus on a high value-added service sector. Dr. Pairash stressed an
urgent need for RTOs to revise their strategic positioning toward a KBE.
He gave a real example on how NSTDA, one of the RTOs in developing countries,
has repositioned itself for the arrival of a KBE. Lastly, Dr. Carty highlighted
a new model of innovation, using the analogy of a soccer game rather than
a relay race as in the traditional model. He also illustrated this change
from NRC strategic evolution.
In the parallel session,
participants were divided into 3 groups. Each group focused on different
themes which were:
• The 1st theme “Management Techniques for
Knowledge Effectiveness” was led by ITRI, Chinese Taipei. It was
agreed that organizations should be more matrix in nature in order to
liberate the entrepreneurial and innovation potentials of their researchers.
This matrix should extend beyond organizational boundaries to network
outside resources. The effectiveness of managing knowledge depends on
each RTOs leaders to anticipate change and well plan to move in the right
direction and meet the demand of customers.
• The 2nd theme “Creating
Value from Knowledge through Entrepreneurship” was led by NRC, Canada.
Participants pointed out that RTOs can create value through entrepreneurship
in the following aspects:
- Human Resource – Introducing early understanding
of S&T and training the people to become entrepreneurs,
- Organization Culture – Breaking down bureaucracy,
- Funding and Financing – Finding out ventures
who can accept high risk from technology investment,
- Process-related – Time and service are critical
issues,
- Communication – Information and good business
plans are essential for supporting the innovative process, and
- Linkages, Networking and Capacity Building –
Linkages to other R&D organizations to exchange the knowledge.
• The 3rd theme “Strategic
Directions for RTOs” was led by NSTDA, Thailand. Each economy faces
different situation in setting up RTO strategic direction. However, there
was a consensus that the role of each RTO should correspond to its evolving
national innovation system. Four key elements in shaping strategic directions
of RTOs in the future were outlined as 1) internal capabilities of RTOs,
2) collaborations and partnerships, 3) human resources and, 4) political
support.
The foresight session was held on the second day. This
session started with an introduction to foresight by Prof. Ron Johnston,
and a recap of the 3 main themes of the conference. He then presented
10 key drivers which had been partly identified by participants through
an email poll, and he discussed some of their implications. The drivers
were: the Knowledge Economy, the Evolution of the Internet; Knowledge
Management Capabilities; Global and Regional Competition; Demands for
Direct Economic Contributions; Active Entrepreneurial Roles; International
Collaboration; Skilled Talent Challenges; Access to Infrastructure; and
New Organizations Processes and Practices. Two major challenges were then
selected on the basis that they are expected to be highly significant
and uncertain over the coming five years and that they potentially impact
most or all of the APEC RTOs. These critical uncertainties were: the degree
of challenges presented by the environment (environmental challenge -
high or low), and the degree of public support for science and technology
(support - high or low). Combining these 2 uncertainties created possible
4 scenario conditions: 1) high environmental challenges / high support
, 2) low environmental challenge / high support 3) high environmental
challenges / low support , and 4) low environmental challenges / low support.
Participants were then divided into 3
clusters corresponding to 3 main themes (entrepreneurship / knowledge
management / collaborations and partnerships) and each cluster consisted
of 4 groups of about 10 people. Within each cluster, each small group
addressed one scenario condition. The task of the small groups was to
elaborate the scenario conditions, attempting to describe what the future
would be like in this scenario, focussing especially on how the RTOs might
fare in such conditions. Once the scenarios had been characterised and
debated by the clusters, the small groups then developed a set of policy
and research management implications, pertinent to the prospective future
of APEC RTOs. These policy implications were then reported back to the
conference with an emphasis on potential policy initiatives that could
be robust under all scenarios. Some examples included:
- Recognition of the need for an increase
in collaborations and partnerships;
- Greater attention to building public
support for science and technology, since the negative consequences
of low public support for S&T could be so severe;
- While the RTOs may be broadening in
scope and scale, a reduction in technology breadth may be necessary.
In sum, RTOs in the future have to change
their roles. Some RTOs could be intermediaries in the innovation process,
while some RTOs could be innovative infrastructure and learning networks,
or facilitators of the business environment. These new roles require new
ways of thinking and working.
Besides a fruitful and interactive conference,
this forum was also an excellent opportunity to get to know each other
and build up connections among key players responsible for science, technology
and innovation in APEC economies. Participants had chances to communicate
with others facing similar issues and the Forum therefore offered opportunities
for learning, cooperation and information exchange.
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Rationale
In a rapidly changing world, APEC's research and technology organizations
(RTOs) need to reorient their activities to meet the challenges of the
knowledge-based economy. Knowledge has become a key determinant of economic
growth and international competitiveness and successful economies are
shifting from resource-based to technological- and innovation-based
regimes. Innovation, in terms of both products and processes, is essential
for transforming knowledge into wealth in a knowledge-based economy.
Traditionally, the primary purpose of RTOs has been the production of
knowledge through research and development activities. In future, RTOs
must not only generate knowledge but also emphasise the application
and commercialization of knowledge, playing a key role in turning scientific
and technological discoveries into new products and improved processes.
RTOs must become instruments of innovation, and key players in their
economy's innovation system.
Key
Questions to be addressed in this forum
| How
should RTOs redefine their role to make them more effective contributors
to the growth of the economy and the well-being of the people? |
| How
should the internal management of RTOs develop to perform most effectively
in the knowledge-based economy? |
How
can future RTOs help to turn knowledge into value and encourage
a spirit of entrepreneurship? |
Who would benefit
most from this event?
All economies, both developed and developing, have RTOs.
RTOs may be in the government, academic, business or independent 'not-for-profit'
sector but often work at the interface between some of these sectors,
with a variety of influences and funding sources.
This forum will be of
interest to: APEC R&D Leaders; policy developers and planners in APEC
economies; key members of RTOs, national and international research and
development organizations; CEOs and business leaders, especially from
multinational companies operating in the APEC region; owners and operators
of SMEs; academics, researchers and graduate students; anyone wishing
to expand their knowledge, share ideas and interact with colleagues from
RTOs.
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