Reforming Innovation Systems : Moving Beyond Lectures and Labs

Abstract

These proceedings provide an overview of the main issues and conclusions presented at the 2009 Fontainebleau knowledge economy forum by an outstanding group of academics, practitioners, and policymakers. These proceedings encapsulate the debate that was generated by: 1) the World Bank's most recent Europe and Central Asia Knowledge Economy (ECAKE) third report: restructuring of research and development institutes across the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region, which was put up for consultations with the forum's participants; 2) the proceedings reflect the discussion on the higher education reform across the ECA region, specifically the merits and challenges associated with world-class universities and the capacity of ECA's Higher Education Institution's (HEIs) to foster skills and job growth; and 3) the need for adoption of a stronger national Quality Infrastructure (QI) in countries across the ECA region as a key ingredient of more effective commercialization of research output, product development, and exports. The study builds on the extensive literature on enterprise restructuring and privatization in ECA on the one hand, and on the evidence from the Research and Development Institute (RDI) statistics and case studies on the other, to strategy for reform of RDIs.