Currently, many countries are implementing national innovation strategies: reforming regulatory systems, increasing support for scientific research, improving education systems and stimulating investment in information technology. This is not a competition among timid people, and countries have managed to compete for innovation, which is at the heart of national economic growth and competitiveness。
What is the overall strategy being implemented and what specific measures have been taken? If a country is to succeed in accelerating innovation systems, it needs to work at both the strategic and the methodological levels。
There is often an error in the design of innovation strategies: too much attention is being paid to a few industries, but innovation is understood at the technical level as the production of high-tech products such as boeing 787 dream aircraft. The task of improving the living standards of the population could be fulfilled by replacing traditional industries with high-technology industries (e. G. Semiconductor industries) (e. G. Textile production)。
Productivity progress, i. E. Increased output from quantitative inputs, is an important indicator of economic performance. There are two ways to increase productivity: by investing in new technologies or improving labour skills to improve overall productivity in individual industries, with “growth effects”; and by replacing lower productivity industries with higher productivity industries with “transfer effects”。
What is the choice when a country wants to become richer? Is there an overall increase in productivity across industries or a shift to high-productivity sectors? This depends in part on the size of the country. A comprehensive approach to productivity enhancement is more appropriate in larger economies, such as china and the united states, where more output is spent on domestic consumption, and where higher productivity leads to lower prices that benefit domestic consumers。
This is why a large number of studies have shown that the main reason for productivity increases in most countries is not simply a shift in a few industries towards higher productivity, but an overall increase in productivity by all firms and firms. Recent research by the mckinsey institute of global studies shows that china's economic growth outpaces that of other brics countries is due to china's faster productivity gains in a broader area。
Once the strategic objectives for innovation are clear, they need to be accompanied by appropriate implementation measures. Global policymakers usually have two ideas in their quest for successful development of an innovative economy. One line of thought is that governments should not intervene to stimulate innovation, except by financing basic research, ensuring market competition and protecting intellectual property rights。
China has actively pursued another approach, and the government has taken more active and direct measures to promote innovation. China has benefited greatly from these policies, but has also encountered problems, such as the concentration of enterprises on scaling up production rather than innovation, and the lack of strong links between universities, research institutions and industry。
Indeed, there was no need to choose between those two lines. Innovative countries such as finland, singapore and sweden offer a lesson: markets alone cannot meet the needs of an innovative society, and active innovation policies are essential; at the same time, firms need to lead innovation, allow them to participate fully in international competition and protect their innovation outcomes。
In sum, focusing on innovation in all areas, implementing policies that encourage competition and respect intellectual property rights, and supporting science, technology and knowledge creation are key to innovative nation-building。
(by the president of the american foundation for information technology and innovation)
