Global Innovation Ecosystem 2007 Workshop

In September 2006 in Kyoto, the inaugural Global Innovation Ecosystem conference was held jointly by the Science Council of Japan (SCJ), Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). It was the first attempt to propose and define the concept for a Global Innovation Ecosystem (GIES). At the conference, we raised the issue of the gap between various initiatives to design an innovation ecosystem at the national level, such as Innovate America, and the global nature of the issues we face today. The latter includes climate change, energy efficiency, healthcare and the divide between rich and poor nations exacerbated by explosive population growth in regions such as Asia and Africa.

We emphasized the role of science-based innovation to resolve these issues and the need to design and create an international framework for collaboration. Such a framework needs to include 'Interaction Fields' to bring new scientific knowledge to society by realizing its economic and social value in the form of profit and growth for the private sector and a higher standard of living for the public.

During the two-day conference, the need was recognized for a global innovation system to balance economic growth and sustainability. National innovation system initiatives of various countries were also presented by scholars, public policy makers and business leaders. In addition, parallel working sessions were held to discuss major issues associated with the three components of the Innovation process. At the end of the conference, a conceptual framework for the GIES with additional elements was agreed and further refinement of the model was presented with layers combining the countries/economies at different stages of economic development.

June 2007