in content lists or on the content page.Sitra’s India Programme published the report New Geography of Innovation: India, Finland, Science and Technology on 12 December 2006. The authors of the report, who are researchers at the British Demos think tank, stress the importance of close co-operation between India and Finland for the upgrading of Finland’s innovative capacity.
According to the report, Finland is about to enter a period which will be marked by global-scale interdependence between innovations. We will no longer be able to focus on individual countries’ innovation capacities or relations between their different institutions. These factors alone will not be able to tell what innovation capacity a country will possess in the coming years.
“Compared with other developed countries, Finland has very little co-operation with India. A good national innovation system alone cannot help Finland develop a better understanding of what India’s growth actually means. In order to succeed, Finland must open its doors to the world,” says Paul Miller, one of the authors of the report.
The joint projects between India and Finland should be focusing on science and technology. This requires measures designed to promote improved cultural knowledge about India in Finland and vice versa.
Something else that is needed is better and wider networking: we need forums where Indian and Finnish researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs can get to know one another. Individual collaboration projects should be supported directly, according to the report.
India has become an epicentre of the new geography of innovation. For example, Indian research and development are about to reach the top standard globally, and India’s new position and competence base are able to challenge the established innovation powers while offering new opportunities on the side.
“Finland should see India as a strategic opportunity, not as a threat. However, we should be realistic about the opportunities on offer. Although the country produces new innovation models, it still has its share of problems to solve. Successful co-operation will require better mutual awareness from both India and Finland,” says Vesa-Matti Lahti, Director of Sitra’s India Programme.
The third phase of the India Programme will be launched in January and during the year it will focus on promoting expert exchange between Finland and India.
Further information
Vesa-Matti Lahti, Director, Sitra’s India Programme
Tel. +358 50 387 3188, firstname.lastname@sitra.fi
Publication details
The New Geography of Innovation: India, Finland, Science and Technology. Kirsten Bound, Charles Leadbeater, Paul Miller & James Wilsdon.
Sitra Reports 71.
ISBN 951-563-557-8 (paperback), ISSN 1457-571X (paperback).
ISBN 951-563-558-6 (URL:http://www.sitra.fi), ISSN 1457-5728 (URL:http://www.sitra.fi)
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You can also order the report from Sitra, tel. +358 9 618 991, email publications@sitra.fi.