Foundations of technology development, innovation and competitiveness in the globalised knowledge economy

With the growth of high-technology industries and knowledge intensive services, the pursuit of industrial competitiveness has progressed from a broad concern with the processes of industrialisation to a more focused analysis of the factors explaining cross-national variation in the level of participation in knowledge industries. From an examination of cross-national data, the paper develops the proposition that particular elements of the domestic science, technology and industry infrastructure—such as the stock of knowledge and competence in the economy, the capacity for learning and generation of new ideas and the capacity to commercialise new ideas—vary cross-nationally and are related to the level of participation of a nation in knowledge intensive activities. Existing understandings of the role of the state in promoting industrial competitiveness might be expanded to incorporate an analysis of the contribution of the state through the building of competencies in science, technology and industry. Keywords: Knowledge; economy; comparative public policy; innovation; science and technology policy

Bioavailability of soil organic carbon and Fe as influenced by forestry practices in a subtropical coastal catchment

Potential impacts of plantation forestry practices on soil organic carbon and Fe available to microorganisms were investigated in a subtropical coastal catchment. The impacts of harvesting or replanting were largely limited to the soil top layer (0–10 cm depth). The thirty-year-old Pinus plantation showed low soil moisture content (Wc) and relatively high levels of soil total organic carbon (TOC). Harvesting and replanting increased soil Wc but reduced TOC levels. Mean dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) increased in harvested or replanted soils, but such changes were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Total dithionite-citrate and aqua regia-extractable Fe did not respond to forestry practices, but acid ammonium oxalate and pyrophosphate-extractable, bioavailable Fe decreased markedly after harvesting or replanting. Numbers of heterotrophic bacteria were significantly correlated with DOC levels (P < 0.05), whereas Fe-reducing bacteria and S-bacteria detected using laboratory cultivation techniques did not show strong correlation with either soil DOC or Fe content.

Human and bovine adenoviruses for the detection of source-specific fecal pollution in coastal waters in Australia

In this study, the host-specificity and -sensitivity of human- and bovine-specific adenoviruses (HS-AVs and BS-AVs) were evaluated by testing wastewater/fecal samples from various animal species in Southeast, Queensland, Australia. The overall specificity and sensitivity of the HS-AVs marker were 1.0 and 0.78, respectively. These figures for the BS-AVs were 1.0 and 0.73, respectively. Twenty environmental water samples were colleted during wet conditions and 20 samples were colleted during dry conditions from the Maroochy Coastal River and tested for the presence of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), host-specific viral markers, zoonotic bacterial and protozoan pathogens using PCR/qPCR. The concentrations of FIB in water samples collected after wet conditions were generally higher compared to dry conditions. HS-AVs was detected in 20% water samples colleted during wet conditions and whereas BS-AVs was detected in both wet (i.e., 10%) and dry (i.e., 10%) conditions. Both, C. jejuni mapA and Salmonella invA genes were detected in 10% and 10% of samples, respectively collected during dry conditions. The concentrations of Salmonella invA ranged between 3.5 × 102 to 4.3 × 102 genomic copies per 500 ml of water G. lamblia β-giardin gene was detected only in one sample (5%) collected during the dry conditions. Weak or significant correlations were observed between FIB with viral markers and zoonotic pathogens. However, during dry conditions, no significant correlations were observed between FIB concentrations with viral markers and zoonotic pathogens. The prevalence of HS-AVs in samples collected from the study river suggests that the quality of water is affected by human fecal pollution and as well as bovine fecal pollution. The results suggest that HS-AVs and BS-AVs detection using PCR could be a useful tool for the identification of human sourced fecal pollution in coastal waters.

The impact of tax morale and institutional quality on the shadow economy

This paper uses a multivariate analysis to examine how countries‘ tax morale and institutional quality affect the shadow economy. The literature strongly emphasizes the quantitative importance of these factors in understanding the level of and changes in the shadow economy. Newly available data sources offer the unique opportunity to further illuminate a topic that has received increased attention. After controlling for a variety of potential factors, we find strong support that a higher tax morale and a higher institutional quality lead to a smaller shadow economy.

Local autonomy, tax morale, and the shadow economy

Policymakers often propose strict enforcement strategies to fight the shadow economy and to increase tax morale. However, there is an alternative bottom-up approach that decentralises political power to those who are close to the problems. This paper analyses the relationship with local autonomy. We use data on tax morale at the individual level and macro data on the size of the shadow economy to analyse the relevance of local autonomy and compliance in Switzerland. The findings suggest that there is a positive (negative) relationship between local autonomy and tax morale (size of the shadow economy).

The digital economy bill and the UK’s creative industries : a perspective from China

The Digital Economy Bill has been heavily criticized by consumer organizations, internet service providers and technology experts on the grounds that it will reduce the public’s ability to access politically sensitive information, impinge on citizens’ rights to privacy, threaten freedom of expression and have a chilling effect on digital innovation. Its passage in spite of these criticisms reflects, among other things, the power of the rhetoric that has been employed by its proponents. This paper examines economic arguments surrounding the digital economy debate in light of lessons from one of the world's fastest growing economies: China.

Making space and place for the knowledge economy : knowledge-based development of Australian cities

The impact of what has been broadly labelled the knowledge economy has been such that, even in the absence of precise measurement, it is the undoubted dynamo of today’s global market, and an essential part of any global city. The socio-economic importance of knowledge production in a knowledge economy is clear, and it is an emerging social phenomenon and research agenda in geographical studies. Knowledge production, and where, how and by whom it is produced, is an urban phenomenon that is poorly understood in an era of strong urbanisation. This paper focuses on knowledge community precincts as the catalytic magnet infrastructures impacting on knowledge production in cities. The paper discusses the increasing importance of knowledge-based urban development within the paradigm of the knowledge economy, and the role of knowledge community precincts as instruments to seed the foundation of knowledge production in cities. This paper explores the knowledge based urban development, and particularly knowledge community precinct development, potentials of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and benchmarks this against that of Boston, Massachusetts.

The cultural economy moment?

This paper explores the rise of cultural economy as a key organising concept over the 2000s. While it has intellectual precursors in political economy, sociology and postmodernism, it has been work undertaken in the fields of cultural economic geography, creative industries, the culture of service industries and cultural policy where it has come to the forefront, particularly around whether we are now in a ‘creative economy’. While work undertaken in cultural studies has contributed to these developments, the development of neo-liberalism as a meta-concept in critical theory constitutes a substantive barrier to more sustained engagement between cultural studies and economics, as it rests upon a caricature of economic discourse. The paper draws upon Michel Foucault’s lectures on neo-liberalism to indicate that there are significant problems with the neo-Marxist account hat became hegemonic over the 2000s. The paper concludes by identifying areas such as the value of information, the value of networks, motivations for participation in online social networks, and the impact of business cycles on cultural sectors as areas of potentially fruitful inter-disciplinary engagement around the nature of cultural economy.

Connected Communities and Creative Economy; Clash, cluster, complexity, creativity

After a brief personal orientation, this presentation offers an opening section on „clash, cluster, complexity, cities‟ – making the case that innovation (both creative and economic) proceeds not only from incremental improvements within an expert-pipeline process, but also from the clash of different systems, generations, and cultures. The argument is that cultural complexity arises from such clashes, and that clustering is the solution to problems of complexity. The classic, 10,000-year-old, institutional form taken by such clusters is … cities. Hence, a creative city is one where clashing and competitive complexity is clustered… and, latterly, networked.

Design and implementation of sensor networks for the observation and research of harmful algal blooms in southern California coastal waters

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) have become an important environmental concern along the western coast of the United States. Toxic and noxious blooms adversely impact the economies of coastal communities in the region, pose risks to human health, and cause mortality events that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of fish, marine mammals and seabirds. One goal of field-based research efforts on this topic is the development of predictive models of HABs that would enable rapid response, mitigation and ultimately prevention of these events. In turn, these objectives are predicated on understanding the environmental conditions that stimulate these transient phenomena. An embedded sensor network (Fig. 1), under development in the San Pedro Shelf region off the Southern California coast, is providing tools for acquiring chemical, physical and biological data at high temporal and spatial resolution to help document the emergence and persistence of HAB events, supporting the design and testing of predictive models, and providing contextual information for experimental studies designed to reveal the environmental conditions promoting HABs. The sensor platforms contained within this network include pier-based sensor arrays, ocean moorings, HF radar stations, along with mobile sensor nodes in the form of surface and subsurface autonomous vehicles. FreewaveTM radio modems facilitate network communication and form a minimally-intrusive, wireless communication infrastructure throughout the Southern California coastal region, allowing rapid and cost-effective data transfer. An emerging focus of this project is the incorporation of a predictive ocean model that assimilates near-real time, in situ data from deployed Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). The model then assimilates the data to increase the skill of both nowcasts and forecasts, thus providing insight into bloom initiation as well as the movement of blooms or other oceanic features of interest (e.g., thermoclines, fronts, river discharge, etc.). From these predictions, deployed mobile sensors can be tasked to track a designated feature. This focus has led to the creation of a technology chain in which algorithms are being implemented for the innovative trajectory design for AUVs. Such intelligent mission planning is required to maneuver a vehicle to precise depths and locations that are the sites of active blooms, or physical/chemical features that might be sources of bloom initiation or persistence. The embedded network yields high-resolution, temporal and spatial measurements of pertinent environmental parameters and resulting biology (see Fig. 1). Supplementing this with ocean current information and remotely sensed imagery and meteorological data, we obtain a comprehensive foundation for developing a fundamental understanding of HAB events. This then directs labor- intensive and costly sampling efforts and analyses. Additionally, we provide coastal municipalities, managers and state agencies with detailed information to aid their efforts in providing responsible environmental stewardship of their coastal waters.

Implementation of an embedded sensor network for the coordination of Slocum gliders for coastal monitoring and observation

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are revolutionizing oceanography through their versatility, autonomy and endurance. However, they are still an underutilized technology. For coastal operations, the ability to track a certain feature is of interest to ocean scientists. Adaptive and predictive path planning requires frequent communication with significant data transfer. Currently, most AUVs rely on satellite phones as their primary communication. This communication protocol is expensive and slow. To reduce communication costs and provide adequate data transfer rates, we present a hardware modification along with a software system that provides an alternative robust disruption- tolerant communications framework enabling cost-effective glider operation in coastal regions. The framework is specifically designed to address multi-sensor deployments. We provide a system overview and present testing and coverage data for the network. Additionally, we include an application of ocean-model driven trajectory design, which can benefit from the use of this network and communication system. Simulation and implementation results are presented for single and multiple vehicle deployments. The presented combination of infrastructure, software development and deployment experience brings us closer to the goal of providing a reliable and cost-effective data transfer framework to enable real-time, optimal trajectory design, based on ocean model predictions, to gather in situ measurements of interesting and evolving ocean features and phenomena.

Networked robotic sensor platform deployments for use in coastal environmental assessment in southern California

Mobile sensor platforms such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and robotic surface vessels, combined with static moored sensors compose a diverse sensor network that is able to provide macroscopic environmental analysis tool for ocean researchers. Working as a cohesive networked unit, the static buoys are always online, and provide insight as to the time and locations where a federated, mobile robot team should be deployed to effectively perform large scale spatiotemporal sampling on demand. Such a system can provide pertinent in situ measurements to marine biologists whom can then advise policy makers on critical environmental issues. This poster presents recent field deployment activity of AUVs demonstrating the effectiveness of our embedded communication network infrastructure throughout southern California coastal waters. We also report on progress towards real-time, web-streaming data from the multiple sampling locations and mobile sensor platforms. Static monitoring sites included in this presentation detail the network nodes positioned at Redondo Beach and Marina Del Ray. One of the deployed mobile sensors highlighted here are autonomous Slocum gliders. These nodes operate in the open ocean for periods as long as one month. The gliders are connected to the network via a Freewave radio modem network composed of multiple coastal base-stations. This increases the efficiency of deployment missions by reducing operational expenses via reduced reliability on satellite phones for communication, as well as increasing the rate and amount of data that can be transferred. Another mobile sensor platform presented in this study are the autonomous robotic boats. These platforms are utilized for harbor and littoral zone studies, and are capable of performing multi-robot coordination while observing known communication constraints. All of these pieces fit together to present an overview of ongoing collaborative work to develop an autonomous, region-wide, coastal environmental observation and monitoring sensor network.

Education for the creative economy : innovation, transdisciplinarity, and networks

The question posed in this chapter is: To what extent does current education theory and practice prepare graduates for the creative economy? We first define what we mean by the term creative economy, explain why we think it is a significant point of focus, derive its key features, describe the human capital requirements of these features, and then discuss whether current education theory and practice are producing these human capital requirements. The term creative economy can be critiqued as a shibboleth, but as a high level metaphor, it nevertheless has value in directing us away from certain sorts of economic activity and toward other kinds. Much economic activity is in no way creative. If I have a monopoly on some valued resource, I do not need to be creative. Other forms of economic activity are intensely creative. If I have no valued resources, I must create something that is valued. At its simplest and yet most profound, the idea of a creative economy suggests a capacity to compete based on engaging in a gainful activity that is different from everyone else’s, rather than pursuing the same endeavor more competitively than everyone else. The ability to differentiate on novelty is key to the concept of creative economy and key to our analysis of education for this economy. Therefore, we follow Potts and Cunningham (2008, p. 18) and Potts, Cunningham, Hartley, and Ormerod (2008) in their discussion of the economic significance of the creative industries and see the creative economy not as a sector but as a set of economic processes that act on the economy as a whole to invigorate innovation based growth. We see the creative economy as suffused with all industry rather than as a sector in its own right. These economic processes are essentially concerned with the production of new ideas that ultimately become new products, service, industry sectors, or, in some cases, process or product innovations in older sectors. Therefore, our starting point is that modern economies depend on innovation, and we see the core of innovation as new knowledge of some kind. We commence with some observations about innovation.