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Content archived on 2024-06-16

Understanding the Relationship between Knowledge and Competitiveness in the Enlarging European Union

Objective

U-Know assesses the factors that give rise to the public and private nature of knowledge. These include changing institutional arrangements, organisational conditions, incentive systems, socio-cultural attitudes, cognitive flexibility, and specific types of knowledge. How do those factors shape new understandings of knowledge itself, and hinder or foster knowledge creation, use, and dissemination? The STREP focuses on the interrelatedness of the enterprise, public science/higher education, and government spheres as the main agents to put the 'knowledge triangle' of education, research and innovation to work.

The U-Know approach has an economic flavour but includes scientists from a variety of different backgrounds. A rigorous methodological framework is applied. The U-Know project goes beyond the application of monodisciplinary theories from orthodox approaches by using the 'Network Alignment' theory. This can be seen as complementary to the 'Mode 2' and/or 'Triple Helix' approaches to knowledge production and interaction. Bringing all three together is a novelty applied as a tool to understand the role of knowledge in the European economy. Network alignment has been a key ingredient for economic growth in some East Asian countries. Building on this experience, the project undertakes comparative studies on a selection of European countries to identify network mis-alignment in sectoral, regional, and national innovation systems.

This constitutes a key underpinning for extensive policy implications, which contribute to the development of a broad-based third generation knowledge and innovation policy. This encompasses areas of learning and innovation in companies, institutions for higher education, research, and government itself. Policy advice supports the enhancement and alignment of knowledge communities in order to reinforce the competitiveness of European economies in accordance with the Lisbon agenda.

Call for proposal

FP6-2004-CITIZENS-5
See other projects for this call

Coordinator

INSTITUT FUER WIRTSCHAFTSFORSCHUNG HALLE
EU contribution
No data
Total cost
No data

Participants (12)