1The VERDIKT Conference 2013 16.10.2013

Rockin All over The World How Education-Supporting ICT Research

Can Make NorwayA Leading Global Innovation Player

Geir E. ienDean, Faculty of Information Technology, Mathematics, and

Electrical Engineering, NTNU

2Key points to remember after the talk (1 of 4)

Education-supporting research (ESR) is defined asresearch that supports and strengthens

recruitment quality relevance strategic development

to/of higher education (typically within strategicallyselected fields of knowledge).

3Key points to remember after the talk (2 of 4)

ESR has been crucial in establishing several ofNorways most important innovation and

commercialization success stories within the ICTarea.

4Key points to remember after the talk (3 of 4)

There is a direct connection between a countrysinnovation capability, i.e.,

overall competence level times the number ofinhabitants possessing that competence,and its potential for successfully realizing

knowledge-based innovation for the future.

5Key points to remember after the talk (4 of 4)

Future public Norwegian ICT research fundingschemes needs to put a strong (as in added) emphasis

on ESR,in order to sustain and strengthen Norway's global

position within ICT innovation, and to ensure sufficientinnovation capability for the future.

6My background -IME@NTNU

Electricalpower

engineering

Electronics andtele-

communication

Engineeringcybernetics

Computer andInformation

Science

MathematicalsciencesTelematics

Faculty of InformationTechnology, Mathematicsand Electrical Engineering

Research and researchereducation Comittee

Administration

Education Comittee

15 29 1415 4739Facultypermanet

~500 MSc students/year ~60 PhD students/year ~550 publication points/year ~500 MNOK annual

turnover ~20 % external funding(decreased from almost 30 %

4-5 years ago)

9IME spin-offs, student/ex-student entrepreneurship, and

associated companies (selected)

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At the core of IMEs mission:

Education-supporting research

Research-based education

Innovation, industrial development,dissemination

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What IS education-supporting research,really?

12

The university as a black box systemA simplistic 1st order approximation of IME could be:

IME 500 MScandPhDs

500MNOK

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Inside the black box

Professors

Post docs

PhD students

MSc students

Supervision, teaching and research

Collaboration

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Inside the black box

Professors

Post docs

PhD students

MSc students

Supervision, teaching and research

Collaboration

Education-supportingresearch is the enginein this complex system!

15 Why is ESR so important forsociety?

Capability = Competence x Capacity (Volume) anecessary (but not sufficient) condition for innovation

International networking Access to/import ofstate-of-the-art cutting-edge knowledge from thewhole world, through academic networks

Continued industrial growth - The safest way toensure that there will be no demand for engineers isto stop educating engineers! [paraphrase, Sir Robert Telford]

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MSc and PhDeducation

Innovation

Job market

Educationdemand

Job creation

17

ESR: The multiplication effect

Researchfunding

Companies

Publicagencies

Institutes

Universites

Products

Services

Technologytransfer

People

x 1

x 1

x 10

x 100

18 William J.Dally, StanfordUniversity,From Scienceto Technology,TSW 2011

19

The Knowledge triangle

20 Three contributions to innovation andvalue creation from a university

and their relative importance

Patents and licenceagreements

Spin-offcompanies

Candidates

NB: At Stanford University: Only 4 % of spin-offs are based on university IPR

NTNU is the university that built the modernNorway

-Jens Stoltenberg, 2010

If we did, how did we do it?

21 Three contributions to innovation andvalue creation from a university

and their relative importance

Patents and licenceagreements

Spin-offcompanies

Candidates

NB: At Stanford University: Only 4 % of spin-offs are based on university IPR

NTNU is the university that built the modernNorway

-Jens Stoltenberg, 2010

If we did, how did we do it?

Close to 40.000 engineersdelivered from NTH/NTNUto Norwegian society since

1910!

22

3 examples of ICT-related globalinnovation successes from Norway

and their connection to ESR

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The microelectronics and computerengineering example

Prof. Einar Aas with his formerstudents Vegard Wollan, Alf-EgilBogen (founders of Atmel Norway)and Geir Frre (Chipcon, EnergyMicro).

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The microelectronics and computer engineeringexample:

Capability is the limiting factor for furthergrowth!

[Teknisk Ukeblad, 24/9-12]

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Engineering cybernetics, example I:Dynamic positioning systems

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Engineering cybernetics, example II:Ultrasound and blood stream measurements

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Engineering cybernetics, example II:Ultrasound and blood stream measurements

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From research to innovation: Whatwas important in these examples?

Strong individual professors Long-term public funding (NTNF), to high-risk research

projects, performed in an education-focused environment(MSc + PhD)

Strong, research-based teaching environments, attractingmany excellent students

Ability to recruit the best MSc students to PhD studies Recruitment of the best MSc and PhD students to spin-off

companies and established industry insight transferredthrough people!

Ability to deliver quality Patience, timing, collaboration and cross-disciplinarity

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From research to innovation: Whatwas important in these examples?

Strong individual professors Long-term public funding (NTNF), to high-risk research

projects, performed in an education-focused environment(MSc + PhD)

Strong, research-based teaching environments, attractingmany excellent students

Ability to recruit the best MSc students to PhD studies Recruitment of the best MSc and PhD students to spin-off

companies and established industry insight transferredthrough people!

Ability to deliver quality Patience, timing, collaboration and cross-disciplinarity

Education-supportingresearch

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Future examples?CrayoNano?Mazemap?Kahoot?Surf Technology?

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Future examples?CrayoNano?Mazemap?Kahoot?Surf Technology?

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Future examples?CrayoNano?Mazemap?Kahoot?Surf Technology?

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Future examples?CrayoNano?Mazemap?Kahoot?Surf Technology?

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Future examples?CrayoNano?Mazemap?Kahoot?Surf Technology?

35

The unique key strength of ICT

is that it is an enabler of innovation, improvementand development across all societal sectors and

scientific fields

Capability within the ICT area advanced as well aspractical - is thus essential for continued development

within ALL areas of society

(IKT Norge: 9 out of 10 jobs will require ICTcompetence by 2015)

36

and the associated risk is

If we limit the development ofICT technologies, we limit the

development of society at large!

37

The annual number of graduated BSc and MSc candidateswithin ICT was almost halved from 2004 to 2010!

Steadily decreasing emphasis on public funding of PhDstudies within ICT since 2008

Demand for PhD competence within technology and thenatural sciences (including ICT) expected to growsignificantly towards 2020 (a negative annual surplus of 6-800 PhDs across technology fields).

[Kunnskapsdepartementet og Universitets- og hgskolerdet:Ettersprsel etter og tilbud av stipendiatstillinger i Noreg frem mot 2020]

38

The annual number of graduated BSc and MSc candidateswithin ICT was almost halved from 2004 to 2010!

Steadily decreasing emphasis on public funding of PhDstudies within ICT since 2008

Demand for PhD competence within technology and thenatural sciences (including ICT) expected to growsignificantly towards 2020 (a negative annual surplus of 6-800 PhDs across technology fields).

[Kunnskapsdepartementet og Universitets- og hgskolerdet:Ettersprsel etter og tilbud av stipendiatstillinger i Noreg frem mot 2020]

In order to sustainour innovation

capability, we needmore heads with

knowledge, not justmore knowledge put

into the same oldheads!

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41

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Recommendations for a future education-supporting ICT program (1 of 4)

Capability

Set a strategic national goal for a minimum annualnumber of new doctoral students within ICT to be

recruited and funded.

(Suggested average number over 3 years should be atleast at the 2008 level)

43

Recommendations for a future education-supporting ICT program (2 of 4)

Integration

Introduce (or reinforce) as a requirement that a significantportion of doctoral education should be integrated into

all researcher, competence, and innovation projectsfunded by the RCN within ICT

(percentage might vary with type of project, but theaverage should be significantly higher than today)

[In VERDIKT: Overall, 40 % of RCN funding, 27 % of allfunding has been used for PhDs (cf. Olaug Rds talk)]

44 Recommendations for a future education-supportingICT program (3 of 4)

Evaluation

Introduce an additional criterion in the RCNs project evaluationprocedure:

Assessment of the quality and national impact of the associated PhD andMSc education environment

and the research project's relevance as support for the PhD and MScprograms.

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Recommendations for a future education-supporting ICT program (4 of 4)

Concentration

Set a strategic target for a minimum amount of allocated funds to go to long-term strategic support of major research milieus

that are responsible for strategically important MSc and PhD programsof significant volume

and who thus are potential bottlenecks in terms of strengthening nationalinnovation capability, unless they are properly supported.

(This minimum amount should be higher than current share)

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An overarching goalfor integration of

research andeducation should be

added

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If we limit the development of ICTtechnologies, we limit the

development of society at large!