Innovation in its modern meaning is a "new idea, creative thoughts, new imaginations in form of device or method". Innovation is often also viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs. Such innovation takes place through the provision of more-effective products, processes, services, technologies, or business models that are made available to markets, governments and society. An innovation is something original and more effective and, as a consequence, new, that "breaks into" the market or society. Innovation is related to, but not the same as, invention, as innovation is more apt to involve the practical implementation of an invention to make a meaningful impact in the market or society, and not all innovations require an invention. Innovation often manifests itself via the engineering process, when the problem being solved is of a technical or scientific nature. The opposite of innovation is exnovation.
Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy. The term is commonly interchanged with marketing research; however, expert practitioners may wish to draw a distinction, in that marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing processes, while market research is concerned specifically with markets.
Jyrki Tapani Katainen is a Finnish politician and the European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, in office since 2014. Katainen was previously Prime Minister of Finland from 2011 to 2014 and chairman of the National Coalition Party from 2004 to 2014. He was succeeded by Alexander Stubb as chairman of Finland's National Coalition Party. After stepping down as Prime Minister, Katainen was elected as European Commission Vice-President in July 2014.
Finnish Centre Youth Finnish: Keskustanuoret is the biggest political youth organisation in Finland with 17 000 members. It is the youth wing of the Centre Party. It is formed by 19 regional organisations and approximately 400 local associations.
Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology or "DG Connect" is a Directorate-General of the European Commission. DG Connect is responsible for managing the Digital Agenda.
The European Research Area (ERA) is a system of scientific research programs integrating the scientific resources of the European Union (EU). Since its inception in 2000, the structure has been concentrated on multinational cooperation in the fields of medical, environmental, industrial, and socioeconomic research. The ERA can be likened to a research and innovation equivalent of the European "common market" for goods and services. Its purpose is to increase the competitiveness of European research institutions by bringing them together and encouraging a more inclusive way of work, similar to what already exists among institutions in North America and Japan. Increased mobility of knowledge workers and deepened multilateral cooperation among research institutions among the member states of the European Union are central goals of the ERA.
Open innovation is a term used to promote an information age mindset toward innovation that runs counter to the secrecy and silo mentality of traditional corporate research labs. The benefits and driving forces behind increased openness have been noted and discussed as far back as the 1960s, especially as it pertains to interfirm cooperation in R&D. Use of the term 'open innovation' in reference to the increasing embrace of external cooperation in a complex world has been promoted in particular by Henry Chesbrough, adjunct professor and faculty director of the Center for Open Innovation of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, who articulated a modern perspective in his book Open Innovation: The new imperative for creating and profiting from technology (2003).
The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) is a Brussels-based trade association founded in 1978 representing the research-based pharmaceutical industry operating in Europe.
Luke Georghiou is Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Manchester. He is also professor of science and technology policy and management at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research at Manchester Business School.
The North of England Inward Investment Agency is a UK government sponsored agency that represents two regional development agencies (RDAs) in North England: Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), One NorthEast (ONE) and Yorkshire Forward (YF). NoE’s primary function is to work as an ambassador to businesses and therefore attract targeted inward investment to the North of England region.
Established in 1993, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, or LIAA for short, acts under the Ministry of Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia. Since 2004, the Director of LIAA is Andris Ozols.
Europe 2020 is a 10-year strategy proposed by the European Commission on 3 March 2010 for advancement of the economy of the European Union. It aims at "smart, sustainable, inclusive growth" with greater coordination of national and European policy. It follows the Lisbon Strategy for the period 2000–2010.
Science-to-business marketing entails the marketing of research conducted at research institutions, particularly universities, to industry or other interested parties. The acronym S2B follows a series of marketing acronyms used to shorten and popularise marketing specialisations, including (B2C) and (B2B).
Cleantech Finland is a Finnish national project, backed by the Government of Finland and created as part of Finland’s National Action plan to develop the country’s environmental business. The network aims to bring together expertise from Finland's clean technology industry and research and to support clean technology companies internationally. Cleantech Finland is owned by the Confederation of Finnish Industries.
Some authors advocating patent reform have proposed the use of prizes as an alternative to patents. Critics of the current patent system, such as Joseph E. Stiglitz, say that patents fail to provide incentives for innovations which are not commercially marketable. Stiglitz provides the idea of prizes instead of patents to be awarded in order to further advance solutions to global problems such as AIDS.
Technopolis Moscow is a specialized territory for innovative production development in Moscow, created under the control of SUE Stroyexprom.
Foreign direct investment and the environment involves international businesses and their interactions and impact on the natural world. These interactions can be observed through the stringency applied to foreign direct investment policy and the responsiveness of capital or labor incentive for investment inflows. The laws and regulations created by a country that focuses on environmental regimes can directly impact the levels of competition involving foreign direct investment they are exposed to. Fiscal and financial incentives stemming from ecological motivators, such as carbon taxation, are methods used based on the desired outcome within a country in order to attract foreign direct investment.
East Office is a firm owned by major Finnish companies, whose objective is to strengthen its shareholders’ relations with Russia. East Office compiles research for its shareholders on topics related to the development in Russian economy and politics.
