Austrian Institute of Technology
AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology) is the largest non-university research organisation in Austria. At present about 800 scientists and technicians carry out research and development in the fields of health technology, material technology, information technology, energy research, nano technology, and systems research. AIT is structured as a private limited company. 50.46 % of the shares are held by the State of Austria, the rest of the shares belong to a consortium of industry, banks, insurance companies and electricity suppliers.
The department foresight & policy development is focused on innovation- and sustainability research concerning the big challenges of the future, like resource scarcity, climate change, increasing complexity of social and natural systems or globalization. The department uses the gained expertise for a sustainable development of regions, designing innovative infrastructures and opening chances for business activities. 40 employees from different scientific disciplines are integrated in international networks. Approximately with 150 co-operations partner the department acts as an important think tank for the Austrian and European policy. It is a competence-node for companies and an important partner for universities.
Over the past years, the department has built up a solid competence base in the area of foresight and forward-looking studies. It is a core member of the European Foresight Monitoring Network EFMN, but has also contributed to several EU-level foresight studies in several thematic areas (e.g. Future of Manufacturing, Manufacturing Visions, Foresight on Information Society Technologies in the European Research Area, The Future of R&D in Services, etc.). Currently, the department is leading a foresight and strategy formation process in the area of research and innovation policy for the City of Vienna. Other projects are being conducted in the area of technology monitoring where advanced bibliometric methods are used to scan and identify emerging technologies and themes for research and innovation policy. Building on a long-standing track record in environmental impact assessment, ex-ante impact assessment of research and technology policy is another area of activity. A recent project for the Austrian Council for Science and Technology Development has been looking at the potentials and limitations of current impact assessment methods.
Institute for Prospective Technological Studies
is one of the seven scientific institutes of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). It is located in Seville, Spain. The Institute’s main activities relate to providing strategic support for the conception and development of EU policies. The Institute’s portfolio of work is managed by four scientific units: Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Economy, Competitiveness and Sustainability, Information Society and Knowledge for Growth. Within the Knowledge for Growth (KfG) unit as a part of the Policy Mixes for Joint Programming and Foresight Action, the European foresight team provides forward looking intelligence to support decision making and improves the use of Foresight as an instrument for policy making.IPTS (The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies)
Malta Council for Science and Technology
Set up in 1988, the Malta Council for Science and Technology (http://www.mcst.gov.mt) is the national advisory body to Government on science, technology and innovation policy. The MCST is responsible for identifying and addressing major science and technology challenges and issues of strategic importance for Malta, thereby contributing to the development of coherent and sustainable policy visions and initiatives. Its main remit is to encourage increased public and private investments in science, research and innovation with a view to embedding a culture for science, technology and innovation. The MCST, that operates under the Ministry for Rural Affairs & Environment, is the principal agency involved in the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for Research & Innovation and plays a key role in the strategic coordination of research and innovation policy across ministries and agencies.
The MCST is also the national agency responsible for spearheading and coordinating Malta’s participation in the EU’s Framework Programme for Research (FP) and has been successful in ensuring a high level of participation in FP6 and more recently in FP7. MCST’s involvement in a number of national and international policy and foresight networks and projects provides it with an ongoing policy learning curve which it seeks to share with other strategic public entities.
Manchester Institute of Innovation Research
Founded in 1977 and building upon a programme of work established in Manchester during the 1960s, PREST carries out research on the economic, political, social and managerial problems that affect or result from the development of science and technology. A major research centre of the University of Manchester; its staff are all members of the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR) of the Manchester BusinessSchool (in all, at some 50 strong, one of the largest concentrations of researchers working in these areas in Europe). Manchester is a leading international centre of excellence in:
- Theoretical and empirical studies of innovation (with special strengths in innovation in services)
- The study of science, technology and innovation policy in a multi-level, multi-actor world
- Evaluation and ‘prospective studies’ in support of policy – we are a world-leading centre for the development and application of key tools and techniques of strategic policy intelligence – not only covering the development of methods and approaches to evaluation and impact assessment of innovation policy, but also covering the development and application of Foresight and Technology Assessment tools
TNO Innovation Policy group
TNO is one of Europe’s largest research organisations (4648 staff and EUR 570 million turnover for 2006). TNO covers a wide range of disciplines and sectors. The Innovation Policy Group (IPG), which is part of TNO Quality of Life, is a multidisciplinary group working on the problems and challenges of technological, economic and societal innovation. The researchers of the IPG have in-depth knowledge of the interactions between technology, economics, markets, organisational structures, environment, culture and policy. And they know how to turn this knowledge into useful visions, concepts and strategies. The IPG domain expertise includes: (i) foresight, analysis and evaluation of science-, technology- and industrial policies; (ii) policies and strategies for life sciences, information, communications and media and sustainable development.
