nova university network nova seminar on new strategy the knowledge triangle: education, research and...
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NOVA University network
NOVA Seminar on New Strategy The Knowledge Triangle: education, research and innovation
Selfoss Iceland, May 6th 2010
Making knowledge work Jón Torfi Jónasson
[email protected] http://www.hi.is/~jtj/
School of Education, University of Iceland
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
A perennial problem
The problematic relationship between research and practice
How does research, − information, understanding, theory translate into sensible, preferably profitable, actions?
or how does information, understanding or a theory about any topic you care to mention translate into operational responses by the interested parties?
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
A personal introduction
– Research on universities, innovation and industry and its application
– A researcher on these issues involved in educational administration and governance
– What does a typical scientific article convey and to whom?
An introduction
– The general task of making research applicable, useful• The terminology: basic research, applied research
– E.g. the distinction between mode 1, mode 2– When is something useful? Relevant, fruitful, illuminating,
inspiring, cumulative?– When is the criterion directly related to the financial bottom
line?
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The problem
– The theoretical problem• Declarative, propositional knowledge does not imply procedural
knowledge; “knowing that” does not translate effortlessly into “knowing how”; in fact the gap is much greater than is often assumed
– The practical problem• The problem is no less social or cultural than psychological or
technical; in fact the point of departure may have to be the problem itself
• When you have produced your results, who is going to harness them? To what purpose?
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
ScienceTwo perspectives:
Science is sublimeScience is useful
A common justification for much of scientific research:
Creating understanding and coherent theories will eventually provide ample opportunities for their use at various levels, ranging from theoretical enquires to practical use.
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The garage analogy? (Or, of course the library)Material immaculately arranged waiting to be used
The (institutional) problem
– The institutional or the cultural problemThe institutional framework of a research institution, e.g. a university: the importance of its culture)• Division of labour, related to interests (the role of a
scientist)• The incentive mechanisms, the ranking mechanisms
• Take multidisciplinary research as an example– Rhetorical consensus
• Take relationship with the field as another example
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The problem, another takeMight present the problem as
Ensuring that the available knowledge is being used, harnessedor
Bridging the gap between declarative and procedural knowledge (even though the former may be about procedures)
or perhaps as Ensuring that those who are solving problems have access (from
several perspectives) to the relevant knowledge or are operating in a fruitful institutional or cultural environment
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The way to go? The story so far
Go where? Towards solving problems.
Incentive mechanisms
Structural solutions
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The way to go? The story so far
Incentive mechanisms• Funding applied research• Setting priorities (governments)• Making the distinction between Mode 1 and Mode 2
research, differentiated funding (Gibbons, Novotny, Scott)
• Enhancing the status of applied research– (Labaree: US universities applied on the outside, theoretical or
liberal on the inside)
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The way to go? The story so far
Structural solutions, at the institutional level• The entrepreneurial university (Burton Clark, 1998)
Structural solutions, at the meta-institutional level• Research parks, http://www.aurp.net/about/whatis.cfm
• Clusters, Potter, J., & Miranda, G. (Eds.). (2009). Clusters, innovation and entrepreneurship: OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (See e.g. chapter 9.)
Structural solutions, at the governmental level• The triple helix environment
– university-industry-government , e.g. the Öresund, Medicon Valley
• European Cluster Policy Group (ECPG) http://www.proinno-europe.eu/page/home
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The EC initiative on clusters
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The way to go? The case for a public space
Lester and Piore (2004): Innovation, the missing dimension
The case for a public space for incubation of new ideas:
the importance of interpretation in addition to analysis
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The way to go? The story so far
Two examples of research of the dynamics of innovation
Engeström’s activity theoretical environmentContradictions, the crossing of boundary
Powell+ on the notion and importance of propinquityNetworks, Propinquity and Innovation in Knowledge-Intensive Industries, with
Kjersten Whittington and Jason Owen-Smith, Administrative Science Quarterly, March 2009, pp. 90-122
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The way to go? The future?
• Understanding the basics of institutional dynamics• The role of the academic researchers • The role of the entrepreneurial researcher• Understanding of networks
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The way to go? The future?
Understanding and appreciating the climate, the network, the community of practice; we should appreciate the importance of the– institutional culture– incentive mechanisms– contradictions, tensions which may spur innovation, change– culture of cooperation– relationship between “knowing that” and “knowing how”– culture of enabling the harnessing of knowledge– interpretative dimension
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010
The way to go? The future?
You want your network to thrive; you should perhaps concentrate on the cultural aspect, ―
perhaps in particular on the creation of a culture of making knowledge operative,
of making knowledge work.
Jón Torfi Jónasson - NOVA - May 2010