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Roundtable on Indo-US Public-Private
Partnership in R & D and Technology Endeavors: The
Road Ahead
December 2, 2004, New
Delhi
Overview
The partnership is a complex idea in a slogan that
is as frequently oversimplified as it is discussed and
attempted. It can be a powerful means for combining
talent and funding to achieve specific commercial, intellectual,
or social purposes. See attached baseline definitions.
For "public-private partnerships," the widely
announced purposes are so varied, and the exaggerated
expectations are often so shallow, that disappointments
arise. To many experienced individuals - especially
in the U.S. business and investment communities - the
phrase means almost nothing except vague hopes and government
subsidies.
From the tradition that scientists and engineers around
the world work as colleagues - to the gloabl reach of
American firms - partnerships of all kinds have characterized
the outlook of leaders. That is still the case. Moreover,
specific and responsible alliances are an essential
component of most corporate R&D strategies.
My talk aims to sort out what constitutes an effective
partnership. First, I review a range of purposes. Then
I consider: definitions and criteria; the incentives
and constraints on action; examples from U.S. experience;
and, lastly, the rationale for initiatives by the comparatively
new and modestly scaled Indo-U.S. S&T Forum.
My net assessment is: First, partnerships are a potent
and rapidly growing component of the S&T landscape,
both nationally and globally. Second, a successful partnership
tests the clarity of purpose and the determination of
each participant, not only in the original framing of
the project but also in the continuing insistence on
quality-controls. Third, every S&T-based project
needs nimble adaptation of the effort as circumstances
evolve as well as tough-minded and quantitative appraisal
of its value to each partner's goals. (See Note 1.)
Observations on Public-Private
Partnerships for Science and Technology
| 1. |
Purposes and Typology
of the Participants' Roles |
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1.1
|
Basic research - national and global; "free
riders" issue; |
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1.2 |
Applied research - national and commercial/ international |
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1.3 |
Development - markets; private sector's pace |
| |
|
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1.4 |
Human capital - education, exchange, diverse networks |
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1.5 |
National perspectives on "governmental investments"
in: economic development; international competitiveness;
contracting for services |
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1.6 |
Reduce costs (share risks) and taxes |
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1.7 |
Accelerate pace of R&D and commercialization
- add profits |
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1.8 |
Complement participants' core technical
competences |
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1.9 |
Advice/cooperation on trade and / or regulatory
regimes, including IPR. |
| 2 |
Definitions and
Criteria |
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2.1 |
What is a "public-private partnership"? |
| |
- |
What's "public"? Government, NGO, community
group? |
| |
- |
What's "private"? Business, university,
trade association? |
| |
- |
What's a "partnership"? An "alliance"?
A "linkage"? Legal, formal? |
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2.2 |
Relationship to the classic framework
of S&T policy concepts: invention, innovation,
diffusion |
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2.3 |
Do "venture capital" criteria apply?
For example: clear product vision; solid management;
rigorous milestones; comparatively short time-horizon;
odds on "success;" character of competition. |
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2.4. |
A Wall Street test - does deal matter, and why? |
| 3 |
Incentives and
Constraints |
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3.1 |
Risks/ Rewards: lessons from the history of economic
growth and wealth creation (See Note 3.) |
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3.2 |
Governmental subsidies and investments; cycles
and fads |
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3.3. |
Flexibility and independence of participants;
trust and commitment |
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3.4 |
Coordination and logistic support
- too often underestimated |
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3.5 |
Quality controls - too rarely imposed |
| 4. |
Illustrations from
the U.S. |
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4.1 |
Biotechnology and health care - booming, despite
disappointments |
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4.2 |
Lasers - long development time and unanticipated
applications |
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4.3 |
University technology offices - significant dependence
on legal base |
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4.4. |
Government - led initiatives such as SBIR and
ATP |
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4.5 |
Global scientific needs and competition |
| 5. |
Rationale for Indo-U.S.
S&T Forum |
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5.1 |
Potential |
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5.2 |
Results and consequences |
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5.3 |
Balancing national cooperation/competition with
21st century globalization |
| 6. |
Net Assessment: How to manage the
waves of rising R&D partnerships? |
Baseline Definitions
| Partnership: |
"Legal contract entered into by two or more
persons in which each agrees to furnish a part of
the capital and labor for a business enterprise
and by which each shares a fixed proportion of profits
and losses." |
| Alliance: |
"Close association" |
| Bond: |
"uniting force, or tie, or link" |
| Network: |
"extended group of people with similar interests
who interact and remain in informal contact for
mutual assistance and support" |
American Heritage Dictionary (1992)
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Notes
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| 1. |
Lord Kelvin: "When you cannot measure it,
when you cannot express it in numbers.... you have
scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage
of Science." |
| 2. |
Peter B. Medawar: "One of the most damaging
forms of snobbism in science is that which draws
a class distinction between pure and applied science." |
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(Advice to a Young Scientist)
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| 3. |
Nathan Rosenberg and L.E. Birdzell, Jr.: |
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"The underlying source of the West's ability
to attract the lightning of economic revelations
was a unique use of experiment in technology and
organization to harness resources to the satisfaction
of human wants. The key elements of the system were:
The wide diffusion of the authority and resources
necessary to experiment; an absence of more than
rudimentary political and religious restrictions
on experiment; and incentives which combined ample
rewards for success, defined as the widespread economic
use of the results of experiment, with a risk of
severe penalties for failing to experiment." |
(How the West Grew Rich)
Rodney W. Nichols, Consultant on
Science and Technology Policy
Rodney W. Nichols, President and CEO of the New York
Academy of Sciences from 1992 to 2001, was previously
Scholar-in-Residence at the Carnegie Corporation of
New York (1990-1992), and Vice President and Executive
Vice President of The Rockefeller University (1970-1990).
Earlier he served as an R&D manager in industry
and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
A Harvard graduate and applied physicist, he is an
experienced executive in both the public and private
sectors. He has held major responsibilities for budgets,
strategic planning, facilities and construction, public
affairs, fund-raising, institutional governance, and
university-industry relations. Co-author of two books
and scores of papers, he frequently lectures on: research
and development trends; international scientific cooperation
and competition; and K-12 education for economic growth.
Long active in international affairs, Mr. Nichols has
led projects conducted in China, Japan, India, Europe,
Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. He is on
the Board of Advisors to Foreign Affairs, chaired the
Committee on Science and Technology for Development
(COSTED) of the International Council of Scientific
Unions (ICSU), and co-chaired the Japan-U.S. Cooperative
Science Program administered by the National Science
Foundation. He is a member of the Governing Board of
the U.S.-India Forum on Science and Technology. Mr.
Nichols was appointed to U.S. government delegations
for international negotiations on arms control, as well
as for programs in technology transfer and capacity-building
in developing countries.
Appointed to the Executive Committee of the Carnegie
Commission on Science, Technology, and Government (1989-1994),
Mr. Nichols was principal author of the Commission's
January 1992 report entitled Science and Technology
in U.S. International Affairs. He also was vice chair
to former President Jimmy Carter for the Commission's
December 1992 report on Partnerships for Global Development.
He co-authored chapters on "Science and Technology
in North America" for UNESCO's biennial World Science
Report (1994, 1996 and 1998), prepared the entry on
"Science and Technology" for Oxford's Encyclopedia
of U.S. Foreign Relations (1997), and chaired a research
project of the Council on Foreign Relations on Technology
Policy in Managing Global Warming (2001). He is a member
of the editorial board of Technology in Society: An
International Journal.
Mr. Nichols has advised the White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy; the State, Defense, and Energy
Departments; the National Institutes of Health; the
National Science Foundation; the United Nations; the
U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment; and the
National Academies of Science and Engineering. He has
given Congressional testimony on both civilian and defense
R&D. His commercial consulting has included the
central research laboratory of GTE and Shell Technology
Ventures.
In the New York area, he currently serves on the boards
of CUNY Research Foundation, Eugene Lang College of
New School University, Irvington Institute for Immunological
Research, the Manhattan Institute, and the ALS Association.
He is chair of the American Forum for Global Education.
He was a founding judge on the selection panel for the
American Committee for the Weizmann Institute's Women
in Science Award. Earlier he served on the boards of
the American University in Beirut, Christopher Reeve
Paralysis Foundation, the Harbor Branch Oceanographic
Institution, and the Critical Technologies Institute
(operated by RAND). He is a consultant to the Richard
Lounsbery Foundation, the Simons Foundation and other
non-profit initiatives.
Elected a Fellow of the AAAS and of the New York Academy
of Sciences, Mr. Nichols is a member of the American
Physical Society. He was elected to the Council on Foreign
Relations and Sigma Xi. He was awarded the Secretary
of Defense Medal for Distinguished and Meritorious Civilian
Service (1970), the Distinguished Patriot Award of the
Sons of the Revolution (1996), and an honorary Doctor
of Science by Cedar Crest College (2001). He is a member
of the Harvard Club, Century Association, and Cosmos
Club.
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