A Short Course on Patent Reference for Science and Technology Librarians (journal article)
by Linda Shackle
from Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship Spring 2009
"This article is an introduction to patent reference for librarians who work in U.S. libraries and will give a foundation on which to build knowledge and skills in this area. Librarians who only occasionally receive patent questions may use this as a "how-to guide" with a list of resources. Although international patents are discussed, the guide is primarily U.S.-based, and covers what a patent is, provides basic searching techniques in the major free patent databases on the web, and links to patent information sources."

The creativity agenda
Source: What Matters, McKinsey Publishing
"According to this article, the most innovative countries -- which will also be the highest earning in the future -- will be those that embrace a model of “innovation economics,” which places technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the center of economic policymaking. Successful nations will not be content to wait for innovation to happen or expect it to occur as a byproduct of other activities, such as defense spending or space exploration. On the contrary: the new leaders will search out innovation and actively create an environment that nurtures it."

When the Boom Busts. (journal article)
by Paul Shigley
from Planning, April 2009, Vol. 75 No. 4, pp.18-21
"The article discusses the need to plan for balanced growth in communities when they experience boom times. It gives examples of communities that have major infrastructure development needs to catch up with rapid employment growth and housing development of the past. It describes growth in Chandler, Arizona and how the city has managed development associated with the high-tech boom since the 1980s."

Cleaner coal in China [online]

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"This report presents an overview of coal in China, examines coal-related policies and issues, and recommends ways the country - both on its own and in co-operation with others - might improve the sustainability of coal use." - executive summary.

Australian Rural Local Governments and Environmental Sustainability: An Evaluation of Progress (journal article)
By Barbara Pini
from Australian Journal of Public Administration Vol 68 Iss 2 2009, pp. 182 - 193
"Local government is often characterised as being well-placed to enact a successful agenda for environmental sustainability because of its closeness to both people and the environment. The purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which this assumption is correct in terms of local government environmental policies and programs in rural Australia. Using case studies with eight local government authorities in Queensland and New South Wales, the article documents three different positions on a continuum of environmental engagement. These are 'disengaged', 'moving towards engagement' and 'engaged'. The article concludes by arguing that the resource constraints facing rural local councils limit their capacity to engage with environmental management. "

On the secure software development process: CLASP, SDL and Touchpoints compared (journal article)
By Bart De Win etal
from Information & Software Technology Vol. 51 Iss 7 Jul 2009, pp. 1152-1171
"Development processes for software construction are common knowledge and mainstream practice in most development organizations. Unfortunately, these processes offer little support in order to meet security requirements. Over the years, research efforts have been invested in specific methodologies and techniques for secure software engineering, yet dedicated processes have been proposed only recently. In this paper, three high-profile processes for the development of secure software, namely OWASP’s CLASP, Microsoft’s SDL and McGraw’s Touchpoints, are evaluated and compared in detail. The paper identifies the commonalities, discusses the specificity of each approach, and proposes suggestions for improvement."
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From a theory to a consensus on emissions (newspaper article)
by John M. Broder
from New York Times, 17 May 2009
"How did cap and trade, hatched as an academic theory in obscure economic journals half a century ago, become the policy of choice in the debate over how to slow the heating of the planet? And how did it come to eclipse the idea of simply slapping a tax on energy consumption that befouls the public square or leaves the nation hostage to foreign oil producers?"

Investments in intangible assets and Australia's productivity growth [book]

Authors: Paula Barnes & Andrew McClure / Australia. Productivity Commission

Considers the measurement of investment in intangible assets such as R&D, computerised information and human/organisational capital in the Australian economy.

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Obama's emerging IT agenda could mean big changes (article)
from FCW Daily, 18 May 2009
"We asked FCW staff writers Doug Beizer, Alice Lipowicz and Matthew Weigelt to talk with experts around the community to take measure of Obama’s ambitions for IT in five areas featured prominently in the president’s IT agenda: Web 2.0, health information technology, transparency, acquisition reform and workforce improvement.
For each area we asked our experts to gauge the significance of the changes promised and to explain the ramifications for the community. Here are their reports."

Exploring service issues within the IT organisation: Four mini-case studies (journal article)
By Neil McBride
from International Journal of Information Management Vol. 29 Iss 3 June 2009, pp. 237-243
"This case study paper presents four mini-case studies which explore IT service management issues within IT departments. It suggests that there is a shift in focus in IT away from the technical artefacts towards customer directed services. The case studies concern a hospital, a provider of marine charts, a logistics company and the batch operations of a bank. A range of issues are discussed including the provision of customer support, the acquisition of software and services, relationships with suppliers and the development of service strategy. The mini-case study is presented as a vehicle for identifying research issues and for teaching IT service management concepts in short tutorial sessions."
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Do Regional and Non-regional Knowledge Flows Differ? An Empirical Study on Clustered Firms in the Dutch Life Sciences and Computing Services Industry (journal article)
By Anet Weterings and Roderik Ponds
from Industry & Innovation Vol 16 Iss 1 Feb 2009, pp. 11 - 31
"In the literature on innovation and geographical proximity, inter-organizational knowledge flows are increasingly acknowledged to take place at multiple spatial levels. Furthermore, the knowledge flows within and between regions are assumed to have different characteristics. Until now, hardly any study has examined those latter assumptions empirically. This study aims to provide empirical insights by analysing whether there are differences in the characteristics of regional and non-regional inter-organizational knowledge flows in the Dutch computing services and life sciences industry. The results indeed show significant differences. Confirming the assumptions in the literature, regional knowledge flows are characterized by a higher number of face-to-face contacts, while the knowledge exchanged through non-regional knowledge flows is more valuable. The relations between the duration and the social base of the knowledge flow and its spatial scale are less straightforward. "

Sustainability 3.): building tomorrow's earth-friendly communities (journal article)
By Timothy Beatley
From Planning May 2009
Sustainability has also been described as the next wave of innovation, following on the heels of the digital and information age and taking us in profoundly new directions in renewable energy, green chemistry, and resource efficiency. There can be little doubt that we are on the cusp of entirely new ways of producing and living in our resource-constrained
World.. If history is any guide, these innovations may have consequences for many years to come.

Futurama: transportation in transition (journal article)
By Ruth Eckdish Knack
From Planning, May 2009, pp. 34-37
"Transportation prognosticators generally fall into two groups: those who believe that the car will always be with us, and those who see bikes and buses—not Fords—in our future. In line with this issue's theme of looking forward, we asked representatives of both groups (and some in between) to consider what modes will be dominant in 2050 and beyond, what technological breakthroughs are on the horizon, and what the communities of tbe future will look like."

Privacy worries grow over wireless monitoring devices: Tech investors weigh question of Big Brother (journal article)
By Matt Hamblen
From CIO 6 May 2009
"The wireless industry is abuzz with plans for expanding remote monitoring of just about any device over wireless networks. Examples range from reading water and power meters remotely, to helping police see how long a car has been parked on a city street or monitoring traffic congestion via wireless cameras. But with the growth in the technology, there's also growing concern that Big Brother will have more eyes and ears than ever before. "

Promoting Regional Innovation Systems in a Global Context (journal article)
By Cali Nuur, Linda Gustavsson and Staffan Laestadius
from Industry & Innovation Vol 16 Iss 1 Feb 2009, pp. 123 - 139
"Ever since the innovation systems (IS) concept was coined in the late 1980s, it has been accepted as a mechanism of economic and technological development in policy circles. This recognition follows a change in our understanding of the characteristics of the innovation process as a non-linear process and having a systemic character. This changed understanding is also reflected in the movement in policy focus from science and technology (S&T) policy towards innovation policy. In recent years, the IS approach has been downscaled from the national level (NIS) to the regional level (RIS), a system's level that has gained the interest of policy makers. There are many rationales for this regionalization of innovation policy. However, as this paper points out, there are several challenges to implement an IS policy on the regional level. Based on a case study of a Swedish regional policy programme, this paper highlights (some of) the challenges related to defining the regional system's domain, implementing functional regions and securing sufficient regional knowledge infrastructure. This paper argues that when the IS approach is put into policy practice and downscaled to the regional level, it stands the risk of losing its strength as a tool for coping with the structural problems connected to innovation and globalization. Based on the identified challenges, the paper is concluded with a number of more general policy implications for IS-based policies with regional intentions. "

Material Transfer Agreements: A Review of Modes and Impacts (journal article)
By Victor Rodriguez
from Prometheus Vol 27 Iss 2 June 2009, pp. 141 - 151
"Sharing or exchanging research material is typically formalised through material transfer agreements. The aim of this article is to put into critical perspective the empirical findings on modes and impacts of these agreements vis--vis commonly accepted concerns formulated in a Mertonian fashion for the case of academic science, and from the perspective of the anticommons theory for the case of academic commercialisation. Empirically, scholars have used statistical evidence in surveys of perceptions and dedicated measures through bibliometrics to study these agreements. These statistical studies have thus helped make progress in the understanding of the mode and impact, but such implications need to integrate diverse results from anecdotal evidence that is currently considered separately."

It's A Dirty Job (journal article)
By Ben Eltham
from New Matilda, 13 May 2009
"It's a good start that the Australian Government is at last systematically trying to identify the nation's infrastructure needs. But unless Infrastructure Australia develops a far more sophisticated understanding of global demographic, environmental and natural security trends, future projects seem doomed to the current orthodoxy of concrete pouring. Indeed, in spite of Wayne Swan's commendable effort to address the long-term demographic issues posed by Australia's ageing population, the Rudd Government's long-term planning horizons are still poorly researched and hazy. At least their view is slightly longer-term than the next election. "

Insatiable curiosity : innovation in a fragile future [book]

Author: Helga Nowotny

"Explores the strands of the often unexpected intertwining of science, technology and society. Uncertainty arises from an oversupply of knowledge. The quest for innovation is society’s response to the uncertainties that come with scientific and technological achievement." - cover.

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Infrastructure investment : links to growth and the role of public policies [online]

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Investment in network infrastructure - the energy, water, transport and telecommunication networks - which performs a vital role for the functioning of the economy, can contribute to raising growth and social welfare. But more is not always better. ... This paper identifies the policy framework that promotes investment that is conducive to growth and ensures the appropriate use of infrastructure." - abstract.

Corporate Control, Foreign Ownership Regulations and Technology Transfer (journal article)
By Jota Ishikawa, Yoichi Sugita and Laixun Zhao
from Economic Record Vol 85 Iss 269 2009, pp. 197 - 209
"Multinationals are often required to form joint ventures (JVs) with local firms when entering the host country market. Explicitly taking corporate control into account, we explore the relationship between technology transfer and foreign ownership regulation in the presence of technology spillovers from JVs to local firms. It is shown that foreign ownership regulations may facilitate both technology transfer and spillovers when the multinational has corporate control. Under corporate control by the local partner firm, however, such regulations may hamper technology transfer."