A Review of the New Initiatives at the NASA Ames Research Center Summary of a Workshop (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Today, there are 295 members of the Association of University-related Research Parks (a U.S.-based organization) , several hundred members of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP)
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The physical characteristics of these developments vary, reflecting differences in the host country's or region's level of development, and in the parks' objectives, industrial focus, and type of ownership. There are "research parks," "science and technology parks," "high-tech industrial or agricultural parks," "warehouse/distribution parks," office/headquarters parks," and "eco-industrial parks." (See box above.)
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Research~technology centers are physical facilities in which science and technology-related activities take place, including R&D, meetings, skill training, testing, and tele-conferencing, for instance. Research/ technology centers are commonly used as anchors within parks: for example, the biotechnology and microelectronics/information technology centers built by the state within Research Triangle Park in North Carolina; centers for biotechnology, materials science, information technology, and microelectronics built by the government in the National S&T Development Agency park near Bangkok; and a training center for IT workers to be built as part of a new Palestinian initiative on the border of the West Bank and Israel.1 Technopoli are regions developed around several interrelated "knowledge" elements, including, but not limited to, science parks, research/technology centers, and universities.
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Many countries fail to recognize the fundamental diversity of science and technology parks, and tend to view these projects as specialized industrial parks. But the purpose and forms of science and technology parks vary greatly.
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Ownership and Management Science and technology parks are owned by universities (University of Utah and Stanford Research Parks in the U.S.) , government agencies (the National Science and Technology Development Agency Research Park in ThailandNSTDA)
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Examples include the following: . Singapore Science Park, Singapore information technology and telecommunications; Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park, Taiwan computers, peripherals, integrated circuits; · Bangalore Software Technology Park, India software andIT services; Taedok Science Town, South Korea memory chips, aerospace; · Software Technology Park, Brazil software engineering; University City Science Center, U.S.A.
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However, a few countries have either adapted existing incentives (usually within free zone schemes) or developed new packages specifically for enterprises located within science and technology parks.
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. BENEFITS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PARKS Depending on the type of park, industrial focus, extent of government funding, additionality of investment the magnitude of economic benefits from science and technology parks varies significantly.
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The software technology parks in India, for example, account for 70 percent of the export earnings of the software sector overall. Selected examples of these types of projects are profiled in the following table: Economic Impact of Science and Technology Parks Some Examples Technology Park Size Established Firms Jobs Singapore Science Park, Singapore 30 hectares 1980 226 7,000 Rennes Atalante Science & Technology 70 hectares 1978 250 8,000 Park, France Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park, 580 hectares 1980 272 72,623 .
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But these are less prevalent in science and technology parks compared to general industrial parks.
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RTP, the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, illustrates this approach. From its very beginnings, it focused on microelectronics and pharmaceuticals.
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New York: Free Press, 1990. 5 See Michael Luger and Harvey Goldstein, Technology in the Garden: Research Parks and Regional Economic Development.
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One has been built at neighboring North Carolina State University. As this inset shows, Centennial Campus has been a tremendous success in terms of the demand for space by "partners." Those are companies that buy or lease space (including in new incubators)
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. 6 See Michael Luger and Harvey Goldstein, Technology in the Garden, op.cit.
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. · vlslonary planmng; 7 For a summary of these developments, see Catherine Renault, Leslie Stewart, and Michael Luger, Economic Development Evaluation and Monitoring System for North Carolina, Report prepared for the North Carolina Department of Commerce, July, 31, 2000.
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IMPLICATIONS FOR NASA AMES Some lessons can be gleaned for NASA Ames from this overview of S&T park development. First, the traditional real estate criteria for success are abundantly present: the very availability of developable land in the heart of Silicon Valley, proximate to major high-tech corporations and world-class universities, bodes well for the marketability of the development.
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1991. Technology in the Garden: Research Parks and Regional Economic Development.
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This long experience with S&T parks would make it seem that evaluating the prospects for the proposed NASA Ames Research Park should be a straightforward undertaking. After all, the large number of S&T parks would seem to provide the appropriate benchmarks to enable a confident assessment of the Ames Research Park proposal.
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The challenge for Silicon Valley is managing and sustaining its unprecedented economic growth. This does not mean that the Ames Research Park proposal is superfluous.
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In the final section of the paper conclusions are provided. In particular, the NASA Ames Research Park may represent a new model for industry-government partnerships.
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Science and research parks are typically joint ventures between the private sector and a tertiary educational institution, although they do not need to be sponsored or funded by these organizations. Technology Parks: These comprise establishments that undertake a high proportion of applied research, possibly but not essentially involving a university.
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The size of research parks, measured in aggregate employment, ranges from no employees to 32,000. About one-third of the parks have no employment at all.
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Potential Primary Impacts of Science and Technology Parks on Regional Economic Development Immediate Source Type of Impact of Impact Mechanism Comments Location of new Park enterprises, Localization Growth will depend on R&D activity university, other Economies amount of R&D in the region, R&D activity, milieu strength of region's universities in tech-related areas, and/or presence of government research labs. R&D firm R&D enterprises in Localization The rate of spin-off activity Spin-offs park; scientific Economies varies by enterprise faculty brought to ownership, type of R&D region activity in and out of park, and university regulation of faculty entrepreneurship.
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118 A REVIEW OF THE NEW INITIATIVES AT THE NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER Potential Primary Impacts of Science and Technology Parks on Regional Economic Development Continued Immediate Source Type of Impact of Impact Mechanism Comments Intrafirm R&D enterprises in Forward Depends on importance and Manufacturing park; induced R&D Linkages frequency of face-to-face Location and manufacturing in contact between R&D and region manufacturing functions within the firm and on the corporate organization of R&D. Location of other R&D enterprises in Forward Depends on enterprise Intrafirm park; induced R&D Linkages ownership, type of R&D and Functions and manufacturing in manufacturing activities, region proximity of R&D and HQ functions, supply of skilled labor.
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Primary impacts include the effect of changes in the magnitude of economic activity for example, the number of businesses and jobs, personal income, and value added. The primary impacts, which shape regional economics, include induced growth in R&D activity, manufacturing activity, business services and headquarters functions, retail and consumer services, productivity of firms in the regions, and the loss of existing businesses.
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There are a number of sources providing funding and/or resources for technology-based start-ups. For example, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
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The presence of high-speed fiber optic communication lines facilitates video conferencing and rapid transfer of data. Entrepreneurial Culture Since the traditional S&T parks have focused on technology transfer from the S&T park to the private sector, in order to serve as an engine of regional economic development, the existence of an entrepreneurial culture has played an important role.
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Recent analysis has also documented the important role that leadership played in the formation of Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.l° In particular, the champion function of dedicated leadership is important for the following: land management, including sales and leasing; financial management and income collection; organizing the maintenance of the grounds and shared facilities; gaining representation in local and/or state policy formulation; strategically attracting the start up of new firms; strategically attracting the location of existing firms; coordination of private and public actors; and provision of legal standing and policies toward legal issues such as intellectual property rights.
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Thus, these systems will require ultra-efficiency in their use of mass, power, and volume, enabling travel about the Earth and universe to be rapid, safe, and costefficient. Thus, the future challenge of NASA is to develop systems that can provide these capabilities in order to overcome the barriers of time, distance, and extreme environments.
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A Unique Goal Thus, the proposed NASA Ames Research Park has a very different goal than that of traditional S&T parks. While traditional S&T parks are oriented toward transferring technology from the knowledge source to the external regional community, the goal of the Ames Research Park is to provide the internal knowledge source NASA economically efficient access to knowledge and capabilities either found in the external community or which a strategic partnership could develop more efficiently and economically.
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Of the 7,000 faculty, 40 have been awarded Nobel Prizes and 300 are National Academy of Sciences Fellows. One of the important assets that the University of California system will bring to the NASA Ames Research Park is a strong link to commercial biotechnology firms.
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This research is expected to yield valuable applications for life seeking in extreme environments and planetary global exploration. Industry Participation Private industry is a key player in the NASA Ames Research Park model.
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Managing the Tripartite Model The success of the NASA Ames Research Center depends not just on the conception of the model but also on how it is managed. The issue of Center management revolves around developing mechanisms and tools for NASA to access the resources of strategic partners and to focus them on meeting goals consistent with NASA's missions.
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In particular, these partnerships are expected to give NASA the capabilities to address problems on an industry timetable, rather than a government timetable. To facilitate The Entrepreneurial Center, the Commercial Technology Office can also rely on its existing tools, which include the following: technology assessment; marketing; intellectual protection and licensing; agreement development; regional and national industry networks; management of the Ames Small Business Innovation Research Program; and · business incubation.
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Partners from the industry and university sectors are not likely to be patient and tolerant of such bureaucratic barriers, which could ultimately subvert the partnership. One important issue determining the success of the NASA Ames Research Park is the selection of strategic partners.
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MONITORING AND MEASURING THE TECHNOLOGY PARK IMPACT Because the goals and mission of the Ames Research Park are markedly different from that of traditional S&T parks, monitoring and measuring the impact of Ames must reflect this difference. As explained in the second section, the approach to monitoring and measuring the impact of traditional S&T parks has been to focus on the flow of knowledge from the park to the external region with a particular emphasis on commercialization, job creation, and growths However, the logic of Ames is radically different.
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Rather, the impact of the Ames Research Park must be measured in terms of the benefits to the three major participants compared to the counterfactual situation if no such research park existed. However, the economic attainment of NASA's mission must carry the greatest weight in measuring and monitoring the impact of the Ames Research Park: · Economic Attainment of NASA's Mission This involves measuring the extent to which attainment of NASA's targeted technologies are attained at a cost below that which NASA would have incurred if it had developed the technologies by itself.
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Through the flow of knowledge from the source within the park to commercial opportunities in the region, the traditional S&T park served as an engine for regional economic development. The Ames Research Park is founded on the very different premise that private industry is no longer at a competitive disadvantage in the production of knowledge, but is at least an equal, if different, partner.
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2000. "Science and Technology Parks at the Millennium: Concept, History, and Metrics" in this volume.
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