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New edition of
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Hiroyuki Tomizawa talks about using Scopus data to drive OECD’s innovation strategy
Hiroyuki Tomizawa
Iris Kisjes: Tell me a little about the
OECD’s background.
Hiroyuki Tomizawa: The OECD provides
a forum for the governments of 30 likeminded
market democracies to compare
policy experiences, share best practices
and seek answers to common economic,
social and governance challenges.
“We believe that innovation in science and technology plays a crucial role in a country's economic development.”
Established in 1948 to lead the Marshall Plan for rebuilding Europe after the Second World War, the OECD has been collecting and analyzing statistical, economic and social data at the request of its members since 1961. These data are used to generate collective policy discussions, leading to decision making and implementation. For instance, our Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard, which comes out every 2 years, explores the interaction between knowledge and globalization at the heart of the ongoing transformation of OECD economies.
What is OECD’s current focus?
In recent years, we’ve expanded our focus
on our 30 member countries to offer
analytical expertise and experience to
over 100 developing and emerging
market economies. This has to a certain
extent been driven by globalization, which
has made it virtually impossible to
study specific areas in isolation.
This has seen the scope of our work shift from the examination of individual policy areas within each member country to the analysis of how various policy areas interact with each other and with other countries, including those outside the OECD group.
What kind of analysis
does this involve?
Well, we’ve actually
come to realize that
analysis alone is not enough; to truly
help governments foster the kind of
innovation that drives economic
growth, we need to help them develop
strategies. We believe that innovation in
science and technology plays a crucial
role in a country's economic development.
Our member governments agree, and
have increased R&D spending by around
3% per annum since the mid-1990s.
Countries that have put emphasis on
innovation in their policies have enjoyed
higher economic growth.
To help our members innovate successfully, we’re developing an innovation strategy, which will provide mutually reinforcing policies and recommendations to boost innovation performance, pointing to general and country-specific practices and, where appropriate, developing guidelines.
This work will culminate in a report to ministers in 2010, but some patterns are already clear. For instance, are governments doing enough to foster collaboration between universities and businesses, and not just within their borders? Many key inventions, such as the World Wide Web, came out of public basic research. Are governments doing enough to strengthen this bedrock of innovation?
We also intend to focus on subject areas where we’ve seen significant impact on the economy, such as life science, biotechnology, nanotechnology and environmental science.
Why did the OECD decide to use
Scopus Custom Data?
We’re currently using Scopus Custom
Data for our research, analysis and
benchmarking work in the development
of our innovation strategy. The three
key factors behind this decision were
Scopus’ broad international coverage,
clean and flexible data, and advanced
features, such as the ability to link
between authors and institutions.
How more specifically will OECD use
Scopus Custom Data?
We anticipate using Scopus data to
analyze global trends and identify
subject areas that are experiencing
intense activity, to understand research
activities at the country level and make
comparative analyses between countries,
and to understand coauthorship and
collaboration across borders. In a
competitive knowledge society,
countries are deploying policies to
attract the best talent, but it’s not
always easy for them to assess whether
they have been successful or not.
“Countries that have put emphasis on innovation in their policies have enjoyed higher economic growth.”
These groups possibly can benefit
from OECD reports we will provide to
governments as part of our innovation
strategy: policy makers, funding
agencies, and governmental and
commercial research organizations.
Serving as the primary source of
data for our reports, Scopus data
will contribute to the OECD achieving
its goals and will help us determine
the direction of future economic
decision making. 
hiroyuki.tomizawa@oecd.org
www.oecd.org
Want to know more about Scopus Custom Data?
http://info.scopus.com/customdata
