University of Ferrara - Patrizio Bianchi & Sandrine Labory

Project Objectives

1. Review the effectiveness of the existing EU innovation policies aimed at fostering technology transfer, with particular reference to the promotion of corporate and academic spin-offs into the SME sector;

2. In this connection, explore the policy conditions and other factors essential to the diffusion of publicly-funded basic research (into the hands of those who can best exploit it), and the barriers to its commercial exploitation;

3. Assess the extent to which the current EU IPR arrangements pertaining to the protection of intellectual property work to foster or obstruct innovation-transfer. A range of sectors will be examined including the health and education sectors;

4. Assess the extent to which there is justification for a more prominent role for public sector institutions in the funding of basic research than is seen in many EU countries today;

5. Identify specific (normative) recommendations for policy change.

City University Business School - Peter Hill & Richard Youngman

Project Objectives

1. Overall objective: To demonstrate why a new taxonomy is needed in macroeconomic measurement systems, a taxonomy in which intangible goods are clearly recognised and differentiated from both tangible goods and from services.

2. To estimate the scale and significance of the problem and its impact on existing macro economic data systems and the uses of macro data for purposes of analysis, decision taking and policy making.

3. To make recommendations as to how concepts and classifications in national accounts might be changed in order to make the data more useful and policy relevant: for example, by redefining capital formation to include investment in some intangibles that are not currently identified and classified as assets.

4. To identify what are the key obstacles preventing such changes and how they might be overcome.

5. To make some tentative estimates of what effects such changes might have on existing data bases

University of Copehangen - Jan Mouritsen

Project Objectives

1. Global (contextual) objectives. The global focus of the research is to contribute to our understanding of how a network society may be governed. When loosely-coupled firms interact and co-operate on issues of strategy, operations and capabilities, new forms of energy may be released and new management issues arise.

2. Project goals. More specifically, the project will explore the relationship between managing assets and resources in a new economy context and the technologies of managing needed to allow management to be performed. This directs attention to management problems, and indicators of relevance to solving these problems - with a particular emphasis on intellectual resources.

University of Ferrara - Stefano Zambon

Project Objectives

1. The unit intends to investigate from an international and comparative perspective the new developments in the corporate reporting domain, without disregarding the potential implications of these innovations for public sector organisations.

2. The study will assess the solutions proposed in the literature aiming to respond to the challenges posed by the new economic framework on the three professional service industries of accounting, financial analysis and audit. To this end, the research will consider the emerging forms of organisational reports that have been suggested to cope with the lack of information on the new value drivers. The contents and challenges which these reports pose to audit and financial analysis will be thoroughly analysed.

3. More specifically, the project will aim to provide a blueprint for auditors, professional accountants and financial analysts regarding the new corporate information disclosures required by the intangible economy. It will also set out to identify areas where the existing accounting standards and market regulatory systems may need special attention.

University of Copenhagen - Frede M�rck

Project Objectives

1. To carry out an empirical research study in the banking and venture capital sector of the current needs in relation to measuring intangibles.

2. To identify existing methods used by interviewing leading players in the market.

3. To identify key assets and competencies critical to assessing the value of intangibles.

4. To define elements and indicators which could be used as tools to describe the value-creation process and, ultimately, the value of intangibles.

Henley Management College - Edward Truch

Project Objective

To identify and publish leading edge practices in the areas of e-Government with a focus on measurement of intangible assets