From left to right: Nora Engel, Daniel Vertesy, Shuan SadreGhazi and Bilal Mirza

courseware strategy, with audio recordings of class sessions and other learning materials developed at UNU-MERIT freely available on the internet. For more information on the open learning platform, please contact Philipp Schmidt. The course outline and other programme information is available at the PhD section of the website.

Related items:
	Interview with Anthony Bartzokas (7min00)
	UNU-MERIT podcasts feed
	PhD website

19-27 August, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. CICALICS PhD School on Innovation systems, capability building and economic development . Anthony Arundel represents UNU-MERIT on the faculty. CICALICS is an initiative of The Global Network For The Economics Of Learning, Innovation, And Competence Building Systems (GLOBELICS), in which many UNU-MERIT researchers actively participate.

5-6 September, London, UK. Innogen Annual Conference 2006: Genomics for Development? The Life Sciences and Poverty Reduction. Andy Hall speaks on a recently completed research project, in a paper, titled : Close, but no CGIAR! Why strengthening agricultural science is not the same as strengthening agricultural innovation capacity in developing countries. Lynn Mytelka presents a paper on Vaccine development and innovation capacity building in developing countries .

21-22 September, Helsinki, Finland. Going Global 2006 - The Challenges for Knowledge-Based Economies. Pierre Mohnen gave a presentation on Cross-border technology flows in a globalized world at this official event of Finland's Presidency of the European Council.

25-27 September, Ottawa, Canada. "Blue Sky II 2006". Anthony Arundel, Wendy Hansen, Pierre Mohnen and Luc Soete are keynote speakers at the OECD Forum, which will examine new areas for indicator development and set a broad agenda for future work on science, technology and innovation (STI) indicators. The Forum is expected to provide ideas and guidance for indicators work in both OECD and non OECD countries, as well as in their international organizations. Conference programme.

9-10 November, Maastricht, the Netherlands. Bringing the economy forward - innovation policy in Canada and the Netherlands. A special seminar organized by the Association for Canadian Studies in the Netherlands in co-operation with UNU-MERIT.

Recent empirical evidence across countries shows a substantial and increasing return to IT investment. New technologies open up opportunities for small firms to expand their markets beyond national borders. This books looks specifically at ICT adoption and learning trajectories in developing countries; a context characterized by skill deficiencies and weak institutional support. The authors employ a systemic theoretical framework and a variety of research techniques to present firm-level evidence on learning in firms in an Internet-based production environment.

Related items:
	Palgrave Macmillan

What role should governments play in protecting the environment and controlling the environmental impacts of industry? Do regulations benefit the environment, and how do they affect industrial innovation? Since the 1980s there has been a movement towards liberalization, coupled with the continued failure of the market to protect the environment as a public good. As a result, private and public sector interests have been engaged in debate about the apporpriate role of governments in protecting and improving the environment and controlling the environmental impact of industry. This book examines a number of political and industrial trends and responses to these challenges. It concludes that the complexities of the environmental and economic relationships disallow universal solutions and illustrates the need for a context-specific and non-linear perspective on environmental regulation.

Related items:
	UNU Press

With contributions by Anthony A rundel, Pierre Mohnen and Luc Soete of UNU-MERIT, among others, this book takes stock of what is known about the process of innovation and its effects, and the policy interventions that influence both. The contributors explore the fact that economic theory, statistical measurement and the need to achieve targets are combining to shift policy focus towards the economic and social impacts of innovation. This is forcing economists and statisticians to look for new measures, indicators, and analytical frameworks to support the public policy debate and the implementations of change necessary for success. The book emphasizes the importance of linkages and communities of practice in measuring and analyzing innovation.

Related items:
	Edward Elgar