Global Challenges to National Innovation Systems

Course Information

Registration Information

Meeting Times

Day Time Location
TUE 6:00 - 9:00 pm SRH 3.109

Description

Note: This class will be coordinated with a speaker series that will begin at 5PM every other Tuesday class day of the semester. Increasingly, the technical challenges that drive major science and technology policy issues, and sustain growth in high technology industries, are global in nature. They require coordination of technology investments across corporate and national boundaries, and the creation of new international coalitions or global institutions. This class will explore the theory and practice of policies responding to these global technological challenges, in a diverse set of scientific and technical areas. The seminar will be supported in part by the Technology, Innovation, and Global Security (TIGS) program of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. A series of expert speaker seminars will be sponsored by the TIGS program in coordination with the class, and serve as one of the required student activities for the class. The current confirmed schedule of speakers is as follows:
  • Sept. 9 - Morris Chang, founding Chairman, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation
  • Sept. 23 - Charles Geschke, co-founding Chairman, Adobe Systems Inc.
  • October 7 - Joan Woodard, Executive Vice President and Deputy Laboratories Director for Nuclear Weapons, Sandia National Laboratories
  • October 21 - Dan Hutcheson, CEO, VLSI Research
  • November 4 - Anne Stevens, Chairman, President and CEO, Carpenter Technology Corporation (former Ford Motor Company Chief Operating Officer, The Americas)
Students enrolled in the seminar will be required to prepare analytical briefs on selected technology policy challenges, carefully analyze and absorb the invited expert presentations in these areas, then thoughtfully critique the presentations in a follow-up session. In addition, all students will be required to undertake a team technology policy analysis project, with their analysis and conclusions briefed to the seminar at the end of the semester. Illustrative examples of possible technology policy topic areas are:
  • The International Semiconductor Technology Roadmap's Role in Sustaining IT Innovation
  • New Models for Industrial R&D Consortia
  • Hackers, Phishers, and Cyberwarfare: Preparing for the Next Net War
  • Recent Developments in National Patent Systems: Implications for Corporate and National Interests
  • How to Create and Sustain a High Tech Cluster: Lessons from the History of Austin
  • Brazil's Success in Aerospace: Lessons for Developing Countries?
  • Public and Private Technology Transfer Policies and China's Strategy in Semiconductors
  • International Patent Policy and the Future of the Indian Pharmaceutical Sector
  • Changing Patterns of R&D and Manufacturing in the Global PC Business
  • Solar Power and US Energy Policy
  • Reinventing the Rules in Global High Tech: Recent Developments in Global Antitrust and Competition Policies
  • The Digital Horsepower Initiative: The Potential Role of Microelectronics in Energy-Efficient Infrastructure
  • The Future of Nuclear Power in the United States
  • Does the U.S. Face a Broadband Gap?
  • Missile Defense and National Security Policy: Lessons from a 40-Year History
  • New Policy Approaches to Respond to Global Climate Change
  • National Security Technology Programs with International Partners: Lessons from U.S. Joint Defense System Development Programs

Instructors

Headshot of Flamm, Kenneth Flamm, Kenneth
Headshot of Spencer, William J Spencer, William J
Log In to View Course Evaluations