New indicators and indexes for benchmarking university-industry-government innovation in medical and life science clusters: results from the European FP7 Regions of Knowledge HealthTIES project.

BACKGROUND: While the European Union is striving to become the 'Innovation Union', there remains a lack of quantifiable indicators to compare and benchmark regional innovation clusters. To address this issue, a HealthTIES (Healthcare, Technology and Innovation for Economic Success) consortium was funded by the European Union's Regions of Knowledge initiative, research and innovation funding programme FP7. HealthTIES examined whether the health technology innovation cycle was functioning differently in five European regional innovation clusters and proposed regional and joint actions to improve their performance. The clusters included BioCat (Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain), Medical Delta (Leiden, Rotterdam and Delft, South Holland, Netherlands), Oxford and Thames Valley (United Kingdom), Life Science Zürich (Switzerland), and Innova Észak-Alföld (Debrecen, Hungary). METHODS: Appreciation of the 'triple helix' of university-industry-government innovation provided the impetus for the development of two quantifiable innovation indexes and related indicators. The HealthTIES H-index is calculated for disease and technology platforms based on the h-index proposed by Hirsch. The HealthTIES Innovation Index is calculated for regions based on 32 relevant quantitative and discriminative indicators grouped into 12 categories and 3 innovation phases, namely 'Input' (n = 12), 'Innovation System' (n = 9) and 'Output' (n = 11). RESULTS: The HealthTIES regions had developed relatively similar disease and technology platform profiles, yet with distinctive strengths and weaknesses. The regional profiles of the innovation cycle in each of the three phases were surprisingly divergent. Comparative assessments based on the indicators and indexes helped identify and share best practice and inform regional and joint action plans to strengthen the competitiveness of the HealthTIES regions. CONCLUSION: The HealthTIES indicators and indexes provide useful practical tools for the measurement and benchmarking of university-industry-government innovation in European medical and life science clusters. They are validated internally within the HealthTIES consortium and appear to have a degree of external prima facie validity. Potentially, the tools and accompanying analyses can be used beyond the HealthTIES consortium to inform other regional governments, researchers and, possibly, large companies searching for their next location, analyse and benchmark 'triple helix' dynamics within their own networks over time, and to develop integrated public-private and cross-regional research and innovation strategies in Europe and beyond.

The Greater Zurich Area is Well-positioned in the Life Sciences in Switzerland and Europe.

The Greater Zurich Area has become a hub for the life sciences industry in recent years, with above-average numbers of medtech companies and brisk spin-off activities from the Zurich universities. The spin-offs have established themselves near their scientific origins, in incubators and parks where they have access to functional and affordable laboratory infrastructures. Numerous cluster initiatives and networks foster exchanges between start-ups, established companies and academia. An international regional comparison conducted within the framework of the EU HealthTIES project gave the region of Zurich a good score in the life sciences area. The detailed comparison shows that Zurich is strong in the academic field and the existing companies are well-positioned. However, weaknesses are evident in the field of clinical research and in the interface between academia and industry. The infrastructure offerings in the Greater Zurich Area for life sciences companies and for exchanges between academia and industry will be further expanded in the coming years. Whether the high growth rate of the industry in the Greater Zurich Area can be maintained or even increased depends on the economy and other factors, but also on the political environment.