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Analyses of inequalities related to prevention and cancer therapeutics/care show disparities between countries with different economic standing, and within countries with high Gross Domestic Product. The development of basic technological and biological research provides clinical and prevention opportunities that make their implementation into healthcare systems more complex, mainly due to the growth of Personalized/Precision Cancer Medicine (PCM). Initiatives like the USA-Cancer Moonshot and the EU-Mission on Cancer and Europes Beating Cancer Plan are initiated to boost cancer prevention and therapeutics/care innovation and to mitigate present inequalities. The conference organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the European Academy of Cancer Sciences discussed the inequality problem, dependent on the economic status of a country, the increasing demands for infrastructure supportive of innovative research and its implementation in healthcare and prevention programs. Establishing translational research defined as a coherent cancer research continuum is still a challenge. Research has to cover the entire continuum from basic to outcomes research for clinical and prevention modalities. Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs) are of critical importance for integrating research innovations to preclinical and clinical research, as for ensuring state-of-the-art patient care within healthcare systems. International collaborative networks between CCCs are necessary to reach the critical mass of infrastructures and patients for PCM research, and for introducing prevention modalities and new treatments effectively. Outcomes and health economics research are required to assess the cost-effectiveness of new interventions, currently a missing element in the research portfolio. Data sharing and critical mass are essential for innovative research to develop PCM. Despite advances in cancer research, cancer incidence and prevalence is growing. Making cancer research infrastructures accessible for all patients, considering the increasing inequalities, requires science policy actions incentivizing research aimed at prevention and cancer therapeutics/care with an increased focus on patients needs and cost-effective healthcare.

This essay addresses a growing phenomenon whereby various aspects of our lives, from the professional to the personal, are being continuously scrutinised and rated though sets of metric parameters. We substantiate this claim with empirical evidence, and argue that these rating exercises may ultimately provide an illusion of rigour while in fact being dominated by subjective undercurrents and modes of impact.

The democratization of higher education through strategically driven science policies and higher education reforms is documented in this paper. These represent complementary policy actions oriented towards strengthening social, cultural and economic dimensions that allow higher education institutions (HEIs) to grow and to train graduates able to adapt to increasingly uncertain job markets. Drawing from the main achievements in Portugal during the period 2006-2010, our central argument focuses on the need to open higher education to all as a means to sustain a strong and specialized knowledge base. The results are related to the role of HEIs in fostering socially robust knowledge and supplying talented people and researchers to society in globalized socio-economic contexts.

European cancer research stakeholders met in October 2022 in Heidelberg, Germany, at the 5th Gago conference on European Cancer Policy, to discuss the current cancer research and cancer care policy landscape in Europe. Meeting participants highlighted gaps in the existing European programmes focusing on cancer research, including Europe's Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP), the Mission on Cancer (MoC), Understanding Cancer (UNCAN.eu), and the joint action CRANE, and put forward the next priorities, in the form of the Heidelberg Manifesto for cancer research. This meeting report presents all discussions that shed light on how infrastructures can be effectively shaped for translational, prevention, clinical and outcomes cancer research, with a focus on implementation and sustainability and while engaging patients and the public. In addition, we summarize recommendations on how to introduce frameworks for the digitalization of European cancer research. Finally, we discuss what structures, commitment, and resources are needed to establish a collaborative cancer research environment in Europe to achieve the scale required for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2005.12.010 Byline: Jose L. Moutinho, Manuel Heitor Abstract: This paper considers the development of selected projects which have been engaged in building information and communication networks in urban and regional environments, with the ultimate goal of developing networked places. It is argued that such networks have the potential to attract and mobilize people into a 'culture of knowledge' and make public administration and free markets more effective, but require adequate infrastructures, incentives and institutional frameworks. The analysis builds on the co-evolution of human and social contexts at local levels and the endogenous process of technical change, namely in terms of information and communication technologies. We conclude that networked places should be designed holistically, adaptable to change and continuously assessed in order to accommodate humanity. The first generation digital cities have shown the need to build flexible and interoperable technological infrastructures, yet robust and user friendly, to support knowledge networks. The new paradigm of semantic grids may respond to the increasing complexity and heterogeneity of humanity and urban environments and support more effectively the creation and diffusion of knowledge networks to help mobilizing the information society and to promote the inclusive development of networked places. Author Affiliation: Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, Technical University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal Article History: Received 31 October 2003; Accepted 31 December 2005

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2006.05.001 Byline: Pedro Conceicao, Manuel V. Heitor Abstract: This paper discusses recent conceptual approaches to technical change, based on an emerging diversity of policies and increasing 'institutional specialization' and clarification of the role of the private and public incentives to support S&T. This fact is reflected in the trend in developed economies towards increasing private investment in science and technology and we argue for the need to promote public policies in modern societies fostering competence building. This broad concept has motivated the work behind the present special issue, which was launched during the 6th International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation (ICTPI), hold in Monterey, Mexico, in the summer of 2003. Under the broad designation of 'Connecting People, Ideas, and Resources across Communities' the Conference brought together a range of experts to discuss technology, policy and management in a context much influenced by a dynamic of change and a necessary balance between the creation and diffusion of knowledge. Thus, this special issue includes a set of extended and revised contributions to the Monterey conference that are largely grounded on empirical experiences of different regional and national contexts. The aim of this introductory paper is to set the stage for these contributions, with an original contribution on possible views for emerging science and technology policies. Author Affiliation: Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, IN+, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon, Portugal Article History: Received 25 April 2006

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2004.11.009 Byline: Pedro Conceicao (a), Manuel V. Heitor (a), Pedro S. Vieira (b) Keywords: Environmental foresight; Innovation; Policy; Innovation survey Abstract: The relationship between environmental concerns and innovation is analyzed in the context of Portuguese manufacturing firms, with the ultimate goal to foster measures of environmental foresight. Based on data from the Community Innovation Survey in Portugal, simple statistical tests, including Chi.sup.2, t, and Levene's tests and contingency tables (adjusted standardized residuals), were used to study the relationship between firms' characteristics and the introduction of innovation aiming to reduce environmental damage. Environmental foresight is discussed based on three groups of variables that allow considering the industrial context that frames firm's actions, the economic performance of the firm and its innovation patterns. Results show that the development of innovation due to environmental concerns is positively associated with the firm's size and exports share, and negatively associated with its technological content. Moreover, it is shown that the firms that introduced innovations due to environmental concerns are likely to belong to an economic group, to have performed continuous R&D, or received public support. It is also shown that 'lack of organizational flexibility' and 'lack of receptivity by customers' are the two most relevant innovation barriers for these firms. Author Affiliation: (a) Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, IN+, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon, Portugal (b) University of California at Berkeley, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Berkeley, CA, USA Article History: Received 20 July 2002; Accepted 10 November 2004

A major shift in the financial and structural backing from reliance on public science to a stronger emphasis on 'market-based' incentives for R&D and innovation in science and technology by the private sector is analysed in a historical perspective. This change is largely driven by the perception of a policy change by the U.S., which hugely relies on private incentives and venture-capital investments, which are particularly concentrated on high-technology sectors.

This research paper evaluates the economic and social importance of innovation within a learning environment such as colleges and universities, and knowledge-based economies. This paper tracks the number of graduate Ph.D. candidates in a wide range of fields between 1996 and 1999 from Portuguese colleges and universities.

Economic growth has historically been viewed in terms of increases in capital and labor and technological change. Knowledge creation and dissemination are also fundamental factors contributing to economic growth, and this paper discusses the relationship that knowledge accumulation and learning has to economic prosperity.

Public policy, particularly public funding, plays a vital role in the preservation of the institutional integrity of the university. Maintenance and enhancement of public funding allows universities to continue its role as creator and distributor of knowledge. Specifically, it enables universities to undertake teaching and research activities that take into account commercial and public interests.