From Science to Society: The Open Science and Innovation and Network Approach

Abstract

Public investment in fundamental scientific research generates societal benefits (Mazzucato in Public Aff, 2018 [1]; Barrett et al. in Why basic science matters for economic growth. Public investment in basic research will pay for itself. International Monetary Fund Blog, 2011 [2]; Zuniga and Wunsch-Vincent in Harnessing the benefits of publicly-funded research. WIPO Magazine, 2012 [3]; Adams in Calif Manage Rev 48(1):29–51, 2005 [4]; European Physical Society in Physics and the economy. Report. Centre for Economics and Business Research, 2019 [5]). At first sight it seems counterintuitive that public funding of a curiosity driven activity that does not address immediate societal challenges or urgent needs can produce wealth and be even long-term sustainable. We are rather tempted to argue that on the contrary, only applied research and targeted investments such as for instance addressing climate change, advancing microelectronics, increasing the effectiveness of battery-based energy storage or the developments of space technologies can satisfy this criterion. It is important to engage both, public and private funds to address such challenges, but science is a key ingredient to come up with the truly disruptive solutions. The funds required to address grand challenges call for globally concerted approaches over several decades with effects that will become only visible after several generations. Funding alone will, however, not be sufficient to effectively respond to societal challenges. Looking at the private sector, it turns out that a significant share of high-tech companies are ultimately results of initial public funding for curiosity driven scientific research.