KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY
The Knowledge-Based Economy approach, proclaimed by Peter Drucker in his book The Age of Discontinuity, has revealed itself as the key to sustainable long-term economic strategies. It maintains that the sustainable long term approach has been proved to be the creation of an economy founded on the promotion of an increasing stock of human capital and know-how, to be transformed into improved activities of Research and Development (R&D).
To promote this kind of development, however, R&D investing needs to be integrated with policies for promoting the development of Human Capital. As stated in several different editions of the World Knowledge Competitiveness Index Report “Knowledge is the ingredient that underlies the competitiveness of regions, nations, sectors or firms. It refers to the cumulative stock of information and skills concerned with connecting new ideas with commercial values, developing new products and, therefore, ‘doing business in a new way’.”
Within the scope of the education policies that have been enacted by the single states and Regions, the mobility of teaching personnel, students and researchers represents a fundamental strategy for increasing the quality of educational systems. The exchange of knowledge, didactic methodologies and the international-level comparison of competitive models produce positive effects on different economic and social systems of the territories involved.
To facilitate the circulation of new ideas and know-how, the Researchers Mobility Network (RMN) project creates an international network to support the mobility of researchers, teachers and students.
The first pilot project is focused on: Researchers’ mobility
The proposal is to focus on promoting agreements on researcher’s mobility, especially encouraging mobility of young researchers, so as to stimulate an open network of “talent strategy” for the future, also building on existing bilateral partnerships and on their interest to broaden cooperation.
In the framework of the thematic workshop “Researchers’ mobility for innovation” which has taken place in Milan on 29th September during the World Regions Forum, representatives and experts from participating partner regions have met to explore future cooperation opportunities in the area of knowledge-based economy, higher education and researchers’ mobility.
The participants have finally adopted the following joint declaration.