Changing economic landscape: liberalisation and knowledge infrastructures

This paper discusses some changes in the economic ‘landscape’ (policy cultures, institutions, infrastructures, regulations, and economic processes) within which the European Framework Programmes are formed and implemented. The main changes are: the domestic reform agenda of liberalisation, privatisation and deregulation; and the changed globalisation environment. The paper argues that these reforms have transformed the infrastructural conditions underlying technological change in ways that require attention from policymakers. In particular, the domestic reform agendas have had an unintended side-effect — the diminution or closure of large-scale technological and engineering capabilities in formerly publicly-owned industries. Changing concepts of, and approaches to, R&D and innovation necessitate shifts in policy approaches and instruments towards a greater focus on knowledge infrastructures: this is a major challenge facing the Framework Programmes.