Finally, we argue that by paying greater attention to the broad range of knowledge transfer mechanisms (in addition to patenting and spin-outs), policy initiatives could contribute to building the researchers' skills necessary to integrate the worlds of scientific research and application.
This highlights the importance of new initiatives that seek to advance knowledge exchange and knowledge transfer within the basin to reach the goal of integrated basin management.
This has been a key component in the current model, facilitated through collaborations between students, practitioners and academics, collaborations with industry and the private sector through successful establishment of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) (http://www.ktponline.org.uk/), and collaborations with national research initiatives.
At the regional level many European, Asian and Latin American countries have introduced reforms and public policy initiatives to encourage and improve entrepreneurial activities and technology and knowledge transfer.
Such initiatives offer a modest but determined attempt to redress the balance in global knowledge transfer.
Governmental initiatives, such as 'University Challenge' (which provided seed funding) and HEROBC or HEIF (which build knowledge transfer capabilities in universities), have encouraged universities, through the provision of funding, to undertake commercialisation activities (Salter et al. 2000).
A range of activities to support innovation have been put in motion, such as the creation of incubator facilities and tech transfer initiatives like the I@Mak program, which demonstrates not only attention to the impact of knowledge but a genuinely new institutional approach to meeting economic and social demands at a district level.
Given the proliferation and the growing complexity of performance measurement initiatives in many health systems, the Netherlands and Ontario, Canada expressed interests in cross-national comparisons in an effort to promote knowledge transfer and best practise.
Since this project is an initiative of surgeons who are members of a large national group there is enormous potential for knowledge transfer in that surgeons across Canada will use the results to guide practice, teach medical students, residents and fellows according to their practice and will create a more research friendly atmosphere with the standardization of tests across Canada.
Third, that GDC be based on research and knowledge transfer.
