1. Demographic Change as a Catalyser for
Knowledge Society
Marc Bovenschulte
Head of Section „Demographic Change“
VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH
Berlin – Germany
E-Mail: marc.bovenschulte@vdivde-it.de
© VDI/VDE-IT 21.03.2012

2. Age structure of groundbreaking scientific findings
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Jones, B. F. (2010): Age and Great Invention. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 92( 1), 1 – 14
© VDI/VDE-IT 21.03.2012

3. The value of Invention: Innovation!
Frieling, E. & Enríquez, A.:
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Arbeitsplatzgestaltung,
Arbeitsorganisation, alternsgerecht.
Presentation, slide #22, University of
Kassel
© VDI/VDE-IT 21.03.2012

4. Innovation: A matter of the Young?
Attributes of „the Young“ Attributes of „the Old“
 Explorative innovators  Conceptual innovators
 Liquid cognition  Crystalline cognition
 State of the art knowledge  Experience
 …  …
 Knowledge to invent  Knowledge to innovate
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Knowledge Society
© VDI/VDE-IT 21.03.2012

5. Absorbtive capacity
 The ability to recognize the value of new information, assimilate it,
and apply it to commercial ends*
 Uptake and usage of internal and external knowledge
 Depends on the structure and organisation of the working processes
and conditions (flexibility)
 Depends on the individual mind-set (openness)
 Multivariate occupational career
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*Cohen, W. & Levinthal, D. (1990): Absorptive Capacity: A new Perspective on Learning and Innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35 (1), 128 – 152
© VDI/VDE-IT 21.03.2012

6. The times they are a changing
 Example: In the sector of plastics and rubber, companies that
collaborate are 10 – 40 % more productive and grow up to 20 % more
than companies that do not cooperate.*
 An increasing importance of network economies and project economies
can be observed. New products require as well new production means
and conditions:
Computers:
Mainframes Personal Computers Smart Systems
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(“Big Blue”) (new SMEs) (disperse actors)
*“Cluster Report für die Herstellung von Kunststoff- und Gummiwaren”,
Forschungsinstitut für Regional- und Clustermanagement, 2008 © VDI/VDE-IT 21.03.2012

7. Bringing different perspectives together
 The knowledge based economy needs knowledge to structure
knowledge (turn invention into innovation).
 This meta-knowledge is the domain of an experienced workforce
(“thinkforce”).
 To develop, improve and maintain this type of knowledge, certain
conditions have to be fulfilled (absorptive capacity, multivariate
occupational career).
 SMEs often do not offer these conditions due to size and structure.
 Network effects can compensate this weakness of SMEs.
 The more knowledge is applied and the more companies cooperate, the
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more aged workforce is needed.
© VDI/VDE-IT 21.03.2012

8. Consequences so far
“We didn’t even get the
opportunity to show what we
are able to do!”
Statement of German pensioners participating in a workshop about the
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perspectives of an ageing society (Lüneburg, March 2012)
© VDI/VDE-IT 21.03.2012

9. In the long run we are all old
German Research Agenda for Demographic Change
Das Alter hat Zukunft – The New Future of Old Age
www.das-alter-hat-zukunft.de
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© VDI/VDE-IT 21.03.2012