Name: Dr. Kenan Patrick Jarboe
Affiliation: President, Athena Alliance
Country: Washington, D.C. USA
URL: Athena Alliance
BLOG: Intangible Economy
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"My interest has always been focused on what the emerging future economy looks like. The global economy is constantly evolving and structurally changing. I've fascinated by that change and am trying to keep up with what it looks like. That fascination has led me to the study of knowledge-based assets and intangible capital in economic growth."
In May 2011, Athena Alliance organized a conference on the role of intangible assets in economic growth. Cosponsored with the OECD, The Conference Board, Kauffman Foundation, and US National Academies and hosted by the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy, the conference discussed multiple aspect of intangibles and innovation.
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The conference discussions highlighted the importance of intangibles - from worker skills, reputation, organizational structures, and relations with suppliers and customers to patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
- As Chairman Bernanke said in his opening remarks, the topics of innovation and intangible capital “are central to understanding how we can best promote robust economic growth in the long run.”
- On measurement - the intangible framework is “too important to be left in the hands of macroeconomists.” There is a need to integrate the macroeconomic analysis, based on available data on corporate spending, with the business strategy and corporate reporting view.
- Conversations highlighted the shifting ecosystem, especially the move to a collaboration model. Crafting policy in this new ecosystem will require a better understanding of the flows of knowledge, including the tacit knowledge of workers
"We must move beyond concepts to practical tools, including understanding how the intangibles framework links to business outcomes and economic growth. We also need to understand that the innovation ecosystem has shifted as the flows of knowledge have changed to a more open and less top-down system."
"We are making progress: getting past the initial problem of lack of interest, being able to turn the abstract idea of a knowledge-based, intangible capital driven economy into a concrete concept and finding a greater immediate understanding from policy makers about knowledge-based, intangible assets."
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