Last week I was in Ottawa to give a talk for the Competition Bureau as part of a one-day workshop on innovation and antitrust issues. The workshop brought together various individuals from business, academia and government, both domestic and international, to discuss the role of innovation across various industries, explore the relationship between competition and innovation, and examine how innovation should best be assessed by competition agencies.
For my own remarks I put together 10 observations on the changing nature of innovation and global competition, focusing on a variety of questions, including:
- How will technological disruption transform key sectors of the economy, and how will the arrival of new digitally-enabled competitors change the dynamics of innovation?
- How should competition regulators treat the growing propensity for collaboration, openness and pre-competitive research alliances in many industries?
- How will the competitive landscape change as the talent and capability to innovate becomes increasingly global?
- Is growing acquisition activity increasing the incentives for innovation among entrepreneurs and start-ups, and thereby increasing the dynamism of innovation ecosystems?
- Or, does the absorption of potential competitors by larger firms end up stifling competition?
- What are the implications of these economic and technological shifts for competition regulators?
- Will the acceleration of innovation cycles challenge the capacity for competition regulators to respond in a timely manner to potential anti-trust issues?
The conversation that ensued at the Competition Bureau turned out to be so intriguing that I have since committed to writing up a short report outlining my reflections in more detail. We will aim to get the report out in January. In the meantime, I have posted my slides on slideshare and welcome any thoughts and contributions.