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Title: The national innovation system of Belgium: the institutional profile- [World Wide Web]

Notes: If the present-day institutional profile of the Belgian innovation system can be characterised in one word, æcomplexityÆ seems the most obvious candidate. However, this chapter is essential if one wants to understand the specific situation of a country like Belgium that, in a period of internationalisation and European integration, initiated a far-reaching process of regionalisation. This process has probably yet not reached its final conclusion. The major transformation with regard to science, technology and innovation occurred during the various state reforms initiated since 1980. They remodelled Belgium from a unitary national state to a federal state with a high degree of autonomy and a large number of competencies having been transferred to the regions and the æcommunitiesÆ. Although the regions now have the primary authority in science and technology (S&T) policy and possess a substantial number of competencies, some regionalists argue for a further transfer of competencies to the regional level because of what they perceive as a lack of coherence and homogeneity in the attribution of authority. Others, on the other hand, contend that the need for co-operation and co-ordination in a number of matters related to joint initiatives and institutions, international activities, and the implementation and maintenance of inventories, argue for a restitution of a number of competencies to the federal authority for reasons of efficiency and effectiveness. This paper describes the complex legal framework of the Belgian innovation system and its regional aspects; gives an overview of the institutional structure of the federal authority as well as of the æfederatedÆ entities with regard to S&T policy; covers the most important public Science &Technology institutions and other organisations with significant links to Science & Technology activities; and considers the main aspects of the Belgian federal and regional Science & Technology policy.

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