Research on Perfecting Innovation Policy and Solving the Dilemma of Private Innovation in the Context of "Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation"

Hui WANG, Chunxiao CHEN

College of Economics and Management, Taishan University, Tai’an 271000, China

Abstract Based on the new opportunities aroused by the Maker Movement, this paper analyzes the five dilemmas faced by China’s private innovation in the new era, and summarizes the practical experience of Japan, France, the United States and other developed countries. Furthermore, there is a need to try to improve non-governmental innovation policies and solve the problem of private innovation funds from giving national treatment to non-governmental researchers and non-governmental scientific and technological innovation activities, giving priority to evaluation conditions and equal protection of folk scientific and technological research achievements, promoting the marketization of non-governmental innovative scientific and technological achievements, and attaching importance to the cultivation of innovative talents, forming independent innovation and entrepreneurial talent resources, and establishing non-governmental innovation funds and other aspects.

Key words Private innovation policy, Solutions, "Chinese-style poverty curse" trap

1 Introduction

As Li Bingwu won the title of "Inheritor and Innovator of Chinese Folk Hand Detection Technology" in 2019, private innovation has once again become a hot topic. So does the current non-governmental innovation policy really promote private innovation in China? According to our investigation and research, private innovation has brought forward the "Chinese-style poverty curse". How to break this curse has become the theme and hot issue of the current innovative research.

2 The rise of the Maker Movement arousing new opportunities for private innovation

At all times and all over the world, many scientists and inventors are folk scientific and technological researchers, such as Edison, the king of invention, Joule, the founder of the law of conservation of energy, Hua Luogeng, a mathematician, and Yuan Longping, the father of hybrid rice. The history of the development of science and technology in the world shows that the development of natural science follows the innovation law of private innovation before professional innovation and non-mainstream innovation before mainstream innovation. Nowadays, many scientific and technological achievements in China come from non-governmental scientific and technological workers, who have become the main source of innovation in the world. According to statistics released by the State Intellectual Property Office and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, more than 65% of China’s patent applications come from private scientific and technological researchers or non-professional inventors, and 85% of China’s new products are reported by innovators of private small and medium-sized enterprises. According to the existing management system of China, private innovation activities are relative to the innovation of public ownership controlled by the state, which is expressed in the form of non-public ownership, and privatization. The main contents include scientific research, technological development and scientific and technological services as innovative activities. It can be divided into non-governmental researchers, non-post researchers, non-mainstream researchers, informal researchers, non-professional researchers, amateur researchers, scientific interest researchers, new discipline and technology researchers, interdisciplinary researchers, retired researchers, low-educated researchers and so on[1]. It has the characteristics of non-mainstream (that is, marginal scientists who do not do their proper work), non-professional (that is, not taking scientific posts as a livelihood), non-utilitarianism (not seeking fame and fortune, a sense of expression and dedication) and so on. Non-governmental innovation activities have become an important part of the national innovation system and an important force in building an independent innovation-oriented national system in China. It helps to create a new pattern of scientific and technological undertakings in which the government and the non-governmental organizations go hand in hand, and it is to cultivate an innovative environment, train and bring up scientific and technological talents full of innovative spirit. It is conducive to deepening the reform of the scientific and technological system, building a new type of scientific and technological innovation system, developing innovative culture and cultivating the innovative spirit of the whole society. It is an indispensable important force to promote China’s scientific and technological progress and economic and social development[2].

In March 2013, President Xi Jinping required changing "Want Me to Innovate" to "I Want to Innovate" at the first session of the 12th CPPCC National Committee. On May 7, 2015, Premier Li Keqiang successively visited the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Zhongguancun Entrepreneurship Street in Beijing, emphasizing that promoting mass entrepreneurship and innovation is a major reform measure to stimulate the wisdom and creativity of hundreds of millions of people, and it is an important way to achieve national prosperity and people’s prosperity. It is necessary to resolutely eliminate all kinds of hurdles and shackles, let entrepreneurship and innovation become the trend of the times, and gather the powerful new momentum of economic and social development. The Maker has most of the characteristics of private innovation, but the Maker shows certain utilitarianism, which is helpful to breaking through the trap of "Chinese-style poverty curse" of folk inventors. For this reason, the Maker is a folk innovator who integrates innovation and entrepreneurship, who has set off a new situation of the "Maker" movement in China, and further boosted the enthusiasm of private innovation. However, while encouraging the enthusiasm of private innovation, China’s private innovation is facing great difficulties and challenges, which must be solved in order to release the energy of private innovation. The rise of the Maker movement has aroused a new opportunity for private innovation in China.

3 A probe into the five dilemmas faced by Chinese private innovation in the new era

3.1 Falling into the trap of "Chinese-style poverty curse"

Private innovators are not supported by government funds and have a difficult life without getting rich with several inventions, which is the "Chinese-style poverty curse" of private innovation in China at present. According to relevant reports, in Jilin Province, more than 700 of the 780 patent inventors in 2004 did not benefit economically from patents, accounting for 89.7%. Of the 500 inventors, nearly 350 were highly indebted, accounting for 70%. In Hunan, more than 50 000 patents have been registered over the past 20 years. Among the inventors of science and technology, 6 000 are living in difficulties, and more than 4 000 are heavily in debt as a result of their inventions. In Anhui, folk inventors are generally poor, which has become a negative factor hindering innovation and development and a "Chinese-style poverty curse" trap for contemporary Chinese private innovation. According to the survey, 80% of China’s private innovation funds come from innovators’ own funds, and the proportion of social loans is "0". It can be said that there are no corresponding funds to support private innovation, which leads to a gradual decline in the proportion of private innovation in recent years. At the same time, it also aggravates the innovation risk of private innovators.

3.2 Being on the edge of the mainstream, lacking the due attention of society and the governmentUnder the influence of traditional thinking, private innovation has been on the edge of the mainstream, and the whole society lacks understanding of it. Because of the strong advantages of the national scientific research system formed for a long time and the extreme prejudice against folk scientific and technological innovation, private innovation activities have been in the marginal zone in the attention of the whole society. Under the market economic system since the reform and opening up, the short-sighted behavior of only paying attention to economic benefits and not paying attention to social benefits has aggravated the neglect of non-governmental innovation. According to the survey, in non-governmental innovation, 40.7% of respondents believe that innovation lacks communication channels, and 39.7% say that it is difficult for private innovators to seek professional innovation guidance, and innovators take the form of "fighting alone" to innovate, and do not form an open innovation team. Lack of innovation, marginalization and closeness has become one of the dilemmas of private innovation.

3.3 Lacking organization and guidance, imperfect internal operating mechanismAlthough our government has gradually realized the importance of private innovation in recent years, it has failed to fully realize the value of folk science and the role of folk scientific workers in scientific and technological innovation, and many rules and regulations restrict private innovation. For example, in terms of scientific and technological awards and the review of scientific and technological achievements, most private innovations are not included in the science and technology plan and cannot be registered as objects of scientific and technological achievements. The registration materials of scientific and technological achievements are generally required to be scholars’ papers, academic monographs and so on. Private innovators are often unable to publish academic papers or academic monographs, unable to meet the material requirements for the registration of scientific and technological achievements. At the same time, China’s science and technology awards are for recognized scientific and technological achievements, and the state, provinces, ministries and relevant departments recommend and report scientific and technological achievements projects level by level. The main body of non-governmental innovation projects can not get due rewards due to the lack of departmental recommendations. On the other hand, the internal operation mechanism of private innovation is not perfect, there are a large number of non-governmental science and technology workers in our country, the members are more complex and have different capabilities. As a result, there is a lack of clear and effective evaluation mechanism and management mechanism for private innovation activities.

3.4 Lacking evaluation and communication, imperfect intermediary service systemPrivate innovators come from the folk, most of them have not received professional formal education, or retired scientific researchers have not become the mainstream of innovation, and they are widely distributed and rooted in various industries. Although there are major breakthroughs and innovative advantages in some aspects, their qualities of culture and communication make them fail to smoothly communicate with the formal mainstream innovators, lacking communication opportunities and communication platform. At the same time, due to the lack of intermediary service mechanism, after invention, private innovators’ achievements of private innovation can not be transformed into productive forces, resulting in a waste of innovation, and even the possibility that the intellectual property rights of private innovation patentees are stolen by mainstream scientific research innovators. The lack of financial support makes it difficult for many private innovations to be put into trial and production.

3.5 Legal dilemma of private innovation in patent applicationAt present, the limitations of the Patent Law restrict the development of private innovation. Article 46 of theImplementationRulesofChina’sPatentLawstipulates that if an applicant requests that his or her application for invention be published as soon as possible, the application shall be published immediately. However, in reality, it requires more than 6 months or even as long as 18 months. Article 33 of thePatentLawstipulates that the applicant may amend his patent application documents, but the substantive examination lasts as long as 2-6 years. At the same time, the law stipulates that "who claims, who gives evidence", resulting in too high patent infringement risk cost for private innovators.

In view of the above difficulties, the main reasons lie in lack of scientific understanding of private innovation, imperfect innovation culture, unformed innovation culture, imperfect innovation system and innovation policy, and so on.

4 The five major innovation policies to promote non-governmental innovation in developed countries

4.1 Policy firstFrance formulated theLawonInnovationandScientificResearch, Japan established three important systems, namely, the system for the promotion of creative science and technology, the system for the research and development of the next generation industrial basic technology, and the revitalization and adjustment of science and technology; Finnish Technology Development Center was established in Finland; Germany formulatedIndustrialandCommercialEnterpriseResearchandDevelopmentStaffGrowthPromotionPlan,EnterpriseTechnologicalInnovationRiskSharingPlan,SMEResearchCooperationPromotionPlan,SmallEnterpriseServiceInvestmentPromotionPlanand so on to form a strong policy system to promote innovation activities[3]; The United States formulated thePatentLaw, theBayh-DoleAct, theTechnologyTransferCommercializationAct, theStevensonWydlerTechnologyInnovationAct, theSmallBusinessTechnologicalInnovationAct, and theActonStrengtheningSmallandMedium-sizedEnterpriseResearchandDevelopmentand other policies to support private innovation activities[4].

4.2 Tax preferenceCanada put forward theScientificResearchandExperimentalDevelopmentPlanin 2008; Australia launchedR&DTaxSubsidyin 2010; New Zealand proposedWBSOPlan; Norway put forwardSkattefumnPlan; the UK deducted 175% of the R & D expenses of small and medium-sized enterprises before tax; French enactedEnterpriseScienceandTechnologyInnovationPlan; India encourages enterprises to set up R & D centers; Singapore gives 5-10 years of low tax incentives to high-tech enterprises, mainly including tax relief, deduction, accelerated depreciation, financial incentives to stimulate investment in R & D, and so on[5]. These tax reduction policies have greatly promoted the non-governmental innovation in various countries, especially the scientific and technological innovation of private small and medium-sized enterprises.

4.3 Technology transformation and innovation diffusionTheSmallBusinessTechnologyTransferProgramin the United States, theDual-UseHigh-TechDevelopmentProgrampromoted by France, theEGProgramin Canada, theKnowledgeTransferPartnershipProgramin the UK, theEnterpriseConnectionProgramin Australia, theCenterofExcellenceNetworkProgramin Denmark, and theInnovationCapabilityPromotionProgramforSmallandMedium-sizedEnterprisesin Germany have promoted the technology transformation and diffusion of private innovation.

4.4 Green government procurementTheJapaneseLawonthePromotionofRecycledProducts,theAmericanSmallBusinessAct, theFederalProcurementRegulations, theCleanAirAct, theWaterPollutionControlAct, theResourceConservationandRecyclingAct,etc., theGovernmentGreenProcurementManualissued by the European Green Procurement Network Organization established by the European Union, theFinnishInnovationPolicyImplementationPlan, theAustralianInnovationAgenda, Australia’sMarketDemandApprovalPlanforSmallandMedium-sizedEnterprises, theFCPPolicyin the UK, thePIPPolicyin New Zealand and theSmallBusinessResearchProgramin the UK have promoted private innovation activities[6].

4.5 Establishing funds to provide financial supportLack of funds is one of the key constraints of non-governmental innovation. Capital is the "blood" of innovation of private small and medium-sized enterprises. To this end, developed countries have set up corresponding private innovation funds to support non-governmental innovation, including direct financial support such asAustralianIIFFundandICPProgram,FinnishFOFGrowthFund,CanadianInnovationVentureCapitalFund,UKInnovationInvestmentFund, as well as indirect financial support such asAustralianVCLPProgramandFinnishVigoPromotionProgram,NorwegianNationalSeedFundand other government investments in private funds.

5 Improving the private innovation policy and breaking the "Chinese-style poverty curse"

5.1 Giving national treatment for non-governmental innovators and non-governmental scientific and technological innovation activitiesThe private innovator is also an important member of China’s innovative society. In the context of the new era, China’s innovation also needs private innovation[7]. Private innovation has become an important part of China’s innovation. Therefore, at present, it is necessary to further open up the mind, change the ideological shackles and obstacles for non-governmental innovation activities, carry out the top-level design of the innovation system, and bring non-governmental innovation activities into the whole national innovation system. It is necessary to fully understand the importance of non-governmental innovation workers, give private innovators the same status as regular ones, let them get the same respect as formal innovators, and implement the same national treatment for non-governmental innovation activities as mainstream innovation activities. At the same time, the name should be rectified in laws and regulations.

5.2 Giving priority to evaluation conditions and equal protection for non-governmental scientific and technological research achievementsIn view of the current defects in the protection of intellectual property rights of non-governmental innovation, this paper suggests that the evaluation standards of non-governmental scientific and technological achievements in China should be constructed according to the six standards of novelty, creativity, self-consistency, inclusiveness, simplicity and experimental verifiability. It is necessary to improve and perfect the non-governmental innovation system, especially the intellectual property protection system for innovation achievements. It is necessary to use the practical experience of non-governmental innovation in developed countries for reference to construct a standard system for the evaluation of non-governmental scientific and technological achievements in China, including the document management of the evaluation of private innovation achievements, the definition, principles and scope of the evaluation, the organization and form of the evaluation, the evaluation procedures, the evaluation steps, the evaluation costs and other contents. The preferential evaluation conditions and equal protection status should be given to non-governmental innovation, scientific and technological research achievements[8].

5.3 Promoting the marketization of China’s non-governmental innovative scientific and technological achievementsTo further promote the marketization of China’s non-governmental innovative scientific and technological achievements, specific suggestions are as follows: (i) it is necessary to set up a personal innovation achievement platform at national conferences such as the National High-Tech Fair, encourage private innovators to publish their own innovation achievements on the personal innovation achievement platform, and choose the relevant enterprises or scientific research institutions to make the achievements market-oriented, so that the achievements can produce economic benefits; (ii) it is necessary to set up national and local government "non-public funding schemes", that is, national and local governments set up special private innovation funding projects to provide R & D funding for private innovators’ patents or innovative "non-consensus" projects; (iii) it is necessary to set up national and local government private innovation and scientific research funds to further release funds to private innovators and solve their funding bottlenecks, and set up "special funds" to reward or subsidize applied scientific research achievements or applied scientific research projects under research; (iv) it is necessary to apply intellectual property rights and patents to protect the achievements of private innovation, and apply various models such as "auctioneer" to save the achievements of private innovation, so as to truly make use of the achievements of private innovation; (v) it is necessary to build a communication platform to promote the entry of non-governmental applied achievements into business incubators, and to encourage the preferential tax reduction and exemption policies for the Makers’ innovation.

5.4 Attaching importance to the cultivation of innovative talents and forming independent innovation and entrepreneurial talent resourcesIn view of the disadvantages of the current system of training and assessment of innovative talents in China, this paper suggests that we should attach importance to the cultivation of innovative talents and form independent innovation and entrepreneurial talent resources, including: (i) the talent evaluation mechanism and employment mechanism of the Ministry of Education of "emphasizing papers over actual achievements and academic qualifications over experience" should be changed, and scientific research institutes in colleges and universities and researchers in state-owned enterprises should be encouraged to actively communicate with Makers and innovators, to speed up the new pace of training and upgrading talents for independent innovation[9]; (ii) in view of the traditional institutional obstacles, it is suggested to further break the original obstacles to talent flow and implement a matrix private innovation mechanism of flexible talent sharing and knowledge sharing, which is conducive to the innovation environment; (iii) it is necessary to improve the cultural atmosphere of Makers’ innovative activities, form an innovative atmosphere of "Maker hero and innovator hero", and create a private innovative culture and spirit that encourages success and tolerates failure[10].

5.5 Setting up fund for non-governmental innovation activities to solve the problem of funding for non-governmental innovationThe function of fund for non-governmental innovation activities in China should be positioned as raising research funds, determining research guidelines and selecting research projects, publicizing the purpose of organizations, character evaluation, achievement evaluation,etc.; in terms of the mechanism, it should be defined as an unofficial, non-enterprise, typical public welfare, grassroots, international and open non-governmental organization; in terms of the working organization, it should be positioned as the registered non-enterprise legal person institution, the foundation council as the decision-making body and the foundation secretary as the office; in terms of the orientation of development, it should be aimed at promoting non-governmental scientific and technological innovation, protecting, cultivating and standardizing non-governmental creative activities, and spreading ideas and methods with Chinese scientific tradition and its modern value as the main content, mainly with the magazines, networks, series of books, lectures, seminars for promoting private innovation as the carrier of communication[11].