Interesting new debate in France: a think tank-like mission lead by J.L. Beffa (CEO of Saint Gobain) was asked by the French government to think about different way to create and support innovation. They published a report in which they promote the japanese and scandinavian models rather than the american one. Using private/public mixed funding they want to accelerate 'transfer' between universities and private companies... going back to the 60s with big projects like Ariane, Airbus, the TGV and so on... Well nothing new under the sun, but it's always nice to have this kind of debate.