Innovation is behind much of the economic growth of the last decade, according to the Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2000 . Much of the innovation comes from new partnerships between science and industry, although there are still many barriers in the OECD that limit such interactions. Innovation thrives in an environment of networking, as greater complexity and higher risks require co-operation. The Outlook further shows how the production, diffusion and use of knowledge is of growing importance to OECD economies. The use of ICT has increased rapidly in recent years, mainly due to the emergence of the Internet and the new applications it offers throughout the economy.
Education levels continue to increase.
Governments are adapting to the knowledge-based economy by increasing public spending on scientific research to help spur growth and address social concerns. They are enacting broad university reforms aimed at greater autonomy and have made funding more competitive and performance based. They are introducing measures to strengthen the incentives for scientists to innovate and to increase their mobility across sectors. Science, technology and innovation policies are now often discussed at the highest level of government. But there is room for further improvement in policies towards scientific progress and innovation.