Abstract This chapter gives the general context within which transport research takes place today and examines the increasing interest in international cooperation in tackling transport related problems and challenges. After referring briefly to the most important previous studies and reports on this subject, the chapter addresses the relevant key concepts and global challenges that seem to be the main forces driving transport research and transport research cooperation. One of the key issues examined, is the strong emphasis in all current transport research funding to satisfy short-term priorities related to increasing the industrial competitiveness of the respective country and serve as a means to expand technological influence and market-control. Researchers are normally asked to keep a mostly national focus, but whereas in the past that focus was dominated by tangible—though purely domestic—priorities, the new focus is on providing justification to claim the technological superiority of national industrial products at the global level. The chapter discusses the consequences of this approach and the merits of expanding cooperation at international level in order to reconstitute the traditional distinction between policy-oriented and industrial/technological research and the need to strengthen the contribution of social science disciplines, economics, and systems considerations. It further discusses the case of “legacy” versus “transformational” (transport) systems research and the top-down versus bottom-up approaches in triggering change in the transport sector. It argues that the current trends in forming transport research agendas are increasingly dominated by topics identified by the industry incumbents complemented by a bunch of policy topics intended to provide justification for a regulatory environment and political priorities that usually have a strong national focus. The chapter also discusses the general factors triggering international research cooperation in general and in transport in particular. It categorizes these factors in two main groups: Those related to policy makers or to government at large, and those related to researchers. The first results in a top-down process, in which government officials from different countries establish a collaborative framework, usually on the grounds of economic or diplomatic objectives, and offer it to researchers. The second results in a bottom-up process, in which personal networking is progressively institutionalized by research organizations, so that the research communities in the countries concerned lobby their respective government for support and resources. Finally, the chapter looks at ways in which the particular model of international cooperation in transport research can increase its disruptive innovative capacity and concludes that this can be done primarily through stronger leadership and involvement from governments and other multinational organizations as well as through a more collaborative approach and making researchers more influential in decision making.


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