Rainer Kattel (born 20 March 1974) is an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n academic and science administrator. He is professor of

Innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or service (economics), services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a n ...

and Public Governance at Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, UCL, and Research Professor and Chair of Innovation Policy and

Technology Governance Technology governance means the governance, i.e., the steering between the different sectors—state, business, and NGOs—, of the development of technology. It is the idea of governance within technology and its use, as well as the practices be ...

Tallinn University of Technology Established in 1918, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech; ) is the only Institute of technology, technical university in Estonia. TalTech, in the capital city of Tallinn, is a university for engineering, business, public administration a ...

. In 2015-16, he was a visiting professor at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Earth Institute {{Infobox organization , name = The Earth Institute , image = Ei blue1.gif , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , map2 = , type = , tax_id ...

. Kattel was born in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

, Estonia, and attended the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

and, for several years, the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, on a DAAD scholarship. He obtained a BA in a specially designed major,

Political Philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...

, an MA in

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

(as the BA under the supervision of

Wolfgang Drechsler Wolfgang Drechsler (born June 6, 1963 in Marburg, West Germany) is a Public Administration and Management, Innovation Policy and Political Philosophy scholar. He is Professor of Governance, and one of the founders and directors of the Technology G ...

), all with the highest distinction, "

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

" or equivalent. After some research positions at the University of Tartu, he was elected, in 2002, aged 28, to a full professorship and

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

Public Management Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

and

European Studies European studies is a field of study offered by many academic colleges and universities that focuses on the History of Western civilization and the evolution of Western culture, as well as on current developments in European integration. Some ...

at TUT's

Ragnar Nurkse Ragnar Wilhelm Nurkse (5 October 1907, Käru, Estonia – 6 May 1959, Le Mont-Pèlerin, Switzerland) was an Estonian-American economist and policy maker mainly in the fields of international finance and economic development. He is considered th ...

School of Innovation and Governance (as it is now called), which he subsequently headed for ten years, 2004-2014. In 2007, he was elected "Faculty Member of the Year". Kattel is one of the main protagonists of the Estonian innovation strategy and policy (especially as concerns

Biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

and ICT); he was a member of the Innovation Policy Council, Research and Development Council of the Republic of Estonia, as well as a member of the Estonian Biotechnology Expert Group of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Internationally, Kattel has worked mostly as a consultant for the

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(e.g. national development plans of

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

). Between 2002 and 2006, Kattel was also Senior Research Fellow at Estonia's leading

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

think-tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

, PRAXIS. Kattel is a founding member of the executive board of

The Other Canon ''The Other Canon Foundation'' is a center and network for research of heterodox economics founded by Erik Reinert. The name refers to the founders' message of there being another economic canon, alternative to the ruling neoclassical economics. T ...

, a center and network for

heterodox economics Heterodox economics is a broad, relative term referring to schools of economic thought which are not commonly perceived as belonging to mainstream economics. There is no absolute definition of what constitutes heterodox economic thought, as it i ...

research, along with

and main founder and executive chairman

Erik Reinert Erik Steenfeldt Reinert (born 15 February 1949) is a Norwegian economist, with development economics, economic history and history of economic policy as his specialties. Biography Reinert was born in Oslo, attended the University of St. Gallen ...

. Kattel was a founding board member of ETAG, Estonia's new grant-making institution for science funding. He directed two EU 7th Framework Programmes in Estonia, FESSUD and LIPSE. His critical regular opinion pieces in the national daily,

Eesti Päevaleht (Estonia Daily) is a major daily Estonian newspaper, from the same publishers as the weekly '' Eesti Ekspress''. Another newspaper under the same name is published weekly in Stockholm, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is ...

, and his many commentaries or panel participation on television, gained him a general national and also international audience as well. He is a member of TUT's ''kuratoorium'' (Board of Governors) and was a key figure in the 2015 fight over the installation of a new rector.

Selected publications in English

*''Techno-Economic Paradigms: Essays in Honour of Carlota Perez'' (co-editor), Anthem, London, 2009. () *''Creative Destruction Management: Meeting the Challenges of the Techno-Economic Paradigm Shift'' (with Tarmo Kalvet, ed.), Praxis, Tallinn, 2007. *''Knowledge-based Economy and ICT-related Education in Estonia: Overview of the Current Situation and Challenges for the Educational System'' (with Tarmo Kalvet), Praxis, Tallinn, 2006. *''Made in Estonia'' (with Marek Tiits and Tarmo Kalvet), IBS, Tallinn, 2006. *''Knowledge-based Economy and ICT Education in Estonia'' (with Tarmo Kalvet), Estonian Information Technology Foundation, Tallinn, 2005. *''Enhancing the Capacities to Govern. Challenges Facing the Central and Eastern European Countries.'' Editor (with Bryane Michaels and Wolfgang Drechsler), NISPAcee, Bratislava, 2004. *''Competitiveness of the Estonian Economy and its Future Outlooks. Research and Development and Innovation Policy Report'' (with Marek Tiits and Tarmo Kalvet). Research and Development Council of the Republic of Estonia, Tallinn, 2003, 2nd edn. 2005. *''The Constitution of the Polis.'' Tartu: University of Tartu Press, 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kattel, Rainer 1974 births Living people Estonian scholars People from Tartu Academic staff of the Tallinn University of Technology