Regional Innovation Systems Research Articles

APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF TECHNOLOGICAL RE-ENGINEERING OF MODERN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

The article deals with the issue of the justification mechanism for the choice of directions of technological reengineering. It was determined that the effectiveness of the transformations primarily depends on the methods, tools for choosing directions for the radical transformation of the technological basis of the production enterprise and, in general, on the technological policy. The justification of the directions of technological training engineering is connected with a large volume of interdependent variables of innovative transformations and requires a fundamental analysis of their behaviour and impact on production process. Today, neural networks are one of the most famous and effective tools for intelligent data analysis, which is developed thanks to achievements in the field of artificial intelligence theory and computer science. Intelligent systems based on artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic allow solving the tasks of forecasting, optimization, pattern recognition and management. To train the network, it is necessary to have a set of values of input values (factors) and corresponding to each separate set of values of the desired output value. Such an approach completely coincides with the tasks of choosing the directions of technological reengineering at the enterprises of the innovation cluster. For this purpose, significant external and internal factors influencing the effectiveness of the cluster policy have been determined. In contrast to internal, external to the greatest extent allow solving the tasks of forecasting, optimization, pattern recognition and management. In the conditions of an imperfect regional innovation system and taking into account this factor, for the efficiency of solving the tasks of technological reengineering of industrial production, a methodology is proposed that combines foresight forecasting of the prospects of technological reengineering of enterprises with the theory of artificial neural networks. The mechanism of interaction of artificial neural networks and the foresight method in determining directions of technological reengineering based on regional cluster policy are proposed.

Stärken und Schwächen regionaler Innovationssysteme in den vom Kohleausstieg betroffenen Regionen in Deutschland

ZusammenfassungDer Beitrag analysiert regionale Innovationssysteme in den Regionen Deutschlands, die aufgrund der Gesetzeslage bis zum Jahr 2038 den Ausstieg aus der thermischen Verwertung der Braunkohle vollzogen haben müssen. Viele dieser Regionen weisen ohnehin Strukturschwächen auf. Es stellt sich die Frage, ob und wie regionale Strukturpolitik dabei helfen kann, die Transformation der regionalen Wirtschaft zu meistern. Ein guter Anknüpfungspunkt besteht darin, regionale Innovationssysteme in ihrem Wandel zu stärken. Im Vergleich der drei betroffenen Reviere zeigt sich insbesondere für die Lausitz, dass bisher die Hochschulen insgesamt wenig vernetzt sind und Kontakte zur regionalen Wirtschaft unterentwickelt sind. Eine Stärkung von Innovationskooperationen kann daher zusätzliche Impulse für die regionale Entwicklung der Reviere liefern.

Digital Inclusive Finance and Regional Innovation Output

This paper systematically sorts out the internal mechanism of the development of digital inclusive finance affecting regional innovation output, and uses the panel data of 31 provinces in mainland China from 2011 to 2020. From the provincial level, the individual fixed effect model and channel test are used to test the promotion effect of digital inclusive finance on the improvement of regional innovation output. The study found that the development of digital inclusive finance, its coverage, depth and degree of digitalization help to improve regional innovation capacity. The empirical results show that the development of digital inclusive finance is conducive to alleviating financing constraints and directly promoting regional innovation output; The analysis of intermediary mechanism shows that digital inclusive finance can increase external demand by promoting industrial upgrading, and then indirectly promote regional innovation output. This provides policy inspiration for relevant government departments to evaluate regional development conditions, expand the scope of financial services, and improve regional innovation systems and mechanisms.

The influence of the two-tier network of a regional innovation system on knowledge emergence

PurposeThis paper aims to focus on the characteristics of a two-tier network featuring internal subject cooperation and external embedded cooperation in the context of regional innovation systems (RISs) and explore the influence of network characteristics on knowledge emergence.Design/methodology/approachUsing social network analysis, a two-tier internal and external cooperation network of a RIS is constructed. A negative binomial regression method is used to explore the effects of the characteristics of these two-tier internal and external networks on knowledge emergence, the moderating effect of the cooperation knowledge base in this context is investigated and grouping and quantile regressions are used to conduct heterogeneity analysis.FindingsThe scale of the internal cooperation network has a positive effect on knowledge emergence, and the betweenness centralization of the internal cooperation network has an inverted U-shaped effect on knowledge emergence. The scale and structural holes of the external embedded network have an inverted U-shaped effect on knowledge emergence. Furthermore, the internal cooperation knowledge base weakens the influence of the external embedded network on knowledge emergence.Practical implicationsThis research may enlighten policymakers with respect to improving the scale and structure of the RIS cooperation network and matching the embedded network based on the internal cooperation knowledge base to promote knowledge emergence.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the study of knowledge emergence by exploring the influence of a two-tier network structure and scale characteristics on knowledge emergence in RISs. This paper also extends the framework of relevant research by integrating the internal cooperation knowledge base into the analysis of externally embedded cooperation and knowledge emergence.

Improving approaches to assessing the effectiveness of regional innovation systems

Improving approaches to assessing the effectiveness of regional innovation systems

Boundary organisations in regional innovation systems: traversing knowledge boundaries for industry 4.0 regional transformations

In this article, we explore and theorise how actors in the Sheffield City Region envision the development and orchestration of an innovation ecosystem in order to capture value from industry 4.0 technologies for manufacturing firms. This is theoretically motivated by the need to harmonise the knowledge combination and recombination practices that are required for the successful existence of innovation ecosystems at a regional level, in the applied context of industry 4.0 regional transformations. Drawing on data originating in semi‐structured interviews, a focus group and a real‐time Delphi with companies, companies associations, Higher Education Institutions, policy makers and Research and Technology Organisations, we examine specifically the role played by boundary organisations and how they respond by dynamically managing and articulating demands from within the network of partners. Our study deepens the theoretical and operational understanding of boundary organisations in the context of regional innovation systems and discusses how to sustain their role of bridging diverse epistemic communities.

Internationalisation of firms in the digital economy. Analysis of tenants of Polish technology parks

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss the relationship between the digital economy and the model of internationalisation followed by companies resident in technology parks – institutions designed within the framework of regional and national innovation systems – to promote the country’s digital development. The authors selected Poland as the case study. It is one of the biggest European Union members that joined the EU after 2004. In the second decade of the 21st century, the Polish Government has oriented its economic strategy towards building a competitive digital economy. One of its fundamentals is to support the internationalisation of innovative firms.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis interrogates the forms and determinants of internationalisation undertaken by tenants of technology parks. The study sample consisted of 300 of the total 1,584 enterprises resident at the 36 technology parks in Poland and was a stratified random sample, with particular strata classified by location at a specific park. The research applied an interview questionnaire designed to cover such issues as innovativeness, research and development, public aid and the support offered by technology parks.FindingsThe results show that around half of the investigated enterprises undertake international activities. The key factors determining the chances of a firm’s internationalisation in the digital economy are whether it conducts research and development projects and receives public aid support. Many tenants of technology parks in Poland enter foreign markets at an early stage of their development, using diverse forms of foreign expansion. The findings also show that the internationalisation of tenants of Polish technology parks usually occurs in six relatively independent modes (types).Originality/valueThis study contributes to a better understanding of the internationalisation patterns of firms facing digital development challenges. Technology parks have a crucial role in building a digital economy, facilitating a technological “leapfrog”. The final recommendations can guide the technology parks’ managers to adopt more relevant support services for the internationalisation of their tenants. It is a critical point for small- and mid-size young innovative enterprises.

Analysis of the main forms and types of commercialization of R&D in developed countries

Object: Identification the main forms and types of commercialization of developments in developed countries in order to use them in the process of university technology transfer to the regional innovation system Methods: In the course of the study, methods of system analysis, comparative analysis, grouping method, content analysis, methodology of the Global Innovation Index rating were used. Findings: The article considers the main ways of commercialization in the developed countries of the world. It is shown that in many respects successful models of technology transfer have arisen as a result of the adoption at the state level of legislation that stimulates the process of commercialization. The systematization of approaches to the commercialization of the results of innovative scientific research in world practice has been carried out; practical recommendations have been given for managing this process. The article discusses the main schemes for the distribution of royalties from the implementation of intellectual property between an inventor and a scientific organization. The main forms of technology transfer used in developed countries are studied. Conclusions are drawn about the importance of the commercialization of innovations at various levels of the economy, the impact of state policy on the formation of a model for the commercialization of R&D (research and development) results, and the interaction of universities with the business sector. Conclusions: The article identifies the main problems hindering the development of commercialization in Kazakhstan. The importance of technology transfer from universities to industry as a necessary condition for the development of an innovative economy is substantiated. The main characteristics of universities that conduct active scientific research are revealed. The main forms of technology transfer used in developed countries are identified, which include patenting, licensing agreements, fulfillment of orders for R&D, creation of spin-off companies. The experience of organizational and legal support of commercialization in developed countries is systematized, which is of interest for the development of technology transfer in developing countries.

The nature of entrepreneurs’ engagement with a layered rural context

Rural entrepreneurship has recently been reconceptualised as engagement with contexts. However, our knowledge of the nature of this engagement remains limited. In this paper, we explore the engagement of entrepreneurs hired as part-time industry mentors at regional universities. Using a qualitative approach based on grounded theory and self-ethnography, we interviewed five entrepreneurs in adjunct positions and their academic counterparts at universities in Northern Norway. We also relied on our own experience as academics collaborating with industry mentors. Our findings demonstrate that the entrepreneurs’ engagement encompasses and combines the business, academic and spatial layers of the entrepreneurs’ context and that it unfolds in the form of knowledge-sharing practices. Our study makes several contributions. First, it contributes to the limited empirical research on rural entrepreneurship as engagement with context and gives a novel and detailed account of how this engagement unfolds in practice. Second, it contributes by adding new insight into how entrepreneurs relate to a layered rural context. In particular, we emphasise that the knowledge-sharing practices help in crossing boundaries between the layers. Third, our study offers some practical contributions for rural entrepreneurs, policymakers and actors in regional innovation systems and regional universities.

Embracing the Non-Wood Forest Products Potential for Bioeconomy—Analysis of Innovation Cases across Europe

This article focuses on the potential role of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) which are so far largely neglected within forest-related bioeconomy research and policy. From an innovation system perspective, we look at the barriers for NWFPs development and propose how they can be supported. We analyse 20 innovation cases in Europe, based on the analysis of documents and semi-structured interviews with experts involved in the cases. Results show that there is no “one” innovation system supporting NWFPs, but support is given rather erratically through certain programmes from various sectoral or regional innovation systems (forestry, agriculture, nature conservation or rural or regional development). There is a pronounced neglection of the institutional system towards NWFPs, resulting in a lack of statistics, research, education and training programmes and focused support structures. However, our results show rich potential of NWFPs in the forest bioeconomy for private forest owners and producers. These activities can range from a collection of NWFPs for subsistence to collectively organized production relevant to rural areas. Most of these are product innovations, some are service or social innovations, while some combine different innovation types. From some successful examples we derive suggestions for how to improve innovation support structures.

CORPORATE VENTURE CAPITAL FOR ESTABLISHING LINKS BETWEEN LARGE AND TRADITIONAL INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES AND STARTUP FIRMS: A REGIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEM SURVEY

This research aims to evaluate the actual level of understanding and application of Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) in the Regional Innovation System (RIS) present in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba (MRC). The survey focuses the large and traditional industrial companies (LTIC) which have tremendous importance to State of Paraná, due to taxes and formal jobs generation. While the LTIC needs to innovate, creating or recovering competitive advantage, the startup firm seeks for partnerships or private equity. In this context, there is an opportunity of establishing linkages between different actors through the CVC. The article presents the results of a survey consisting of an online questionnaire and a focal group, where the data was analyzed through a qualitative approach. The research demonstrated a minor part of the survey respondents practicing CVC, although an expressive number of companies intends to invest in startups. It was also possible to observe that the risk aversion, anxiety for financial payback and different vocabulary between startup and LTIC are still barriers to an effective adhesion to CVC in this regional context. This work contributes to scientific literature when highlight the importance of understanding and properly narrowing large companies of startups. However, the asymmetries between parts and the maturity for dealing and absorbing knowledge from startups is an issue that the RIS organizations could be involved. Submited: September 2022 Accepted: December 2022 DOI: 10.18226/23190639.v10n2.06

Reconsidering actor roles in regional innovation systems: transformative industrial change in the forest-based bioeconomy

ABSTRACT This paper reconsiders the roles of actors in regional innovation systems in the context of transformative industrial change. Empirically, it draws on evidence from the Värmland region of Sweden, where regional innovation system actors, with partial funding from the Swedish Innovation Agency, are striving to build a bioeconomy upon the traditional forest-related industries. The main findings include that transformative industrial change adds a variety of responsibilities to regional actors, including the provision of change legitimacy, influencing the industry’s innovation directionality and achieving social acceptance for change. A combined perspective on sociotechnical transitions and path development in regional innovation systems theoretically informs the case.

Scientific innovative factors of development of industry of the regions of Russia and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemics on them: strategic aspects

Saturation of the economic development with innovation makes it strategically sustainable and provides the opportunity for efficient long-term management of economic growth. The COVID pandemic has triggered the transformations of business models, the process of their digitalization and innovative changes. The article deals with the changes of indicators of scientific innovative development of Russia and its regions during the first year of pandemic (2020) in the context of general indicators of economic and industrial growth and implementation of strategic priorities of scientific innovative spatial and regional development of Russia, connected with support of sustainable innovation system development in the regions as well as in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The author points out that the pandemic has not become a crisis impulse for increasing the intensity of scientific studies but it has resulted in growing expenses on innovation in the regions – the largest scientific innovative centers of the country where the main potential of this area is concentrated. Reducing the number of publications during the pandemic is characteristic for Russia, which can be connected with decrease in the scientific activity in the country. At the same time in the USA and, even at a larger scale, in China, the intensity of scientific research has been growing. At the same time, the scientific potential of Russia is highly aggregated in the largest cities, primarily in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where the life standard is significantly higher than that of the regions. The share of the organizations of regional subordination directly involved in the problems of the regions is extremely small. The pandemic has reinforced the tendency of centralization of the resource support and the research and development activity, especially in Moscow. This has become a challenge for the implementation of the strategy of regional scientific innovative systems’ growth essential for successful spatial development of Russia.

ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ ТА ВЛАСТИВОСТІ ІНСТИТУЦІЙНОГО СЕРЕДОВИЩА ІННОВАЦІЙНОГО РОЗВИТКУ ПІДПРИЄМСТВ РЕГІОНУ

It is proven that regional innovation systems can be studied as a set of institutions whose activities are aimed at creating and spreading knowledge, technologies and innovations. On the one hand, regional innovation systems are considered as a set of organizations and enterprises that carry out activities for the creation, commercialization, promotion and diffusion of innovations, as a set of infrastructural elements that ensure innovation processes. On the other hand, regional innovation systems can be studied as a set of institutions whose activities are aimed at creating and spreading knowledge, technologies and innovations. Both approaches are related to the presence in the region of a number of factors of socio-economic development and are based on the use of the advantages of localized centers of knowledge generation, agglomeration development processes, as well as specific technological trajectories of regional development. The regional innovation system is considered as a dynamic and self-organized system. It was determined that researchers most often include density and hierarchical structure among the main characteristics of the institutional environment as a whole and the regional institutional environment. The characteristics of the institutional environment are given (multilevel, duality, component incompleteness, fragmentation, dynamism, dissipativeness). The most important functions of the rules are to provide conditions for comfortable interaction of subjects and to reduce the level of uncertainty in the decision-making situation. Reducing the level of uncertainty is a key condition for ensuring the coordinated actions of participants in innovative activities. Accordingly, the institutional environment should also ensure a reduction in the level of uncertainty in the everyday interaction of subjects of innovative activity. The current stage in our country can be called a digital singularity or the beginning of a new digital era, which indicates the need to transform the institutional environment. The digital economy is developing at an incredible speed, attracting new participants who create and develop new technologies. The digital economy institute that is being formed produces new conditions of the institutional environment, which makes it possible to highlight its new characteristics^ globality, isotropicity, boundlessness, expansion with positive acceleration, contactlessness. It has been proven that the transition to a new technological system will cause huge changes in the industrial and social spheres. The expansion of the telecommunications infrastructure, cognitive computing, expert systems, and big data technologies make it possible to model economic and social processes and directly influence them.

Looking at regional innovation systems and industrial knowledge bases from the South: an analysis of Argentine provinces

Looking at regional innovation systems and industrial knowledge bases from the South: an analysis of Argentine provinces

Overcoming Regional Disparities in Serbia through Regional Innovation Systems at the NUTS II Level

The objective of this research is to reveal and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the two groups of regional innovation systems in Serbia – those operating in Belgrade and Vojvodina region, with strong administrative capacity, and those operating in Šumadija and Western Serbia and Southern and Eastern Serbia, operating without administrative capacity at the regional level. Data were collected from existing databases, and interviews with members of the focus groups. The action research methodology was used also. The findings show that regions without administrative capacity have RDAs with cooperative culture, more externally oriented, and more devoted to building eonomic software and economic orgware axis instead of the regions with administrative capacity. The mature RIS is present in the regions without administrative power in Serbia (Šumadija and Western Serbia, Southern and Eastern Serbia) in comparison to two NUTS II regions (Belgrade and Vojvodina region).

Looking at regional innovation systems and industrial knowledge bases from the South: An analysis of Argentine provinces

Looking at regional innovation systems and industrial knowledge bases from the South: An analysis of Argentine provinces

Налоговые инструменты стимулирования инноваций в странах ЕС

Solow–Swann’s neoclassical theory of economic growth shows that without technological progress, capital accumulation can only lead to a short-term increase in the growth rate of output per capita. The challenges of sustainable innovative development in many countries are coming to the fore today. The creation, dissemination and use of innovations occur in companies, universities, scientific organizations (micro-level), between economic entities within the framework of regional (meso-level) and national (macro-level) innovation systems, as well as at the international level. Innovation support is carried out at the meso-level, focuses on companies and organizations, and is evaluated at the level of the country as a whole. State support for innovation is necessary for the following reasons: 1) the ease of information transfer puts manufacturing companies in a less favorable position compared to consumer companies; 2) the difficulty of obtaining a loan for R&D with the risk of information leakage and lack of confidence in the final results; 3) the socio-economic system of the country receives more benefits from innovation than all companies in the aggregate. The article discusses such types of support as government subsidies and grants, tax incentives, measures for the development of human capital in an innovative environment, competition and intellectual property protection policy. In the international practice of stimulating innovation, tax incentives are used, 1) allowing to reduce R&D costs, 2) based on non-reduction of R&D expenditures and 3) preferential tax regimes derived from innovation activities. It is shown that the methodological approaches used to assess the effectiveness of tax measures are the B-index (calculated and published by the OECD by country), the analysis of the validity of tax instruments and the use of the European Tax Analyzer model – computer modeling. The analysis of innovative development showed that the European Union in terms of the number of patents, residents and non-residents, the share of researchers in the total population and the share of R&D expenditures in GDP for 2000–2022 is often inferior to China, the USA, Japan and Korea, but generally has a positive development trend. The most popular tools in the European Union countries are tax deductions, “super deductions”, R&D grants and other incentives. There is no direct correlation between the number of benefits and the level of innovation development. At the same time, it is noticeable that countries using a large number of support tools are becoming attractive to innovative companies and entrepreneurs. The article analyzes the measures of state support for R&D during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Of these, the most relevant are grants and subsidies, and tax benefits. The analysis of tax instruments for stimulating innovation carried out in the article may be useful in the implementation of appropriate policies in other countries.

Analysis of Influencing Factors of Unbalanced Regional Economic Development and Countermeasures

Xi Jinping pointed out in the Party's Report to the 20th CPC National Congress that Chinese-style modernization is a modernization in which all people are prosperous together, and common prosperity is still our unremitting pursuit. Although China has built a well-off society in an all-round way in 2020, today's well-off society is still incomplete. The uncoordinated development of regional economy and the unbalanced development within the region still restrict the realization of the goal of common prosperity. For this reason, this paper divides the influencing factors of regional economy into three aspects: policy governance factors, regional endowment factors and capital investment factors. Regional economy is based on capital investment and regional endowment factors, and is restricted and guided by policy governance factors. The three factors are in unity of opposites and form an organic whole together, so we can specifically analyze regional economic situations in different time and space on this basis. At the same time, from these three aspects, this paper puts forward some countermeasures and suggestions for developing regional economy, such as constructing multi-level and all-round cooperation pattern, consolidating resource endowment, promoting the optimization and upgrading of regional industrial structure, and promoting the construction of regional innovation system, so as to gradually realize common prosperity under the coordinated development of regional economy and the continuous compensation of development differences between and within regions.

The Impact of Knowledge Spillover from Universities in Sichuan-Chongqing Region on Regional Innovation Capacity

As an important subject of the regional innovation system, the scientific research activities of universities are not only the power source of talent cultivation and knowledge innovation but also an important force to promote regional innovation development. This paper examines the influence relationship between knowledge spillover from universities in Sichuan province and Chongqing city and regional innovation capacity from the aspects of teaching and research personnel input, research and development personnel input in research input, monographs, academic papers, technology transfer contracts and transfer income in research output. The results show that the improvement of the innovation capacity in Sichuan province and Chongqing city depends on the increase of teaching and research personnel input and the number of scientific and technological topics in universities, while other indirect scientific research results do not contribute significantly to the regional innovation capacity; further mechanism analysis reveals that the knowledge spillover from universities mainly promotes the improvement of regional innovation capacity through human capital, physical capital, and scientific and technological innovation.