Regional Innovation Potential Research Articles

Innovation Competitiveness of the Russian Regions

The article is devoted to the problem analysis of the competitiveness of the Russian regions and to the development of the methodology of its increasing. The author’s hypothesis is that when supporting the priorities of increasing the region’s innovation competitiveness, one must take into account not only region’s scientific and technical, and innovation potential, but also peculiarities of interaction of innovation and socio-economic development of the territories. This is because the region’s innovation competitiveness is manifested in its ability to create innovations as well as to increase on their basis the resistance of the territory, and, therefore, initially, it quite closely linked to its industrial and technological type. On the basis of the conducted data analysis of the state of research and innovation potential of the Russian regions, the main trends and causes of the continued weakening of their innovation competitiveness are identified. In modern Russia, this is mainly caused by the lack of politically significant groups whose economic interests are closely linked to the development of mechanical engineering, high technology and restoration of the industrial production structure. The interdependence between the socially necessary level of the region’s innovation competitiveness and the need for innovation industries with high technology levels are showed. In the article, the methodical approach is proposed for determining ways of increasing the innovation competitiveness of the Russian Federation’s regions. It is showed that they should be developed on the basis of coordination of interests of preserving and strengthening the research and innovative capacities of the country, on the one hand, and the needs of increasing the vitality of the territories on the other. In view of the statistical base, the integral index of development priority in the centers of innovation activity aimed at enhancing the resistance of the different degrees of knowledge-intensive industries was developed. The results of the ranking of the subjects of the Russian Federation according to the priority of development there the centers of innovation activity of high-tech, medium-low (on the example of metallurgy) and extractive industries are presented. The proposals for improving the competitiveness of the Russian Federation’s regions of the above-mentioned production-technological types are formulated. The article is addressed to professionals in the field of theory and practice of the management of innovative processes.

Territorial Innovative Potential in Behavioral Assessments of the Population

In the article, the essential and formalized definition of the potential of the territory is proved; its innovative part in the “subjectprocess-object†approach to its essential content and impact assessment is determined. The system of mechanisms and institutes of building the regional and territorial innovative potential is elaborated, the most productive directions of its using in the interests of spatial socio-economic development are allocated. Problems of high priority and requiring solutions that are able to increase the effectiveness of territory functioning are identified. The mentioned problems found their reflection and possible solutions at the Gaidar International Economic Forum in Moscow (2015) and at the representative XII Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum, as reflected by the analyses of some forum’s speeches presented in the paper. The shift of priorities in innovative global development during the second part of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century is shown. The results of research and practice of utilizing innovative solutions for the development of some collectives and territories, the spatial structure of regions and the Russian Federation as a whole are investigated and generalized in this paper. The development of the territory and its potential depends on different factors, but the growth of knowledge, intellectual resource and involvement of the population into management process by development and realization of different programs and projects plays the increasing role in current conditions. In the article, the positive sides of the business-project as the main mechanism of the program and project implementation with utilizing market institutes of the public-private partnership (PPP) are analyzed. The role of collectives and the population in the increase of innovative activity and system territory development is assessed.

SAVREMENE METODE PROCENE INOVACIONOG POTENCIJALA REGIONA : ANALIZA I KLASIFIKACIJA

SAVREMENE METODE PROCENE INOVACIONOG POTENCIJALA REGIONA : ANALIZA I KLASIFIKACIJA

Dialogues in innovation: Interactive learning and interactive research as means for a context sensitive regional innovation policy

Abstract Theoretical and empirical studies that demonstrate and discuss the importance of interactive learning for releasing the innovation potential within national as well as regional innovation systems have been steadily increasing since Lundvall’s first publications on this topic in the late eighties. More recently, studies that emphasise the importance of contextsensitive regional innovation policies for releasing the innovation potential have added new arguments for the importance of interactive learning in regional innovation systems. However, innovation researchers operating at the national and/or regional level still seem not to consider themselves as the kind of actors who might enter into any kind of processes of interactive learning with other institutional actors. Against this backdrop, this article develops the argument that interactive research will provide new knowledge on how to realise context-sensitive innovation policies, by supporting interactive learning for the purpose of realising the innovation potential of regions. Such interactive research may take on many forms, but one common methodological aspect will be some kind of participation in dialogues on innovation. Keywords: dialogue, interactive learning, interactive research, regional innovation policy

Evaluation of Regional Innovation Potential in Russia

Under the current conditions of developing the Russian economy the issue of forming and using the regional innovation potential has come to the forefront. A system of the regional innovation potential indexes is suggested in the article, the integrated indexes of the innovation-driven development of three regions in the Volga federal district over 2005-2010 years have been calculated. The comparative analysis of the regional innovation potential allowed detecting the major problems emerging in this field, and its possible solutions.

10.5937/jaes12-7170 = Practical aspects of the strategy implementation for regional and local innovation systems development

Many authors have turned their research interests to the problem of innovative development as a result of global trends that have led to the transition to an innovative functioning of an economy. This research focuses on territorial innovation systems represented by the regions and municipalities. The major aim of the study has several objectives associated with the theoretical analysis of practical aspects of the problem in regional and municipal levels. First of all, there is a need to provide a critical review of the literature devoted to innovative development of regional systems. Secondly, the role of territorial authorities in an innovation process is needed to be examined. Finally, this study has an overarching objective to identify the opportunities and evaluation mechanisms for innovation potential of regions and municipalities, as well as to formulate a complex of measures for its development. Basis of this work amounted to actual works of Russian and foreign scientists, the analysis of the Russian experience of innovation, as well as the recommendations of foreign experts. The research is based on Russian and international academic literature, innovation–related articles, the analysis of Russian innovative experience as well as the foreign experts’ recommendations related to the issue.

Stimulating R&D and Innovation to Address Romania's Economic Crisis: A Bridge Too Far?

This paper discusses the effects of the global crisis on the Romanian economy, in general, and the R&D and innovation system, in particular, and the set of anti-crisis measures that the government adopted in the attempt to contain the damage. Notably absent from the anti-crisis package were measures in support of R&D and innovation, a sector that was heavily affected by the crisis and that could have had a significant potential to contribute to the economic recovery, if supported by adequate policies and funding schemes. We argue that, learning from the missed opportunities of the recent years, bold and integrated measures in support of R&D and innovation need to be adopted in the country in the short to medium term, in order to speed up the economic recovery and realize a significant national and regional innovation potential that has been largely underexploited so far. The “creative destruction” (Schumpeter (1942) Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (New York: Harper)) in the R&D and innovation system triggered by the crisis could thus catalyse an ample process of creative reconstruction and provide an opportunity for renewal and improvement that is too good to miss.

Regional Innovation Governance in the Context of European Integration and Multi-level Governance Challenges. A Case Study of North-West Region of Romania

In the last 20 years European Union fostered the innovativeness of regions as a mean of growing competitiveness in the context of globalization. In Romania the innovation governance has been implemented and considered only recently, in the context of its imperative request from the European Union accession in January 2007. Up to this stage, there are serious deficiencies in the innovation governance at regional level, especially because of the “lack of regional focus” of the innovation policies in the context of European integration and multi-level governance challenges in Romania as EU New Member State. The present paper presents the case of North-West region of Romania as a leading knowledge region and uses its success story as a model for the other Romanian regions. The experience gained in this region, before EU accession of Romania, through implementation of Regional Innovation Strategies RIS, in the purpose of identifying the regional innovation potential and encourage technological transfer between research and business communities and create a regional innovation strategy and a future action plan, and after Romania's EU accession - through implementation projects funded by the 2007-2013 National RDI Plan, Regional Operational Programme and Increasing Economic Competitiveness Operational Programme etc., are convincing arguments to empower the role of regional innovation governance. According to the Romanian Innovation barometer, in 2008, the North-West region was the third region regarding innovation, after Bucharest-Ilfov, the region containing the capital city, and South-East region. The present paper identifies the determinants of success and sources of failures and makes policy recommendations for the local, regional and national government as well.

Conceptualizing the Regional Roles of Universities, Implications and Contradictions

The impact of universities on the economic wellbeing and innovative potential of regions has been the object of intense scholarly and policy interest in the last years. Despite this interest, a clear picture is missing in relation to the roles universities are seen to play, the benefits of university activities and the mechanisms through which they occur. This paper proposes a review and a critique of current views on the role of universities and their associated policy implications. To achieve this, the paper identifies five “models” for universities as they are reflected in the literature, each advocating different set of roles of universities, different spatial aspects of interactions, as well as different mechanisms for university engagement. National and regional innovation and research policies tend to explicitly or implicitly reflect one or a combination of several of these models, giving rise to potential contradictions or conflicts of policy rationales and objectives.

Comparative estimates of innovation potential of the regions of the Russian federation

This paper examines briefly methods estimating the innovation potential of the RF regions and presents the results of their comparison. The significance of the research of innovation potential is based, on one hand, on the ever-increasing role of innovation and education assets of the Russian territories and, on the other, on essential shifts that have occurred in knowledge differentiation due to changes in technologies and in their use.

Innovative environment of the Zlínský Region

Innovations are presently considered one of the most important factors of the regional development. Their introduction enhances the competitiveness of the region, economic growth and living standard in regions. The objective of the contribution is to assess regional innovative potential of the Zlínský region, to present the results of enquiry aimed at the analysis of conditions and hinterland for the innovative enterprise in the Zlínský region and to identify the demands of entrepreneurial subjects in R&D.

Knowledge base of the region - role of the universities in regional innovation (the case of south Transdanubia)

The economic attraction and competitiveness of the regions depends on the spatially balanced network-based co-operation of different research bases and firms involved in innovation development. The utilisation of the regional knowledge base, innovation potential and co-operation between businesses and universities & research institutions continues to play an increasing role in regard to business success and the competitive economic performance of the regions. Innovation is considered as an interactive and system-like process depending on traditions with definite spatial forms and it is manifested in the form of “networks” among the companies and universities, and among the different transfer organisations, which can stimulate university-industry linkages. The paper presents the findings of the “ERAWATCH regional benchmarking surveys – in which the South Transdanubian region participated in – on innovation potential and investment into research” surveys concentrating on the role of innovation networks, within them highlighting the special role of regional universities in the collaborative research networks. The introduction is followed by a demonstration highlighting the role of universities in national and regional knowledge transfer emphasizing the fact that the spatial (regional) structure of innovation is very much determined by the transformation of potential universities and their widening innovative functions during the economic transition in Hungary. The next section provides an overview of findings of the ERAWATCH survey (2006) on the role of universities in regional network building and discusses those factors that are necessary for the establishment of a research university model. The last section assesses the efficiency and coherence of the Regional Innovation System with regard to the needs and capacities of the regional economies and the extent of matching or mismatching between the knowledge and economic specialization.

Does only size matter in the use of knowledge intensive services?

Knowledge intensive services (KIS) have a key role in the creation and commercialisation of new products, processes and services. They are fundamental as carriers and creators of both technological and organisational innovation. Furthermore, the availability to firms of KIS in their surroundings positively affects their ability to innovate and contribute to the regional development. Nevertheless, a little is known about the factors that explain, why some firms use these services (technological advice, applied research, strategic consultancy, engineering, etc.) more frequently than other firms. This article, reporting from a database of more than 2,000 firms and with the use of binary models, analyses the factors that explain the use of KIS by small and medium-sized firms. Specifically, the services supplied by technological centres with the purpose of improving regional innovative potential are examined. The results show, in a similar way to the most consistent conclusions of the available studies, that demand for services increases with the size of the user firms. Spatial proximity between the user and the supplier of the KIS also seems to be a relevant factor. Other variables such as age, sector, innovation level and exports are also examined.

Regionale Innovationspotenziale und innovative Netzwerke in Ost- und Südostasien

Regional innovation potential and innovative networks in East and Southeast Asia - theoretical and methodological remarks. In the past three decades the East and Southeast Asian economies have undertaken a historically unique economic catching-up process. Although technological change is considered to be one of the decisive determinants for judging the future economic perspectives, so far no representative empirical surveys are available on the patterns and scales of innovation and co-operation activities at the microlevel in Asia. This paper gives a theoretical and methodological introduction to this volume, presenting representative results from surveys in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and China.

What kind of individual education for which type of regional innovative competence? An exploration of data on French industries

Hussler C. and Ronde P. (2005) What kind of individual education for which type of regional innovative competence? An exploration of data on French industries, Regional Studies 39 , 873–889. This paper tests the link between the educational structure and the industrial innovative potential of French regions. Its specificity lies, first, in using firms’ competences to innovate to depict (qualitatively) the innovative potential of regions; and, second, in analysing the respective influences of several types of training and knowledge bases. Regions with efficient universities host technologically complex industries with numerous innovative competences. Besides, the influence of other levels and types of education varies with the kind of industry and the type of competence at stake. Thus, regions have to run specific educational policies if they want to attract innovative partners.

Entrepreneurial attitude and economic growth: A cross-section of 54 regions

In the literature factors like entrepreneurial ability, regional innovative potential, and entrepreneurial human capital are emphasized in explaining the economic success of regions. Using the European Values Studies (EVS) dataset on norms and values in 54 European regions, we distinguish values that characterise self-employed, which enables us to construct a regional aggregate that reflects the average score on entrepreneurial attitude. We show that regions differ in entrepreneurial attitude, and that a high score on entrepreneurial characteristics is correlated with a high rate of regional economic growth. In this way we empirically establish the link between culture and economy at the regional level.

Innovation and Clustering among Information Technology Firms in Melbourne1

This paper investigates innovative activities, clustering and regional interaction of a group of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firms in the metropolitan area of Melbourne. In order to make an evaluation of the regional innovation potential among the firms, a written questionnaire was sent to the selected firms. The focal point of the analysis lay in determining innovative activities within individual firms and degree of linkages between different firms. The results indicate that innovative relationships with customers and suppliers are stronger within the region and they tend to co‐operate more on a vertical basis. However, the findings suggest that firms rely only partly on innovation partners within the region and to a considerable extent they are integrated in national and international networks.

Regionale Innovationspotenziale in Südostasien aus der Sicht einer „neuen“ Wirtschaftsgeographie

Regional innovation potential in Southeast Asia - empirical evidence from a ‘new’ economic geography perspective. This paper presents the methodological approach and some basic empirical evidence of a research project measuring and comparing regional innovation potential in Singapore, Penang (Malaysia), and Bangkok. This project is conceptually situated in the context of a ‘new’ economic geography that integrates contributions from geographical economics and the economics of knowledge, learning and innovation into an established regional science framework. It is suggested that future research into the geography of innovation and knowledge-based regional development should not only focus on the relationship between various spatial scales, but also explore multi-dimensional concepts of territorial and non-territorial space.

Regional Innovation Systems: General Findings and Some New Evidence from Biotechnology Clusters

This paper focuses on interactive innovation. It starts by operationalising Regional Innovation in the context of multi-level governance. It shows how regional and external innovation interaction among firms and other innovation organizations is important for regional innovation potential. The ability to access and use funding for innovation support for regional firms and organizations is crucial for regional innovation promotion. Equity investment funding is more important than public funding, which tends to be cautious and otherwise risk avoiding, except in circumstances of market arrest or failure to develop. Regional systems of innovation are broader than single sectors or clusters but some of these will be strategically privileged recipients of policy support because of their growth performance or potential, rather than, as in the past, their uncompetitiveness. The paper devotes space to exploring biotechnology clustering from a regional innovation systems viewpoint, as an instance of rather strong sectoral, regional innovation systems capabilities, though integrated also to global knowledge supply and markets. Illustration is provided of the way such sectoral innovation systems work at local regional level by reference to cases from Cambridge, Massachusetts and Cambridge, England.

Regional innovation potential in the United States: Evidence of spatial transformation

Abstract. The new economy hypothesis identifies the southern and western parts of the United States as important source points for industrial creativity that can rival the northeast. This study shows that this viewpoint, based on patent activity, is warranted. Regional technology production in the country is being helped by the presence of professional, skilled labor, rather than manufacturing and related activities as in times past. While the northeast or midwest now operate in a much more competitive inventive spatial system, and are being outperformed technologically by California, Texas, and Florida combined, all regions of the country are patenting inventions more than ever before.