Innovation Systems Research Research Articles

Regional innovation systems within a federation: Do national policies affect all regions equally?

SummaryThe concept of national innovation systems was first developed to describe the process of innovation in developed economies. The approach has shifted from solely a national perspective to one including regional or local systems. This focus on spatial aspects has two major advantages: it recognizes that innovation is a social process and a geographic process. For federations, the national system of innovation is more complex than that of a unitary system, since there are often provincial/state level institutions and actors that parallel national level institutions and actors. Canada is one of the few true economic and social (as well as political) federations in the developed world. Consequently, it provides a unique laboratory for studies on the processes of innovation in regions and regional innovation systems. This paper reports on the initial results of research on the characteristics of industrial clusters being carried out through the (Canadian) Innovation Systems Research Network – ISRN.

The role of research in regional innovation systems: new models meeting knowledge economy demands

Today, innovation systems are being elaborated in ever-wider areas of national space-economies. Of particular interest is the growth of academic study and practical policy towards assisting formation of regional innovation systems. Over 100 of these empirical studies have been documented worldwide and in the EU over 100 regional innovation strategies were implemented in the past decade. But new pressures upon existing innovation systems are coming from a globalising knowledge economy that favours metropoles and eschews peripheries. Now, new approaches to tackling innovation deficits are emerging ground-up in Europe that give insight into the real nature of competitiveness and the interlinked roles of science, research and innovation for the future.

Regional Innovation Systems and European Research Policy: Convergence or Misunderstanding?

In this article the question of interfacing, innovation policy and regional policy at the European level is addressed. Under which conditions will the new European research policy, relying on networks of centres of excellence, be compatible with 'cohesion' objectives? Since there will be no unique regional development scheme based on science and technology, how can policy-makers take into consideration the variety of local contexts? The analysis focuses on the fact that the concept of regional innovation system can be misleading for describing the territorial context. However, a cognitive approach seems possible, based on the notion of regional competence to innovate. The analyses are illustrated with empirical results concerning the French regions, and especially Alsace.

Research and technology policies in innovation systems: zero tillage in Brazil

The increasing complexity of technology development and adoption is rapidly changing the effectiveness of scientific and technological policies. Complex technologies are developed and disseminated by networks of agents. The impact of these networks depends on the assets they command, their learning routines, the socio-economic environment in which they operate and their history. In this new environment, scientific and technology policies should: (1) foster interactions among agents (whether public or private), (2) increase the effectiveness of public research, extension and funding institutions, (3) give sufficient freedom to researchers to set their research programs, and (4) monitor the quality of research (rather of research outputs). The evolution of innovation networks is analyzed looking at the development and diffusion of zero tillage (ZT) in Brazil.