Towards a Regional (Supra-national) Innovation System for CARICOM Countries (original) (raw)
The countries of CARICOM share organizations and institutions that have relevance to innovation. It is however not clear to what extent it may be said that there exist functional innovation systems at both the national and/or supra-national (regional) level. The Innovation System Framework can be used as a map to first identify the presence or absence of the organizations and the institutional arrangements incident on the innovative activities of firms and entrepreneurs in a given country, and allows for an evaluation of the level of interactions and information flow among the various components. The aim of this work is to determine to what extent there exists within the CARICOM Region the elements of an innovation system. A hybrid analytical framework for National Innovation Systems informed by OECD (1997), Chang and Shih Mytelka was formulated as a means to elucidate the issue. The region's extremely low input into science and technology is reflected in the equally low output as measured by publications and patents. On the other hand, given the rich cultural and musical heritage of the region an examination of other areas of intellectual property like Trademarks, Copyright and Geographical Indications may tell a different story. The analysis of the system's components suggests that the CARICOM region possesses a fairly high density of shared educational, R&D and financial organizations that compliment its common legal and institutional heritage. These together with its common history, language, rich cultural expressions and natural resources, including the islands' beauty, constitute promising elements of an emerging innovation system that can be harnessed to improve the region's competitiveness. The way forward for the region in creating a truly robust and sustainable innovation system will require better regional coordination and interaction, deep and accurate knowledge of available human resources within the region as well as the Diaspora and a concerted effort to focus on new and emerging possibilities including the services and creative industries where the region has an obvious advantage. Emerging consumer trends like ethical consumerism, health and wellness and deep emersion tourism combined with social networking technologies and behaviour are powerful nuclei around which to reconceptualise and rebrand what we as a region offer to the world.
Related papers
The Importance of Cooperation for Innovation in the Region
2017
The paper considers the issue of cooperation between particular actors such as: enterprises, local government, R&D sector, and business environment institutions in the context of innovativeness of the economy. Presently, numerous studies analyze how to create an innovative economy in order to answer the question of what contributes to generation of innovations and the key elements in this process. Furthermore, the created models of a group of determinants influencing innovativeness are still evolving and depending on the examined aspect, different approaches to innovation in the regions are presented, including cooperation between the aforementioned entities. The main aim of the paper is to present the significance of cooperation between different actors in the region for developing innovative solutions. To achieve the aim, the authors present an example of cooperation between enterprises, pointing out the benefits of common projects, and present activities undertaken in regions whi...
Innovating Nations and Regions
'Mobile regions' are defined by their information infrastructure, and by the nature of the policies, regulatory frameworks, and social capital that underpin the existence of that infrastructure. They are built upon the activities and attitudes of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, small/medium-sized enterprises, and larger private sector players that differentiate the national and regional innovation systems that lie at the core of these critical infrastructures. This paper * will argue that political and economic environme nts have a critical impact in defining levels of technology adoption and innovation in a given nation or region, and that this innovation in turn is a determining factor in industrial growth and national development.
Strategies to Promote Regional Innovation
Chinese Business Review, 2016
A favorable environment for the exchange of information and innovation is able to provide the economic and social progress. Thus, this article aims to propose a study methodology to develop strategies for promoting technological innovation, to answer the research question: What actions to leverage the innovative potential of a region? Data were collected through qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study was characterized as exploratory, descriptive, and inventory. The study sample was composed of the industrial spectrum of Francisco Beltrao region. Innovation indexes were identified companies operating in areas of greatest economic importance. Representatives of the companies were interviewed for the researcher could analyze their knowledge of the laws that encourage innovation and actions imposed by the interested parties and the municipal government. Interested parties were also interviewed to verify the effectiveness of actions. The main results indicated a low overall rate of innovation of companies in the Francisco Beltrao region. Another point was the very low number of companies they knew about laws and incentives. The higher content of knowledge of these laws and actions of stakeholders were among the companies participating in the single business hub of the city looking for technological innovation. The main conclusions brought proposed strategies to promote technological innovation.
National systems of innovation in the MENA region
World Bank Working paper/Maghtech). http:// …, 2002
Balance des paiements technologiques) is an indicator measuring the invisible transactions related to the exchange of technical know-how between partners residing in different countries. These transactions must have a commercial character i.e. and be closely linked to the exchange of technology and/or the supply of technological services.
Connecting the Mediterranean System of Innovation: A functional perspective
2009
Purpose-This paper provides the first qualitative exploratory overview of the Mediterranean System of Innovation (MSI) and presents the results of an interactive work with 25 different innovation delegates from northern and southern Mediterranean countries. The study comes at the turning point where the Union for the Mediterranean is designing the innovation policies and debating the mechanisms to boost the central activities. Design / Methodology / Approach-This research applies the literature of National Systems of Innovation, applying the functions perspective, to study the means Mediterranean countries use to advance its innovation capacity. In collaboration with IEMed, this research invited delegates from northern and southern Mediterranean countries, program directors and European Commission representatives to present the activities in their countries. Findings-The data shed light on the most relevant enabling and blocking mechanisms for innovation as well as showed that R&D support is slightly changing to services and business models. Finally, it highlighted the relevance of having a defined innovation strategy necessary for increasing the existing capabilities. Originality / value-The value of this research represents the use of the system of innovation functions perspective to explore the Mediterranean region. Further research could focus on exploring the differences between the northern and southern Mediterranean countries.
2015
The central question addressed in this paper is the possibility to measure and differentiate knowledge and information flows in Brazilian Local Productive Arrangements – LPAs. Analysis is based on very innovative firms ` information sources: (i) universities and technological centres; or (ii) direct exchange with suppliers, customers or other companies in the sector; and innovation incorporation sources: (i) direct cooperation with different agents or (ii) machinery and equipment acquisition. Results show interesting trajectories in LPAs ` innovative behaviour. This is extremely useful in helping understanding learning processes, especially to differentiate knowledge types in transmitted information and incorporated innovations. The exploratory exercise was carried out for six arrangements surveyed by RedeSist`s in the late 1990s specialised in the production of ornamental stones, footwear, metal-mechanics and textile and clothing, located in Northeast, Southeast and South of Brazil...
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.