Research Intensive Clusters and Regional Innovation Systems: A Case Study of Mechatronics in Apulia (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2018
Regional innovation systems (RISs) are increasingly emerging in less developed areas. Based on the case study of the mechatronic cluster in the Italian southern region, Apulia, this paper analyses how institutions have managed to promote the establishment of a RIS in disadvantaged areas. Through a longitudinal analysis over more than half a century, the Apulian case study shows that the creation of this RIS in less developed areas is the result of a dynamic process characterised by a multi-level governance, initially promoted by the central government through a top-down logic, and then integrated by action of local actors through a bottom-up approach. A key role is played by the regionalisation of innovation policies and by the strategic action of regional public institutions to promote the interaction among enterprises and universities. Our analysis highlights that several ingredients should simultaneously occur for a regional innovation policy to be effective. Any regional innovation strategy significantly lacking one of these core preconditions and ingredients is risky. Policy-makers should carefully study the opportunities and challenges arising from local contexts before embarking in ambitious place-based innovation strategies.
A Case Study of Mechatronics in Apulia 1
2014
This paper discusses some conditions under which the Cohesion Policy of the European Union can effectively contribute to enhance R&I in Europe and the extent to which it offers a relevant framework for devising Research & Innovation policies at regional level overcoming possible tensions and maximising potentials for synergy. To do so, the paper mainly relies on an in-depth illustrative case study of an Italian Southern region, Apulia. The paper describes the regional innovation system put in place by the Apulia Region and analyses the value added that can be attributed to such a system as far as innovation and economic development promotion are concerned; on this basis, findings from the case study are generalised in a set of lessons learned with hopefully more general relevance: these are discussed in Section 4. Jel codes: L26, L62, R58
regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk
This paper depicts a typology of regions, capturing the diversity of regional innovation systems across the EU-25. Following the Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) literature, our research selects 21 variables related to the ability of a region to generate and absorb knowledge, and its capacity to transform R&D into innovation and economic growth. Based on the results of principal components and cluster analyses, we identify seven types of regional innovation system where the 186 regions group together according to their sectoral specialisation, technological and economic capacity, and performance. For each group a number of policy recommendations are suggested, contingent to their local-specific characteristics. Moreover, the paper allows us to identify similar and more advanced regions so as to facilitate comparisons and benchmarking between homogeneous regions, thus enabling more accurate policy learning. In short the contribution of this paper is twofold. In the first place it provides the first RIS typology for the EU-25 regions completed using a large number of variables. Secondly, the conclusions obtained from the analysis may be used to lead policymakers' actions in the field of regional innovation policy in the EU.
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Research, Innovation and Development vs Regional Disparities across the European Union
The paper achieves a complex analysis of the present developments in R&D and innovation processes across the EU28. A distinct part of the paper deals with the analysis of the R&D and innovation activities at NUTS 2 regional level. The latest official statistical data were used in order to build a regional database related to R&D and innovation processes. The statistical data were divided into two categories: R&D resources and R&D results, which were analysed using comparative analysis, cluster analysis and regression. The macro trends in R&D and innovation processes are compared to those at NUTS 2 level. A special chapter in the paper is focused on R&D and innovation processes across the Romanian regions. The conclusions of the analysis, supported by tables and pertinent diagrams, are not positive. The R&D and innovation processes lead to increasing disparities across the Member States and regions. Romanian regions, excepting Bucuresti-Ilfov are not able to eliminate the gap in R&D and innovation development on short and medium terms.
The main aim of the paper is the presentation of the regional innovation systems in the strategy the European Union’s economic growth - Europe 2020. To the particular goals of the research belong the presentation of the innovation system in the creation of competitiveness, the innovation system at the level of the region, the innovation system and innovation process, constructed advantage, the Triple Helix model, Innovation Union, Europe 2020 strategy, Horizon 2020 as the financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union. The important results of the research is the conclusion that in the innovation process also in the European Union very important are the connection between science, market (industry) and government. There is positive dependence between innovation activity and effectiveness of the innovation process. The more interaction and cooperation it can observe on the regional level than on the state. The new programme of the scientific and innovation research Europe 2020 and Innovation Union are very important factors of the strategy the European Union’s economic growth.
Regional innovation and research policy outlook: policy practices in eight European regions
2008
Findings and statements in the book are the results of interactive consultations within the ProAct consortium. Experts from eight countries–Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom–joined forces to look for efficient innovation and research policy practices in eight regions of the European Union.
Regional Innovation Patterns and the EU Regional Policy Reform: Towards Smart Innovation Policies
Seminal Studies in Regional and Urban Economics, 2017
The present debate on regional policy design to fit the Europe 2020 Agenda calls for additional reflections on the way sectoral policies, like innovation policies, can be translated appropriately into a regional setting. The paper enters the debate on smart specialization strategies by stressing the need to overcome the simplistic dichotomy between core and periphery in the Union, between an advanced 'research area' (the core) and a 'co-application area' of general purpose technologies to local technological specificities (the periphery). The geography of innovation is much more complex than a simple core-periphery model, and the logical pathway towards innovation is much more complex than the linear model of R&D-invention-innovation direct link: the innovation patterns are differentiated among regions, according to their regional context conditions. The identification of specific 'innovation patterns' is necessary to design 'smart innovation' policies. The paper presents a critic to the smart specialization debate, suggests a new taxonomy of European innovative regions based on their innovation patterns, and proposes innovation policies for each regional mode of innovation.