Regional Innovation Systems - An Analysis of Innovation Policy Instruments

Master's Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Geography / Earth Science - Demographics, Urban Management, Planning, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Department of Urban Planning and Environment, Division of Urban Planning), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe:Abstract:§Innovation is essential for the competitiveness of companies within the globalised knowledge economy. In the actual situation of high unemployment rates in most western countries public economy support works thereby actively on the improvement of innovation activity conditions. §The regional level is for this attempt the most interesting spatial entity because of its high significance in global economic mechanisms. The questions motivating this master thesis are how regional innovation policy can improve a regional innovation system and which of the possible policy instruments the most effective ones are to combat unemployment. §Innovations are the new combination of recent or established knowledge, whose implementation had a noticeable effect on the performance of the organisation, it was implemented in. This includes product, process, organisational and people innovations. Innovations are not anymore an individual effort but a process which involves many actors and institutions. The basis for the exploration of how to support the development and implementation of these innovations is the regional innovation system approach. It divides the innovation process into phases and their linkages and allows identifying analytically the evolved actors and the weaknesses of the innovation process.§The analysis of innovation policy instruments assigns each weakness within the innovation process an instrument which is explained and analysed in detail. The examined instruments are competence centres, start-up centres, science parks, networks, regional knowledge management and diffusion agencies. Each instrument s function and its main characteristics get described together with a best practice example, which leads to a conclusion on its effects on innovation and employment. §The result of the analysis is that competence centres, start-up centres and science parks are central instruments and have the highest potential for employment effects. Networks, regional knowledge management and diffusion agencies are more supporting measures that improve the performance of the first three. For the success of all instruments, their combination with each other and the utilisation of synergies and dependencies between them is essential. A holistic concept including all instruments is the most effective way to support regional innovation processes. §These findings get transferred to the case study region Bonn where, as an example for an innovation process weakness, the knowledge transfer from science to economy is analysed. For the application of each innovation policy instrument is important to use existing organisations and potentials and work within the grown regional structures. §Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents:§Forewordii§Abstract.v§1.Introduction 1§1.1Background1§1.2Research questions2§1.3Structure of the report3§1.4Methodology4§2.The new economy7§2.1Innovation in the knowledge economy7§2.2The importance of the regional level12§3.Innovation16§3.1Definition16§3.2The innovation process18§3.2.1Linear models19§3.2.2Interactive models21§3.2.3Weak points24§3.3Innovation systems26§3.3.1Components29§3.3.2Relations31§3.3.3Forms of knowledge transfer34§3.4Innovation and employment39§3.5Innovation policy43§4.Innovation policy instruments47§4.1Competence centres50§4.1.1Best practice example: ERVET (Italy)56§4.1.2Conclusion59§4.2Start-up centres61§4.2.1Best practice example: Triple Z (Germany)67§4.2.2Conclusion71§4.3Science parks73§4....