Alexander Kaufmann

SCIENCE-INDUSTRY INTERACTION IN THE PROCESS OF INNOVATION - THE IMPORTANCE OF BOUNDARY-CROSSING BETWEEN SYSTEMS

Abstract Applying recent theoretical concepts of social systems to innovation networks of firms leads to the presumption that linking firms to non-business systems stimulates innovativeness more than remaining within the business system’s set of routines. Crossing the border to science, in particular, increases the diversity of firms’ innovation partners and respective innovation stimuli which, in turn, improves the capability of firms to introduce more advanced innovations. This contention is supported by a statistical analysis using data from a research project on innovation systems in several European regions. The results demonstrate that partners from science are more important than the firms’ customers for the introduction of products which are new to the market.

How effective is innovation support for SMEs? An analysis of the region of Upper Austria

Abstract SMEs are confronted with particular problems constraining their innovation activities. How their needs are fulfilled by support instruments has been investigated in a recent European research project. The results for the region of Upper Austria lead to the conclusion that some of the support is mistargeted, disregarding certain indicated or latent deficiencies of SMEs: direct financial support concentrates on research and development, neglecting the commercialization of innovations. In general, high-technology innovation projects are preferred, less technologically advanced or innovative firms lack adequate support. The spillover effects of technology centres are limited. The problem that most SMEs hardly interact with knowledge providers from outside the business sector (e.g., universities) is not reduced by the support instruments. Furthermore, they perform insufficiently the function of interfaces to innovation-related resources and information from outside the region. There is a lack of proactive consultancy concerning strategic, organizational, and technological weaknesses which is necessary because often the firms are not aware of such deficiencies.

The Role of the Region for Innovation Activities of SMEs

SMEs innovate in a different way to larger firms. They command fewer resources, have less R&D, and they generally face more uncertainties and barriers to innovation. These weaknesses could partly be overcome by their integration into networks and innovation systems. Due to the fact that interactions of SMEs are often informal and trust based, the region should be an important interaction and support-space for the innovation activities of SMEs. According to the empirical findings of a European TSER project (SMEPOL) this was not fully confirmed: SMEs are less often engaged in innovation networks than larger firms and if they have innovation partnerships they are primarily concentrated on business partners. Because relations to science and technology transfer are rare, SMEs make only limited use of the full potential of their respective regional innovation systems.

Innovation systems in regions of Europe—a comparative perspective

Abstract The understanding of the innovation process has changed considerably in the past years. Models have shifted from linear and firm‐based conceptions towards interdependent and systemic approaches. Both national and regional innovation systems have been discussed in recent literature. The present paper investigates on the basis of data for several European regions, collected in the course of a European project, to which extent companies engage in networks in their innovation process. Also, the types of partners, their respective locations as well as differences between the regions are explored. Results show that for many firms innovation is still a rather internal process. Reliance on internal competence and lack of trust to other firms are among the reasons for this. Nevertheless, for another group of companies networks are much more relevant. They draw on ideas, know‐how and complementary assets from customers, suppliers, consultants, universities, funding and training institutions. These networks...

Effects of the Internet on the spatial structure of innovation networks

Research on innovation systems and innovative milieux has shown that the innovation process of companies is strongly interrelated with activities of other firms and organisations. Internet is a new information- and communication-technology with a considerable potential to change such relationships and networks. An often held expectation is that the Internet will allow firms to interact with distant partners more easily and that, as a consequence, innovation networks become independent from geographical space. A contrasting view argues that local and regional networks and innovation systems will keep their importance, due to the fact that tacit knowledge, face-to-face communication and institutional factors are still of key relevance. In the paper we are going to investigate to which extent and how the Internet changes innovation networks of companies. Does the use of Internet stimulate companies to interact with new types of innovation partners or with partners at wider spatial scales? We have analysed the effects of the Internet on innovation-related networks and knowledge-flows of companies by conducting a WWW-survey of Austrian firms amongst other investigations. In the present paper we report on the results of this Websurvey.

EU regional policy and the stimulation of innovation: The role of the European Regional Development Fund in the objective 1 region Burgenland

Abstract In recent years regional policy has become more and more concerned with the improvement of the innovation capacity and performance of firms. Many regional development strategies have as key elements the support of their regional innovation systems and innovative clusters of firms. It has been recognized that increasing the technological level, the value added and the competitiveness of a regional economy relies to a large extent on the innovation capacity of regional firms and clusters. Regional development is an important policy issue also for the European Union (EU). The EU Structural Funds aim at supporting regions lagging behind in their development or facing structural problems. In this paper how the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) affects innovation in the Austrian Objective 1 region Burgenland is analysed. In this case study data from an innovation survey conducted in the context of the recent mid-term evaluation are used in order to assess the innovation-related effects of the ERDF. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the ERDF does not target the problems and needs of regional firms regarding innovation in a satisfactory way which also hampers the successful restructuring of the regional economy.

Euro-Commentary: The Role of Urban RTI Policy in Stimulating Innovation in the Local Economy: The Case of the City of Vienna:

Innovation networks have been analysed at several spatial levels, from the local to the global, with increasing interest in innovation systems below the national level.A wide range of regions has been studied including cities as major centres of innovation. But there is often a difference between the importance of a city as a location of innovation activities and to what extent they can be influenced by politics and public institutions at the city level.This commentary focuses on Vienna, the capital of Austria. Analysing the innovation networks of firms located in Vienna shows the potential scope and limits of the city’s influence on innovation relations. Data from an innovation survey of the Viennese economy lead to the conclusion that only a minor share of the innovation relations of local firms can be influenced directly by the city’s institutions. The results give some indication of where and how the city could be able to increase its influence on the innovation activities of the local economy, reducing Vienna’s dependence on Austria’s federal research, technology and innovation policy.