Chien-Yuan Lin

Role of Interaction between Technological Communities and Industrial Clustering in Innovative Activity: The Case of Hsinchu District, Taiwan

Economic development requires knowledge in todays knowledge-based economy. The achievement of economic development in one area depends directly on the efficiency of the attainment, accumulation and application of knowledge and information. These processes rely heavily on the involvement of human resources with technological knowledge and technical skills. Correspondingly, knowledge creation ability and the efficiency of knowledge creation and application determine industrial clustering and economic sustainability. Current surveys of industrial clusters in Taiwan have ascertained that clusters of traditional industries do not necessarily lead to innovation although, empirically, an industrial cluster is a prerequisite for innovative activity. Recent studies have addressed the effects of the spatial proximity among firms and advanced research institutes in the Hsinchu area. According to their results, industrial clustering positively influences innovation by technological companies. Based on available results, this study considers how interaction between technological communities and industrial clustering influence the innovative activities in a sample area. Additionally, this study analyses social networking within the technological community and the relationship to industrial clustering in the Hsinchu area. Results of this study provide a valuable reference for industrial district planning and management.

Evolution of Knowledge Intensive Services in a High-tech Region: The Case of Hsinchu, Taiwan

Abstract Communication costs have reduced markedly owing to improvements in communication technology. Despite this development, face-to-face interactions facilitated by geographic agglomeration remain important in high-tech innovation activities owing to the ambiguity and uncertainty related to new knowledge. Consequently, location remains a major influence on global strategies of transnational companies, and enables global cross-border divisions of labour in high-tech industries. On the one hand, this phenomenon transforms the geographic distribution and structure in industry; on the other hand, it creates demand for strategic functions in management and organizational innovation. The emergence, introduction and operation of such functions all rely on the support of specialized service industries. During the two decades of development of the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP), the area around HSIP saw the gradual formation of a distinctive and strong network including production, incubation and research and development (R&D) activities. Within this network, knowledge intensive services provide a crucial interface between the supportive environment and technological infrastructure. This investigation analyses the interactions, geographic transformation and distribution between HSIP firms and producer services around HSIP, as well as the coordination between HSIP firms and research institutions. This investigation found that competition strongly influences the development and geographic transformation of producer services. Together with different industrial resources, they formed production networks. Such networks caused the development and geographic transformation of the Hsinchu area, and thus further influenced the growth of knowledge-intensive service businesses.

Technopolis development: An assessment of the Hsinchu experience

Abstract The Hsinchu Science‐Based Industrial Park (HSIP) in Taiwan is a government‐led investment project located 50 miles south of Taipei established nearly 15 years ago. Its continuous growth in terms of revenue and investment has been recognized as a successful model of technology park development. Although regional development was not considered during planning, its economic achievement has indirectly impacted on the technopolis development in the long term. To accommodate the housing demands, the Hsinchu Science City Development Plan was prepared in 1991 to promote the technopolis development. However, it is regarded as a failed project. This paper will analyse the success factors of the park development and the failure factors of the Science City project. In addition, based on the Hsinchu experience, the institutional paradox of government‐led technopolis development is discussed.

Knowledge intensive business services and client innovation

Innovative activities, driven by a knowledge economy era, globalization, and pressure of global competition, have profoundly impacted local economies since the late 1980s. Relevant studies in the recent decade have gradually emphasized the increasing importance and continuous expansion of knowledge intensive business services in current economic development. This topic represents a major trend impacting industrialized economies. Therefore, this study elucidates the roles and functions of knowledge intensive business services as an area innovation system evolves. Exactly how technology-based firms and knowledge intensive business services interact with each other, as well as the roles of knowledge intensive business services, is also analyzed by examining how the area innovation system centered in Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park in Taiwan has evolved. Results of this study demonstrate that knowledge intensive business services function in an intermediary role in the innovation system. These services enhance their customers’ capacity for specialization, subsequently improving their evolutionary capabilities and producing tangible innovative cycles.

Consideration of Proximity in Selection of Residential Location by Science and Technology Workers: Case Study of Hsinchu, Taiwan

The Hsinchu district has been one of the most rapidly developing areas of Taiwan during the past decade. The rise of the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP) has significantly influenced population growth and living environment in the Hsinchu district. To obtain new knowledge via knowledge proliferation activities that occur following knowledge innovation, science and technology workers have been established based on the proximity of informal social network interactions and the existence of a common culture. Based on social, identified and cognitive proximities, this investigation examines whether science and technology workers directly assess their living environment while considering housing purchases, seeking information and making residential location decisions. This investigation employs regression analysis to examine the correlation between individual proximity factors and spatial proximity, based on the hypothesis that individual proximity influences residential location choices of science and technology communities. The study results indicate that the housing choice behaviours of the science and technology community follow two proximity paths, that is, internal and external proximity factors. Consequently, the pull created by individual proximity has slowed the spatial expansion of the Hsinchu region.

A man-machine system for spatial interaction analysis

Maps have been the main presentation forms used by planners to demonstrate the spatial characteristics of data used in spatial interaction analysis. A microcomputer-based program, INTERMAP, developed to provide a man-machine system to support planners in the analysis process, is presented. Its design principles and operational requirements and discussed. The design of the man-machine interface is examined. The capabilities of INTERMAP are discussed.<<ETX>>