Christian Ø. R. Pedersen

Technological Life-Cycles: Lessons From a Cluster Facing Disruption

New disruptive technological life-cycles may initiate the emergence of new regional industrial clusters or create opportunities for further development of existing ones. They may, however, also result in stagnation and decline. For clusters in many of the fast developing technologies, the evolution is closely related to shifts in technological life-cycles. During the 1980s and 1990s new mobile communications technologies have emerged as a series of distinct life-cycles, which have caused major disruptions in the industry. The paper examines the key features of a cluster in wireless communications technologies, where the economic evolution has been quite closely related to the emergence of new key technologies. The analysis is focused on the strategy and policy issues involved in the specific phase where one technological life-cycle may (or may not?) be succeeded by the next. When facing disruption the actors in the cluster have discussed various strategies for how to cope with shifts in the technological life-cycles. We find that there is room and need for policy and collective action in periods of uncertainty created by new disruptive technological life-cycles.

The Danish ICT sector in an international perspective: a mismatch between demand and supply

Purpose – To analyse the past developments and future challenges of the Danish ICT industries with a focus on the mobile communications industry.Design/methodology/approach – Data on ICT employment and usage is analysed from an innovation system perspective in a case study of the Danish ICT industries.Findings – The Danish ICT sector is characterised by high skill levels and advanced demand while the supply side is lacking behind. However, opportunities is found in the emerging next generation mobile communication network standard due to a combination of a broad skill base, influence of US firms and relatively lesser vested interests in previous generation networks, standards and business models.Originality/value – This paper is a part of a special issue on next generation mobile telecommunications networks – challenges to the Nordic ICT industries. This paper presents the past development and future challenges of the Danish ICT industries emerging from the mismatch between demand and supply.