Eduardo Castro

Creating More Intelligent Cities: The Role of ICT in Promoting Territorial Governance

Since the 1990s, there have been many discussions in both academic and policy communities about the role ICT play in social, economic, and spatial development patterns. During the process, the concept of intelligent cities has emerged and in most cases that concept comes with a sheen of technological determinism. In broad terms, this concept articulates the relationships within and between the city and its surroundings, emphasizing the importance of organizational capacity, institutional leadership, creativity, and technology as drivers for change in a globalized and knowledge-driven economy. Bearing in mind that the changing role of government in service provision and the need for a collaborative-based approach are extensively gaining increasing recognition, on the one hand, and using the Portuguese case as an example of policy approaches in this domain, on the other hand, the article seeks both to bring critical commentary to this arena and to issue a challenge to policy makers to engage in a more appropriate set of discussions about this subject.

The triple helix model as a motor for the creative use of telematics

Abstract This paper opposes the view which points to the declining importance of nation states and the elimination of space and territory as an effect of the increased trends towards globalisation. The argument has its foundations in the evolutionary approach of economic development and argues that the importance of the national level grows within a globalised world which is becoming increasingly complex, disorganised and, simultaneously, monotonous. Monotony can be reduced through the emergence of national diversity based on specific development paths of spatially defined regional economic systems, in which creativeness and selective capacity generate innovation and replication processes. National and regional productive systems must be organised according to a triple helix model of institutional networking. This model can be applied to the particular case of developing economies based on traditional and mature sectors. These economies can start a catching up process by becoming creative users of technology and advanced users of telematics. The theoretical framework is used to discuss the innovative capacity of the Portuguese economy and to point out some solutions to overcome barriers to innovation.

Innovative Universities and Regional Institutional Capacity Building. The Case of Aveiro, Portugal.

This paper explores the experience of the University of Aveiro in attempting to promote a favourable environment for innovation in the Portuguese industrial region in which it is located. The authors first discuss the barriers faced by peripheral regions in their attempts to establish the continuous interactive process that feeds innovation. They then highlight the role played in such regions by higher education institutions (HEIs) as the main sources of knowledge, and as crucial agents in fostering the social learning processes needed to sustain regional competitiveness. Against this background, the organizational challenges and requirements associated with the role of HEIs in peripheral regions are explored. Finally, the authors emphasize the need for specifically designed intermediate structures linking academia and society and, using the case of Aveiro, examine the process of institutional innovation and learning.

Universities and Innovation in Regional Strategic Planning Culture. The Need for a Broader Analytical Framework for University-Industry Linkages.

The relevance of university-industry relationships to economic development is matched by the prolific research work that has been carried out on the interaction between the academic sector and productive systems. However, this research is almost exclusively focused on technology transfer. Considering the context of the emerging knowledge-driven economy in which institutional capacity emerges as a major competitive factor, this paper argues that there is a need to broaden the analytical framework in relation to university-industry links. This argument is based on the perception that universities can play a major role in building regional institutional capacity. The case of the University of Aveiro is explored to illustrate this additional dimension of university-industry interaction.

Evaluating Economic Theories of Growth and Inequality: A Study of the Danish Economy

We present a model for studying regional and sectoral variation in total factor productivity (TFP) and develop an empirical test, based on the skewness of TFP distribution, to empirically distinguish between different growth theories. While negative skewness is consistent with the neo-Schumpeterian idea of catching up with leaders, zero skewness supports the neoclassical view that deviations from the frontier reflect only idiosyncratic productivity shocks. We argue that positive skewness corresponds to a model where the combination of exogenous technology with non-transferable knowledge accumulated in specific sectors and regions explains TFP. This argument provides the framework for an empirical model based on stochastic frontier analysis. The model is used to analyse regional and sectoral inequalities in productive efficiency across Danish sectors and regions.

Methods and models of analysis in the urban housing market

The expert contributors illustrate that sources of regional competitiveness are strongly linked with spatially observable yet increasingly flexible realities, and include building advanced and efficient transport, communications and energy networks, changing urban and rural landscapes, and creating strategic and forward-looking competitiveness policies. They investigate long-term interactions between regional competitiveness and urban mobility, as well as the connections that link global sustainability with local technological and institutional innovations, and the intrinsic diversity of spatially rooted innovation processes. A prospective analysis on networks and innovation infrastructure is presented, global environmental issues such as climate change and energy are explored, and new policy perspectives – relevant world-wide – are prescribed.

Model for mixed demographic structures

The economic evaluation of a telecommunication network requires the estimation of the demand for the telecommunication services, as well as its location in space. If the demand for services is a basic input for the estimation of future revenues, its geographical distribution is the key factor for the definition of network topology and, thus, for the evaluation of the length of ducts and cables, a fundamental component of the costs. In this chapter the TITAN (tool for introduction strategies and techno-economic evaluation of access network) geometric model designed to calculate the length of cables and ducts for telecommunication networks is applied to different urban and rural structures, reflecting varied patterns of settlement typical of different European regions [1,2].