Jukka Majava

Spatial health and life sciences business ecosystem: a case study of San Diego

Purpose – Increasing competition in global markets requires many countries to seek new growth sectors. In addition, the nature of competition is changing. This paper applies the business ecosystem concept and studies San Diego as a spatial health and life sciences ecosystem. The purpose of this paper is to identify issues that should be considered in design of innovation policies and regional industry development. Design/methodology/approach – The research approach is built on a literature review of business ecosystems and spatial innovation. The empirical study is based on semi-structured interviews, observations, and information gathering and verification during field research. Findings – The results include a description of the ecosystem structure and dynamics. This paper demonstrates the bottom-up nature of San Diego’s health and life sciences ecosystem without a dominant lead actor, and presents prerequisites for fostering spatial ecosystems. Research limitations/implications – A single case may not ...

Drive for intelligence: Transformative factors in smart city development

This paper reports on research toward a new theoretical model analyzing “smart city” development in the context of five Sociological Drivers (Technologies, Social structures, Cultural drivers, Economic drivers, Governance). These drivers are analyzed for their impact in support of five Intelligent Community Indicators (Broadband Connectivity, Knowledge Workforce, Innovation, Digital Inclusion, Marketing & Advocacy). The paper gives findings for a preliminary sample of three top cities from the Intelligent Community of the Year award competition. It presents a matrix and heat map of Transformative Factors in smart city development. The paper concludes that the model is promising for community research and leadership and warrants broader sampling with further analysis.