Mikel Gómez Uranga

Regional innovation systems: Institutional and organisational dimensions

Abstract The paper explores the case for Regional Systems of Innovation. Acknowledging the major contribution of research on National Innovation Systems, it suggests that for conceptual and methodological reasons, mostly concerning problems of scale and complexity, that approach may be complemented in important ways by a subnational focus. Taking an evolutionary economics standpoint, the paper specifies the concepts of ‘region,’ ‘innovation’ and ‘system’ as the prelude to an extended discussion of the importance of financial capacity, institutionalised learning and productive culture to systemic innovation. Building on the notion of regions as occupying different positions on a continuum referring to processes constituting them and their powers vis-a-vis innovation policy, the paper concludes by advocating strengthening of regional level capacities for promoting both systemic learning and interactive innovation.

Regional Systems of Innovation: An Evolutionary Perspective

The authors develop the concept of regional systems of innovation and relate it to preexisting research on national systems of innovation. They argue that work conducted in the ‘new regional science’ field is complementary to systems of innovation approaches. They seek to link new regional work to evolutionary economics, and argue for the development of evolutionary regional science. Common elements of interest to evolutionary innovation research and new regional science are important in understanding processes of agglomeration, trust building, innovation, institutions, and learning in regional systems. The authors develop analytical frameworks for designating regional systems of innovation in terms of distinction between institutions and organisations, hard and soft infrastructures, and the cultural superstructure. They conclude that an evolutionary approach assists understanding of regional potential for developing systemic innovation.

The Dynamics of Commercialization of Scientific Knowledge in Biotechnology and Nanotechnology

ABSTRACT We carry out an in-depth study of the growth, diffusion and reinforcement of knowledge in this article. We look for drivers to diffuse knowledge as to collaboration (between different research teams and between university and industry), regulations (on intellectual property rights, governmental), and broad lines of scientific research according to the financing methods used. The studies referred to in this article are linked to the creation and search for better commercialization conditions for the sciences and technologies associated with biosciences and nanosciences. Different paths of knowledge may be identified, according to the case. Certain kinds of drivers may be used more often than others, determined by the type of knowledge being dealt with. For instance, networking and collaboration between different research teams is one of the main activities necessary to innovate and to commercialize the products resulting from knowledge and research in those clusters. In other situations, it may be more suitable to reinforce knowledge diffusion through certain regulations. A case in point is the significance of the Bayh–Dole Act in the US, used to improve relationships between university and industry. Therefore, the aim of this article is to evaluate the type of drivers and the intensity required in each case. In general, in more advanced clusters and territories, drivers are more biased to creating conditions to commercialize science, and to a lesser extent, to government intervention to foster development. The two case studies we have chosen, i.e. the Barcelona biomedical cluster and the biosciences cluster in the Basque Country, call for drivers that are the same in certain regards but vary greatly in intensity. The simultaneous presence of all of these drivers works in an interrelated manner to activate the complex process of commercialization of science.

Panorama of the Basque Country and its Competence for Self-Government

The aim of this article is to present a panoramic view of the Basque Countrys capacity and competence for self-government. We have analysed the historical process of industrialization, the effects of the industrial crisis and new possibilities for development of the areas own regional policy based on new institutions (Government and Provincial Councils) that emerged from administrative decentralization in Spain after 1980. In the following section, we analyse the scope of authority in EU regions. Some of the cultural and transport infrastructure projects backed by these Basque institutions are studied. These projects have had a considerable impact on the Bilbao Metropolitan Area. The changes observed in the nation state, specifically in Europe, show contradictory effects. However, they have reduced the States sovereignty but at the same time have prompted the State to retain powers rather than transfer them to lower institutional levels. This clashes with the desire of some regions or historical nations to access greater shares of self-government, such as the case of the Basque Country.

Networks and spatial dynamics: The case of the Basque country

Abstract This article analyzes the relationship between the internal development capacity of a region and the establishment of external infrastructures which link various centres and create cohesive spaces. The methodological approach is based on two types of network (1) internal networks (INs) bring together a wide range of economic and institutional agents; (2) external networks of infrastructures (ENs) show an increasingly international orientation and accompany the spatial dynamic. The theoretical approximation serves as a starting point for the study of some important projects the aim of which is the diffusion of ENs in the Basque country (roads, railways, airports and telecommunications). These projects are occasionally connected with the dynamics of INs that tend to be set up in the metropolitan area of Bilbao.

The Dynamics of Regional Clusters of Nanotechnologies: Evidences from German Länder and Two Spanish Autonomous Communities

In the present article, we use a dynamic approach to analyse the topography of regional/local nanotechnologies clusters through the agents that make them up. These agents include firms of different sizes and characteristics, universities, research centers and intermediary organizations supporting the creation of firms. Our study examines scientific publications as well as the gaps observed in some clusters and how the weakest clusters could be strengthened. Our spatial scope of analysis is region-based. We begin with the study of German lander which serve as references to aid understanding the cases of the two Spanish autonomous communities: the Basque Country and Catalonia.

Knowledge, values and territory: a case study

Today, the study of regions is central to academic analysis and policy deliberation on how to respond to the rise of the knowledge economy. Regional Economies as Knowledge Laboratories illustrates how newer types of regional analysis – utilising scientometrics, knowledge services measures and university networks, and concepts such as knowledge life cycles, experimental knowledge creation, and knowledge ethics – are leading to a perception that regional economies increasingly resemble knowledge laboratories.

Evolution of the Commercialisation Trajectories in Nanotechnologies

The purpose of this paper is to reach better general understanding of the institutions and processes needed to develop and commercialise nanosciences and nanotechnologies. This knowledge may prove useful to guide the actions of public and private agents. In order to analyse the paths followed in the evolution of nanotechnologies markets, the following points must be taken into account: government initiatives, creation of standards, possible applications, creation of firms, dynamics of patenting and the development of laws and regulations needed for commercialisation, although within the necessary context of sustainable development and respect for public health.