Promoting linkages between university and enterprises: the case of the Algarve region

Innovation has assumed an increased importance in Regional Development theories. This communication hopes to contribute to the understanding of the Algarve Regional Innovation Systems, a peripheral region in the National and European framework, where an economic growth is supported by Tourism, which leaves it out of the group of poorest regions when the GDPpc indicator is taken in account. A synthesis of the recent Regional Innovation Strategies for the Algarve is presented including the previous experiences of Ettirse and INOVAlgarve. From this late programme emerged CRIA – Regional Centre for Innovation of the Algarve, focused in the promotion, transfer and commercial approach to technology and knowledge in the academy, consolidating the linkages University-Enterprise. This paper tries to understand the actions carried on by this organism and its role in the development of the region.Innovation; Triple Helix, Regional Innovation Strategies, Technology-Transfer

Looking for the Core of a Knowledge-based Sea Cluster: A Social Network Analysis in a Maritime Region

For more than two decades cluster policies have emerged as a central focus for decision-makers trying to instigate territorial development. The benefits, especially in terms of collective learning, knowledge sharing and other types of agglomeration economies and spill-over effects, are well stressed in the regional science literature. Today the relevance of maritime activities and marine resources to economic development is acknowledged. For several European countries, the Atlantic Ocean is part of their common history, identity and potential for developing advanced economic niches of excellence. There is no surprise that several regions are trying to implement their development strategies based on a broad Sea Cluster notion that encompasses a diversity of economic activities such as fisheries and aquaculture, coastal tourism, marine transports and activities based on marine sciences and maritime technologies. Based on the results of a trans-regional evaluation performed for the Atlantic Area under project KIMERAA, this paper evaluates the consolidation of the Sea Cluster in the Algarve, a Portuguese region internationally known by its coastal tourism. The region has also been experiencing a growing capacity in economic activities linked to marine sciences. This regional cluster did not emerge spontaneously and there are several initiatives to promote it. Interviews to regional actors showed light on two important issues. i) Which organization should be the main mediator to bridge science to market? ii) Who is the actor that is in a better position to assume a pivotal role in the formal consolidation of the cluster? Using social network analysis the main knowledge transfer mediator and the central actors are identified. Their roles and specific policy implications are underlined.

China's special economic zones in Africa: context, motivations and progress

As more and more countries set foot in Africa, there is a growing attention on China’s role and engagement in the region. The approaches are very diverse and if some are more skeptical, others praise factors that particularly shape China’s current move to Africa such as a focus on development cooperation and on establishing strategic partnerships. These would also add that China has had a very positive and influential role in Africa through aiding many countries to solve imminent problems and to assist with knowledge transfer. In this paper, we first discuss the context of the launching of Special Economic Zones in Africa by examining the historic development of the Sino-Africa relationship, and analyze China’s motivations for establishing the Special Economic Zones in the continent. Finally, we present the latest progress of the Special Economic Zones’ development and discuss how they contribute toward the presence of China in Africa.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Valorization of Wood Cultural Heritage (WCH) for Sustainable Future in Danube Region

Rural areas in the Danube Region face economic, societal, cultural and environmental challenges. They are rich in diverse cultural heritage which is often neglected and not taken into consideration as a potential resource for development. Wood resources form an integral part of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. As an environmentally friendly material, wood can play an important role in sustainable development. Valorization of wood traditions according to present needs may help to mitigate and overcome problems of rural areas. The general objective of the project is the sustainable rural development through valorization of wood cultural heritage. Wood cultural heritage may be seen as an asset to enhance economic development in rural areas. Transfer of knowledge on wood cultural heritage and its importance will improve the social relations in local communities and raise awareness on environmental issues

Knowledge-intensive business services as an element of learning regions - the case of Baden-Wurttemberg

In the globalizing process, the production of knowledge and the management of information gain increasing strategic importance for the competitiveness of regions. Theoretical conceptions of the learning economy and the learning region emphasise that the capability to learn is crucial for the economic success of firms, regions and national economies. Given this background, the proposal will focus on the significance of knowledge?intensive business services for innovation and learning. So far, knowledge about innovative activities of service firms and their significance in the technological change is existent only to a low extent. For a long time, research concerning technological change as well as innovations focussed on the manufacturing industry and the development and transfer of technological knowledge. The dynamic growth of business?related services has now been documented in numerous studies not only in Germany, but also in other European countries. Their role in innovativeness and competitiveness in the current situation of structural change has, however, received little attention. A major reason is that it is very difficult to establish the quantitative contribution these services make to innovation at both the macro and micro levels. The present state of the statistics for services and innovation make it impossible to determine what the contribution is. From a qualitative point of view, however, this service segment is an important element in the innovation system. The contribution of knowledge?intensive business service firms to innovation is not just the result of their own innovative activities. It also results from the indirect and positive feedback effects which originate on the demand side as a result of the use of the services by client firms. The speech will focus on specific development trends of knowledge?intensive business services in the regional innovation system of Baden?Wuerttemberg, and the role of these services in the present regional restructuring process will be examined.

The case of prunus network in Beira Interior region

The Triple Helix, as spiral model of innovation that contains multiple relationships in different processes of knowledge enhancement, is a model that, leveraged by the dynamics of interaction between the different institutions and stakeholders, benefits from the role of universities as centers of excellence in education and science, from the private sector as co-creators of knowledge and human capital pickup as well as from the public sector supporting the legal framework and technical support besides the sectoral and territorial political supports. In the business context, especially in rural matrix territories, farmers have developed a crucial role in local development, promoting new development dynamics, not only as producers and employers, but also as investment attractors and stimulating the creation and transfer of knowledge. The reflection on the perspective of the Triple Helix observed in the productive framework of the agricultural sector is not firmly established or settled. In this context, this paper aims to discuss the model of the Triple Helix based on relations between the Academy and R&D-Agricultural Production-Government spheres focused on the sector of stone fruit, using the region of Beira Interior as case study. This region stands out for the many changes that have led to the establishment of interdependencies of the agricultural sector, research and education centers and various economic and social agents with a relevant role in the development of sector of stone fruit. Thus, this work aims to map the regional actors with an active role in sector and, on the other hand, to present the dynamics of institutional interactions that attained the creation of the PRUNUS network - resources and human capital enhancements.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Kangaroo Seminars for Knowledge Transfer in Fast-Growing Research Fields

We introduce, discuss, and provide an empirical appraisal of kangaroo seminars as a new instrument for knowledge transfer in fast-growing research fields. By promoting active project-based and cooperative learning, kangaroo seminars combine educational goals with the institutional goal of fast knowledge transfer between academic institutions and private and public enterprises. The key feature that sets kangaroo seminars apart from other case-based and project-based educational formats is a two-phase concept with an intensive learning course updating the students\u27 abstract knowledge in phase one and a collaborative applied project in phase two. The project collaboration is realized by giving the student teams the opportunity to obtain an inside view of the cooperating enterprise in radically short, but highly focused internships. These internships inspired the term "kangaroo seminars," because we like to compare the role of the participating students to that of kangaroo offspring seeing the world from a position inside the pouch of the kangaroo mother, i.e. seeing the project case from a position inside the participating enterprise\u27s organization. Our empirical appraisal is based on four kangaroo seminars in online marketing that we conducted from 2008 to 2010 cooperating with 22 small and mid-sized enterprises. Our experience shows that the desired three-way knowledge transfer procedure can be established properly and that it leads to high levels of self-reported satisfaction amongst the participating students and firms. Furthermore, firms not only report high levels of compliance with the solution concepts developed in the seminars, but also record substantially higher growth rates of their workforce (about 16%) than the overall growth of employment in the region (under 1%). Combining the high level of satisfaction and the growth rates reported by the firms, we cautiously conclude that the kangaroo seminars may have played a positive role in the economic development of the participating enterprises

CSconnected: Does CS cluster inward investment improve regional economic prospects?

This case explores the role of firms in the Welsh compound semiconductor cluster as inward investors and agents of regional economic change. A key theme is that compound semiconductor manufacturing firms represent a pattern of inward investment for Wales that is different from that characterising much of the past and with the potential to provide better quality long term regional economic outcomes. The case reveals that for more disadvantaged local economies that there are challenges to develop conditions for encouraging inward investors to choose their nation or region as a home for knowledge-intensive industries. Here the strategic economic development goal and means of inward investment attraction is based more on the creation of knowledge spill-overs, such as the transfer of new skills, science, and management techniques which in the longer term stimulate local competition and innovation

Promoting linkages between university and enterprises: the case of the Algarve region

Innovation has assumed an increased importance in Regional Development theories. This communication hopes to contribute to the understanding of the Algarve Regional Innovation Systems, a peripheral region in the National and European framework, where an economic growth is supported by Tourism, which leaves it out of the group of poorest regions when the GDPpc indicator is taken in account. A synthesis of the recent Regional Innovation Strategies for the Algarve is presented including the previous experiences of Ettirse and INOVAlgarve. From this late programme emerged CRIA – Regional Centre for Innovation of the Algarve, focused in the promotion, transfer and commercial approach to technology and knowledge in the academy, consolidating the linkages University-Enterprise. This paper tries to understand the actions carried on by this organism and its role in the development of the region