Bridging Science to Economy: The Role of Science and Technologic Parks in Innovation Strategies in “Follower” Regions

The concept of Regional Innovation System (RIS) builds upon an integrated perspective of innovation, acknowledging the contribution of knowledge production subsystem, regulatory context and enterprises to a region’s innovative performance. Science and Technology parks can act as a platform to the production of knowledge and its transfer to the economy in the form of spin-offs or simple knowledge spillovers, enhanced by the co-location of R&D university centers and high technology enterprises on site. Although reflecting mainly a science push perspective, they may constitute central nodes in an infrastructural system of competitiveness that articulates other entrepreneurial location sites and bridges Universities to the economy in a more efficient and effective way, being crucial to increasing technology transfer and interchange speed, promoting the technological upgrading of the regional economy. In this paper we discuss the importance of Science and Technology Parks in the building up of a Regional Innovation System, promoting the technological intensification of the economy, a more effective knowledge transfer and sharing and the construction of competitive advantages, with particular importance in follower regions facing structural deficiencies. We oppose to the predominant closed paradigm, which understands science parks’ role in a narrow and “enclavist”, arguing in favor of an open and “integrative” paradigm where the interconnection to other infrastructures and agents boosts the park’s performance and upgrades the regional economies competitiveness infra-structures and innovation capability. We further stress the importance of science parks in signaling capabilities and hence attracting R&D external initiatives, namely, R&D FDI.Science Parks, New technology-based firms, Innovation, Regional Policy

From Concept to Policy: Building Regional Innovation Systems in Follower Regions

In the spirit of “The Lisbon strategy”, public policies are redirecting support from investment-driven policies to knowledge building as the main driver for competitiveness and innovation. This re-orientation poses different challenges to regions and RIS concept may be the central element, simultaneously goal and toolbox, for devising innovation promotion policies. The RIS framework stresses the need to combine a systemic and inclusive view of innovation along with territorially embedded specificities. In this paper we explore how to operationalize the concept of RIS in terms of innovation policy, arguing against a “one size fits all” approach. Concentrating our analysis on follower regions, we bridge the concept of RIS with the structural deficiencies and challenges posing to this kind of regions, for which innovation policy should seek an adequate combination between science push and demand pull perspectives. We also address the importance of taking advantage of the catching-up status, building upon R&D cost-advantages and clustering around external initiatives as well as the correction of important constraints to the construction of a RIS.Innovation, Regional Innovation Systems, Innovation Policy, Follower Regions

Statistics, distillation, and ordering emergence in a two-dimensional stochastic model of particles in counterflowing streams

In this paper, we proposed a stochastic model which describes two species of particles moving in counterflow. The model generalizes the theoretical framework describing the transport in random systems since particles can work as mobile obstacles, whereas particles of one species move in opposite direction to the particles of the other species, or they can work as fixed obstacles remaining in their places during the time evolution. We conducted a detailed study about the statistics concerning the crossing time of particles, as well as the effects of the lateral transitions on the time required to the system reaches a state of complete geographic separation of species. The spatial effects of jamming were also studied by looking into the deformation of the concentration of particles in the two-dimensional corridor. Finally, we observed in our study the formation of patterns of lanes which reach the steady state regardless the initial conditions used for the evolution. A similar result is also observed in real experiments involving charged colloids motion and simulations of pedestrian dynamics based on Langevin equations, when periodic boundary conditions are considered (particles counterflow in a ring symmetry). The results obtained through Monte Carlo numerical simulations and numerical integrations are in good agreement with each other. However, differently from previous studies, the dynamics considered in this work is not Newton-based, and therefore, even artificial situations of self-propelled objects should be studied in this first-principle modeling.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figure

Centralidades e Imagens de Fronteira: a relação de Foz do Iguaçu com seu contexto local

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso apresentado ao Instituto Latino-Americano de Tecnologia, Infraestrutura e Território da Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana, como requisito parcial à obtenção do título de Bacharel em Arquitetura e Urbanismo. Orientador: Prof. Dr. Leonardo dos Passos Miranda NameEste trabalho, vem sendo realizado desde o ano de 2014 na Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana, como projeto de Iniciação Científica, que desde seu princípio, visou a investigação das centralidades urbanas no contexto da Tríplice Fronteira: Ciudad Del Este, Foz do Iguaçu e Puerto Iguazú. Tal pesquisa se propôs durante seus três anos em desenvolver cartografias alternativas, que representassem aquilo que mapas tradicionais não transmitem. Nesta obra, vamos discutir a produção do espaço e de imagens na cidade transfronteiriça de Foz do Iguaçu, que ocasionalmente acabam abrangendo também uma área de conurbação entre Ciudad Del Este (Paraguai) e Puerto Iguazú (Argentina). Dada certa complexidade da área de estudos, existe a necessidade de explicitarmos que se tratam de cidades que de forma histórica, possuem aproximadamente cem anos de existência. Muitas das discussões urbanas desta localidade acabam sendo permeadas pela questão do turismo. Tendo isto em mente, este trabalho se propõe a questionar aquilo que se denomina como localidades centrais, sendo elas simbólicas ou físicas no contexto da cidade do interior paranaense.Este trabajo, viene siendo realizado desde el año 2014 en la Universidad Federal de la Integración Latinoamericana, como proyecto de Iniciación Científica, que desde su principio, visó la investigación de las centralidades urbanas en el contexto de la Triple Frontera: Ciudad Del Este, Foz do Iguaçu y Puerto Iguazú. Tal investigación se propuso durante sus tres años en desarrollar cartografías alternativas, que representasen lo que los mapas tradicionales no transmiten. En esta obra, vamos a discutir la producción del espacio y de imágenes en la ciudad transfronteriza de Foz do Iguaçu, que ocasionalmente acaban abarcando también un área de conurbación entre Ciudad Del Este (Paraguay) y Puerto Iguazú (Argentina). Dada cierta complejidad del área de estudios, existe la necesidad de explicitar que se trata de ciudades que de forma histórica, poseen aproximadamente cien años de existencia. Muchas de las discusiones urbanas de esta localidad acaban siendo permeadas por la cuestión del turismo. Teniendo esto en mente, este trabajo se propone a cuestionar aquello que se denomina como localidades centrales, siendo ellas simbólicas o físicas en el contexto de la ciudad del interior paranaens