Generation and diffusion of innovations in a district innovation system: The case of ink-jet printing

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.This paper provides an in-depth case study of the ink-jet printing (IJP) technology that emerged from the ceramic industry in a Spanish region (Castellon) in the first decade of 2000. We propose an analytical framework that combines the theoretical perspectives of Industrial Districts and Innovation Systems, and exploit a qualitative methodology that includes information from patent and scientific article databases and 21 in-depth interviews. Our results show that IJP is a major innovation that breaks with the tradition of machinery innovations in this industry in Spain. Micro-level evidences show the complex external and internal relationships in the sharing of knowledge and innovation process, being the role of internal ties, trust, secrecy and strong in-house R&D strategies determinants of the IJP innovation. © Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Facultad de Economía y Negocios.This work was supported by ITC-AICE and the Quevedo Program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Education and Culture through Project no. PB97-0804, and by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional through the Project RedINNOVA.Peer Reviewe

Generation and Diffusion of Innovations in a District Innovation System: The Case of Ink-Jet Printing

[EN] This paper provides an in-depth case study of the ink-jet printing (IJP) technology that emerged from the ceramic industry in a Spanish region (Castellon) in the first decade of 2000. We propose an analytical framework that combines the theoretical perspectives of Industrial Districts and Innovation Systems, and exploit a qualitative methodology that includes information from patent and scientific article databases and 21 in-depth interviews. Our results show that IJP is a major innovation that breaks with the tradition of machinery innovations in this industry in Spain. Micro-level evidences show the complex external and internal relationships in the sharing of knowledge and innovation process, being the role of internal ties, trust, secrecy and strong in-house R&D strategies determinants of the IJP innovationThis work was supported by ITC-AICE and the Quevedo Program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Education and Culture through Project no. PB97-0804, and by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional through the Project RedINNOVAReig-Otero, Y.; Edwards Schachter, ME.; Feliú-Mingarro, C.; Fernandez De Lucio, I. (2014). Generation and Diffusion of Innovations in a District Innovation System: The Case of Ink-Jet Printing. Journal of Technology Management and Innovation. 9(2):56-76. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242014000200005S56769

Generation and diffusion of innovations in a District Innovation System: The case of ink-jet printing

Ingenio Working Paper SeriesThis paper provides an in-depth case study of the ink-jet printing (IJP) technology that emerged from a mature industrial sector in the Castellon region (Spain) in the first decade of 2000. We propose an analytical framework that combines the theoretical perspectives of Industrial Districts and Innovation Systems, and exploit a qualitative methodology that includes information from patent and scientific article databases, technical literature and 21 interviews. Our results show that IJP is a major innovation that breaks with the tradition of machinery innovations in this industry in Spain. We provide micro-level evidence of the complex external and internal relationships in the innovation process. Internal ties, trust relations and strong in-house R&D were the determinants of the IJP innovation. In contrast to the literature, we find that secrecy and patenting play key roles in the sharing of knowledge and the innovation strategy.This work was supported by ITC)-AICE and the Quevedo Program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Education and Culture through Project no. PB97-0804, and by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional through Project RedINNOVA.N