Despliegue de la Smart Specialisation para la resiliencia económica regional: el papel de la estructura industrial

The European Regional Development Funds for the programmatic cycle 2014-2020 aims to support regions that implement an innovation strategy based on Smart Specialisation. Within this framework, the European Commission emphasises the role of smart specialisation in favouring regional transformation, enhancing competitiveness and fostering resilience. However, the concepts of smart specialisation and resilience have been poorly combined. The article aims at investigating their relationship to understand if a smart specialisation strategy may promote the economic resilience of regions in response to major economic shocks. Drawing upon the concepts of adaptation/adaptability, the analysis investigates the relatedness of new industrial specialisations to the existing industrial structure before and after a shock occurrence. Evaluating the resilience of Italian provinces in relation to the economic crisis of 2008, the analysis aims to understand if provinces that resisted and recovered better followed a smart specialisation framework where new industrial specialisations are related to the existing industrial structure.El Fondos Europeos de Desarrollo Regional para el ciclo programático 2014-2020 tienen como objetivo apoyar a las regiones que aplican una estrategia de innovación basada en la Smart Specialisation. En este marco, la Comisión Europea destaca el papel de la Smart Specialisation para favorecer la transformación regional, mejorar la competitividad y fomentar la resiliencia. Sin embargo, los conceptos de Smart Specialisation y resiliencia han sido poco combinados. El artículo pretende investigar su relación para entender si una estrategia de Smart Specialisation puede promover la resiliencia económica de las regiones en respuesta a las grandes crisis económicas. Basándose en los conceptos de adaptación/adaptabilidad, el análisis investiga la relación de las nuevas especializaciones industriales con la estructura industrial existente antes y después de una crisis. Evaluando la resiliencia de las provincias italianas en relación con la crisis económica de 2008, el análisis pretende comprender si las provincias que resistieron y se recuperaron mejor siguieron un marco de Smart Specialisation en el que las nuevas especializaciones industriales están relacionadas con la estructura industrial existente

What conditions favor high‑potential entrepreneurship? Unpacking the nexus between the industrial structure and startup typologies

In this paper, we question the implicit assumption that more entrepreneurship drives more innovation and growth, asserting that specific typologies of entrepreneurship are responsible for these phenomena. A growing number of studies has analyzed this relationship while focusing on the overall level of entrepreneurship. This paper exploits recent advancements in measuring the sophistication and connectedness of economic systems, brought by the notions of economic complexity and relatedness, to study the nexus of industrial structure and high-potential forms of entrepreneurship. The present study uses a panel dataset for Italy for the period 2015–2019. The results show a differentiated pattern among the high-potential startups considered, with relatedness and complexity having a positive effect for innovative startups, a negative one for high-growth startups, and no effect for pioneers. These results inform potential entrepreneurs of the importance of analyzing how external conditions can have distinctive effects on the process of opportunity identification among different typologies of high-potential startups.Open access funding provided by Università degli Studi di Firenze within the CRUI-CARE Agreement

Non normal amplification of stochastic quasi-cycles

Stochastic quasi-cycles for a two species model of the excitatory-inhibitory type, arranged on a triangular loop, are studied. By increasing the strength of the inter-nodes coupling, one moves the system towards the Hopf bifurcation and the amplitude of the stochastic oscillations are consequently magnified. When the system is instead constrained to evolve on specific manifolds, selected so as to return a constant rate of deterministic damping for the perturbations, the observed amplification correlates with the degree of non normal reactivity, here quantified by the numerical abscissa. The thermodynamics of the reactive loop is also investigated and the degree of inherent reactivity shown to facilitate the out-of-equilibrium exploration of the available phase space

The future of 5G and beyond : leadership, deployment and European policies

Published online: 04 September 2023This paper discusses the need for a strategic rethinking of the policies that promote 5G development and deployment in Europe, as they are crucial in determining the future impact of 5G and later also 6G on the digital economy. Considering the current state of 5G deployment and insights that have emerged from the debate on 5G technological leadership, we discuss the need for a more effective and proactive policy from the European Union in this field. The main suggestion is to develop an industrial policy that contrasts fragmentation in the telecommunications sector by taking the whole European Union as the scale of action, instead of just the individual member states.This article was published Open Access with the support from the EUI Library through the CRUI - Elsevier Transformative Agreement (2023-2027)

How real will the metaverse be? Exploring the spatial impact of virtual worlds

Published online: 07 Jun 2023In this paper, we perform a preliminary analysis of the technologies, firms and industries that may be affected by the possible futures of the metaverse, attempting to derive some hypotheses on the spatial effects of this process. We distinguish between two possible evolutive scenarios – the ‘metaverse shaped by reality view’ and the ‘metaverse shaping reality view’ – and factors affecting them, deriving implications for public policy planning. The first scenario presents relatively traditional core policy challenges: ensuring homogeneous availability of network infrastructures as well as the skills indispensable to catch the new technological opportunities at the local level, accompanying the reallocation of factors of production associated to disruption and addressing inequalities. In the second, the main challenge is more radical: to ensure that desirable features are incorporated in the emerging virtual worlds from the start

Position statement on the European commission’s call for evidence for an impact assessment on standard-essential patents

On 14th February 2022, the European Commission published a ‘Call for evidence for an impact assessment’ (Call for Evidence) and Public Consultation related to a new framework for standard essential patents (SEPs). The Florence School of Regulation: Area Communications & Media (FSR C&M) of the European University Institute (EUI) is thankful for the opportunity to provide its feedback. Our team of researchers has significant research, policy and training experience in the areas of telecommunications regulation, standardisation and EU competition policy. In this paper, we focus on four specific points raised by the Call for Evidence: 1) the necessity and proportionalityof any SEP licensing policy measure; 2) the measures that increase the transparency of the SEP landscape; 3) the optimal level of licensing in the production chain; 4) the alternative dispute resolution mechanisms for Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) licenses. Our contribution aims to be a catalyst for the debate about the appropriate SEP licensing framework

Knowledge networks and industrial structure for regional innovation : an analysis of patents collaborations in Italy

First published online: 13 September 2019The aim of the research is to investigate whether the structure of knowledge networks and the variety of the local industrial structure are important for regional innovation and if the interplay between these two forces has an additional effect on local innovativeness. The research analyses co‐patenting collaborations at firm level in the Italian provinces in three five‐year intervals in the period 2001–2016. Results show that the structure of knowledge networks and agglomeration economies of inventors boost local inventive capacity. It also highlights how these forces have an increasing impact on innovation as the variety of the area increases

Digital markets act in the making : challenges and potential of the new EU regulation on big tech

On 1st October, 2021, the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) hosted a conference: “Digital Markets Act in the making: Challenges and potential of the new EU regulation on Big Tech”, which was organized by the Florence School of Regulation – Communications and Media (FSR C&M) at the European University Institute (EUI) campus in Florence. The conference focused on the Digital Markets Act (DMA): the proposed EU Regulation, which was published by the European Commission on 15th December, 2020, and which aims to ensure fair and open digital markets.[1] The proposal is currently pending approval by the European Parliament and the Council. The Conference gathered academics, practitioners, officials from the National Competition Authorities (NCAs), the European Commission, the industry, as well as from law and economic consulting firms, to discuss and exchange views on the controversies that have been generated by the DMA proposal. The diversity of views ensured a lively debate. This Policy Brief summarizes the main points raised during the discussion

Ubiquitous technologies and 5G development : who is leading the race?

Available online 8 November 2021The introduction of the fifth generation of mobile technology (5G) is expected to bring disruptive changes. These changes will be much more pervasive than any previous introduction of new mobile ‘generations’ and they are expected to influence the whole economy. For this reason, the global rush for 5G technology is not only considered crucial in economic or technological terms, but also for its implications in terms of geopolitics, international policy and national security. This paper presents an analysis of the patents in the most relevant fields of specialization connected to the 5G development. The period under investigation is from 2010 to 2019, and the data are extracted from the European Patent Office (EPO) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. The analysis shows how the technologies and the specialisations needed to develop 5G are in the hands of a few countries around the globe, and how single European countries, taken in isolation, are not among those leading players. However, Europe, considered as a whole, competes well with the US and Asia in terms of patented innovations, suggesting the economic and strategic relevance of strengthening cooperation within the EU

Ubiquitous technologies and 5G development : who owns the rarest technologies?

The introduction of the fifth generation of mobile technology (5G) is expected to bring immense changes. These changes may be much more pervasive than any previous introduction of new mobile “generations”, and they are expected to influence the whole economy. For this reason, the global rush for 5G technology is not only considered crucial in economic or technological terms, but also for its implications in terms of policy, geopolitics, and national security issues. This paper presents an analysis of the patents in the most relevant fields of specialization connected to the 5G development. The period under investigation is from 2010 to 2019, and the data are extracted from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. The analysis shows how the technologies and the specialisations needed to develop 5G are in the hands of a few countries around the globe, and that single European countries, taken in isolation, are not among these leading players. However, Europe, considered as a whole, competes well with the US and Asia in terms of patented innovations, suggesting the economic and strategic relevance of strong cooperation within the EU