Technology transfer: how to remove obstacles in advancing employment growth

It has become increasingly evident that technology is a major determinant of thecompetitiveness of cities and regions nowadays. The availability of new technologyessentially reduces the amount of uncertainty with which companies deal in their dailyoperations. In addition, new technology is a basis for the establishment of new companiesand the restructuring of old ones. It therefore, may essentially influence thedevelopment direction of urban and regional economies.First, this paper will discuss a communication approach to technology transfer.This approach pays attention to barriers and the removing of barriers in communicationprocesses underlying technology transfer (Section 2). Next, in an empirical part, thepaper will focus on experiences in technology transfer through academic transferinstitutes (Section 3) and science parks (Section 4). This analysis is based on a blend ofempirical studies in Europe and the United States. The paper will conclude with anexamination of practical issues concerning obstacles to technology transfer (Section 5).To this purpose it provides an evaluation framework for the assessment of potentialsuccess of new science parks, namely by means of the so-called `Pentagon of Concerns'

Knowledge Virtualization and Local Connectedness among Smart High-tech Companies

Smart high-tech companies are characterized by knowledge intensity and open innovation. Even when these companies emerge in spatial clusters or dense urban places, they may utilize knowledge networks on a global scale. However, there is not much insight into the factors that shape knowledge networks, the role of virtualization herein and the impact of on global knowledge sourcing on local connectedness. This paper seeks to fill these gaps in understanding, by drawing on a selected sample of young high-technology companies in the Netherlands and application of rough set analysis to identify homogeneous categories of companies in the highly differentiated segment of young high-tech companies. The outcomes suggest that employing mainly local and employing mainly global knowledge networks coexist in city-regions, and that only part of the globalized companies are losing local connectedness, particularly those involved in co-creation with global customers and those acting as learning partners of multinational corporations (‘reverse’ knowledge transfer). Factors counteracting a weakening of local connectedness are specific local knowledge relationships and the strategy of developing local/regional customer markets