The National Innovation System (NIS, National System of Innovation) is the flow of technology and information among people, enterprises and institutions which is key to the innovative process on the national level. According to innovation system theory, innovation and technology development are results of a complex set of relationships among actors in the system, which includes enterprises, universities and government research institutes. (Source: Wikipedia)

A national system of innovation has been defined as follows: .. the network of institutions in the public and private sectors whose activities and interactions initiate, import, modify and diffuse innovations (Freeman, 1995)  the elements and relationships which interact in the production, diffusion and use of new, and economically useful, knowledge... and are either located within or rooted inside the borders of a nation state (Lundvall,1992) ... a set of institutions whose interactions determine the innovative performance... of national firms (Nelson,1993) .. the national institutions, their incentive structures and their competencies, that determine the rate and direction of technological learning (or the volume and composition of change generating activities) in a country. (Patel and Pavitt,1994) (Source: Wikipedia)

Possible economic and social benefits Technological opportunities Innovation opportunities Target: Innovation development and diffusion, to obtain economic benefits Knowledge as a private good Activities: Internal R&D Funding external R&D Cooperation with research institutions Universities and research centres Government Firms Target: Scientific discoveries Knowledge as a public good Activities: Research financed by firms and public institutions Target: Sustaining innovation development and diffusion Activities: Establishing Norms Giving R&D Incentives Source: Romano, Passiante, 1997

Milieu innovateurIndustrial districtRegional innovation SystemsNew industrial spacesLocal production systemsLearning region Source: Moulaert, Farid sekia, 2003

New industrial spaces Core of innovation dynamics A result of R&D and its implementation; Application of new production methods institutions( JIT, etc.) Role of institutions Social regulation for the coordination of inter-firm transactions and the dynamics of entrepreneurial activity Regional development Interaction between social regulation and agglomerated production systems Culture Culture of networking and social interaction Types of relations among agents Inter-firm transactions Types of relations with the environment The dynamics of community formation and social reproduction Source: Moulaert, Farid sekia, 2003

Industrial district (ID) Core of innovation dynamics Capacity of actors implement innovation in system of common values Role of institutions Institutions are ‘agents’ and enabling social regulation, fostering innovation and development Regional development Territorial view based on spatial solidarity and flexibility of districts; this flexibility is element of this innovation Culture Sharing values among ID agents; trust and reciprocity Types of relations among agents The network is a social regulation mode and a source of discipline. It enables a coexistence of both cooperation and competition Types of relations with the environment The relationships with the environment impose some constraints and new ideas; must be able to react to changes in the environment; ‘rich’ relations; limited spatial view of environment Source: Moulaert, Farid sekia, 2003

Local production systems Core of innovation dynamics Capacity of actors implement innovation in system of common values Role of institutions Institutions are ‘agents’ and enabling social regulation, fostering innovation and development: focus on role of governance Regional development Diffuse industrialization, i.e. socio- economic development based on an evolutionary process without rupture Culture Role of social-culture context in development Types of relations among agents Inter-firm and inter-institution networks Types of relations with the environment Capacity of agents in modifying their behaviour according to the changes in their environment. Very ‘rich’ relations: third dimension of support space Source: Moulaert, Farid sekia, 2003

Milieu innovateur Core of innovation dynamics Capacity of firms to innovate through the relationships with other agents of the same milieu Role of institutions Very important role of Institutions in the research process (university, firms, public agencies, etc.) Regional development Territorial view based on milieux innovateurs and on agent’s capacity of innovating in a cooperative atmosphere Culture Culture of trust and reciprocity links Types of relations among agents The role of the support space: strategic relations between the firm, its partners, suppliers and clients Types of relations with the environment Capacity of agents in modifying their behaviour according to the changes in their environment. Very ‘rich’ relations: third dimension of support space Source: Moulaert, Farid sekia, 2003

The relationship between learning, growth of knowledge and innovation in Territorial Innovation Systems (source: Bjorn Johnson, 1992 in National Innovation System, Lundvall, 1992) interactive learning learning by producing learning by searching learning by exploring creative forgetting institutional impact forgetting innovation institutional impact selection interactive learning learning by producing learning by searching learning by exploring creative forgetting institutional impact forgetting stock of knowledge and its remembering innovative ideas and projects innovation institutional impact selection Marshall-based approaches and the “industrial districts” approach Evolutionary approach, as developed in the “milieu innovateur” approach

Three different mechanisms through which learning takes place in a Territorial Innovation System Transfer of knowledge Creation of new knowledge Retrieval of knowledge Knowledge assets generated by learning processes Knowledge assets Knowledge transfer Systemic Knowledge assets Conceptual Knowledge assets Knowledge creation Routine Knowledge assets Experiential Knowledge assets Knowledge retrieval Systemic Knowledge assets

Regional innovation Systems (RIS) Core of innovation dynamics Innovation as an interactive, cumulative and specific process of research and development (path dependency) Role of institutions Institutions lead to a regulation of behaviour, both inside and outside organizations Regional development View of the region as a system of “learning by interacting/ and by steering regulation” Culture The source of learning by interacting Types of relations among agents The network is an organizational mode of ‘interactive learning’ Types of relations with the environment Balance between inside specific relations and environment constraints; ‘rich’ relations Source: Moulaert, Farid sekia, 2003

Learning region Core of innovation dynamics Innovation as an interactive, cumulative and specific process of research and development (path dependency); stress of coevolution of technology and institutions Role of institutions Institutions lead to a regulation of behaviour, both inside and outside organizations Regional development Double dynamics: technological and techno- organizational dynamics; economic and institutional dynamics Culture Strong focus on interaction between economic and social cultural life Types of relations among agents Networks of agents (embeddedness) Types of relations with the environment Balance between inside specific relations and environment constraints; ‘rich’ relations Source: Moulaert, Farid sekia, 2003

The emerging phenomenon of the Virtual Clusters (VC) and their learning processes Internet Infrastructure Five class of participants: Customers, Context Providers, Content provider, Commerce service providers, Infrastructure providers (Internetworked Enterprises – IE) Customer centrality upstream transactions with suppliers downstream transactions with distributors and clients horizontal transactions with competitors or other institutions Rules and standard E-leaning processes from markets E-learning processes trough alliances Source: Passiante, Secundo, 2002

e-learning process characteristics delivered to end users via computers focused on the broadest view of learning networked Source: Passiante, Secundo, 2002

An emerging virtual environment: the Innovation Virtual System (IVS) not related necessarily to a physical space developed at different ontological levels, where interactions amplify the knowledge creation processes of the organisations autonomous, self-sufficient unit, that may connect to others IVS for expanding knowledge result of organic interactions among its participants, based on a knowledge vision, rather than a mechanistic planning knowledge participants necessary conditions: autonomy, creative chaos, intentional overlapping of information, diversity, trust and commitment Source: Romano, Passiante, 1999

Some stylised facts of the innovation emphasised by the Innovation Virtual System (IVS) innovation as a non-linear process innovation as first and foremost new practical knowledge knowledge creation related to a balance between communality and diversity of knowledge learning and discovery related to the interactive mechanism with the context environment through which selection occurs Source: Romano, Passiante, 1999

An integrated model of the IVS e-learning processes Source: Passiante, Secundo, 2002

Correspondence between Knowledge transfer processes and e-learning platform functionalities Manager and administrator functionalities User Functionalities Portal-based access to a variety of content, activities, communities and tools, based on user profile. Wireless and other alternative access. Creation and assembly of content and activities Powerful search capabilities across structure, content and metadata. Development and management of individuals and communities Integration of tools for virtual meetings, virtual workspaces, virtual classrooms, discussions, group scheduling, etc. Peer-to-peer information sharing Monitoring and reporting for “people managers,” training coordinators, knowledge or content managers, etc. Content and activity management Workflow, lifecycle, process automation and security functions applied to the validation and publishing of content. Integration of external content, portals, etc. Source: Passiante, Secundo, 2002

Correspondence between Knowledge creation processes and e-learning platform functionalities User Functionalities User-configurable proactive agents which monitor sources and repositories to automatically alert users to relevant new information Creation and assembly of content and activities Object-oriented content and activity creation and/or integration with leading XML and other authoring tools Development and management of individuals and communities Management of individuals, competencies, expertise, temporary and permanent groups/communities. Content and activity management Automatic indexing of unstructured content, automatic categorization to a taxonomy and automatic creation of taxonomies to provide content in context. Link management capabilities for maintaining relationships among elements. Source: Passiante, Secundo, 2002

Correspondence between Knowledge retrieval processes and e-learning platform functionalities User Functionalities Powerful search capabilities across structure, content and metadata. Dynamic delivery/access to specific content, activities and communities based on profiles, assessment or other data, or queries Creation and assembly of content and activities Easy importing of external or existing content. Publishing to any number of devices, including Web Content and activity management A relational or object-oriented repository (support for multiple repositories also desirable) of content and activities, which allows granular storage of XML content and all other formats, with descriptive and category metadata to facilitate retrieval. Development and management of individuals and communities Features to allow users to rate content, provide alternatives and comments Manager and administrator functionalities Management of resources and facilities for training, meetings Source: Passiante, Secundo, 2002

A comparison between Territorial and Virtual Innovation Systems Teritorial SystemsVirtual Systems Geographic space Virtual space, that parallels the behavioural setting and rules of the physical space with some that are based on electronic linkages between computers Geographic proximity Analysis of a link space Focus on physical notion of distance and connectivity: the role of geographical space in generating opportunities to access more effectively and efficiently to information and knowledge Focus on a virtual notion of distance and connectivity as a substitute and a complement of physical interactions Information/knowledge accessibility : network latency, deliverability, availability of the network and servers Analysis of the geographical space Source: Passiante, Secundo, 2002