New Product Development Methods Based on Interregional Cooperation and Know-how Transfer Rene Tõnnisson Tartu Science Park

Tartu. Tartu Region in Short Population Area15,000 km2 GDP Euro GDP growth 11.8 % (2006) Main economic sectors – Forrest-Wood, Metalworks- Machinery, Food, Software Development

Introduction The current presentation is based on the results achieved and experiences gained from INTERREG IIIC supported project – Interregional Cooperation for New Product Development. The project was aiming to support New Product Development through the establishment of intra- and inter- regional networks of specialized service providers. The regions of Central Macedonia and Attica in Greece, Basque Country in Spain, Wales in U.K, Ljubljana in Slovenia and Tartu in Estonia jointly implemented the project between

Regional Economic Policy Context New product development (NPD) is about the renewal of products which because of technological and socio-economic conditions became obsolete and the gain of new markets for existing products. While in many regions technological innovation may reduce employment, mainly because of the introduction of ICT and automation, in the case of product-based innovation, regional wealth increases in parallel with employment. However, it is quite difficult for many EU regions to develop product innovation skills because NPD covers a wide range of expertise from consulting (product conception, market analysis, competition analysis, marketing etc.) to product design and prototyping.

New Product Development Roadmap

Results of the NPD-Net Project Establishment of the New Product Development Centres - Example of Tartu Science Park Support for development of new high tech and medium high tech products in Estonian companies by providing relevant product development consultancy services and technological competencies together with Estonian research centres and universities Awareness raising about the possibilities and challenges of new product development in various industrial sectors and providing relevant training Networking and clustering activities Providing Small scale production and testing facilities

Strategic Impact on Regional Economies The philosophy of NPD-NET project was to address the regional gap in terms of NPD services and practice, especially in the Least favored regions (LFRs), by developing inter- and intra- regional networks providing relevant services, while sustaining the awareness of business about the importance of NPD. The created New Product Development Centres will remain an important component of the regional innovation systems and economic fabric and will meet the local and regional needs while being able to offer the access to interregional and international competence base

New Product Development is not only about using new technologies

But it is much more of understanding your own situation, competitors and your competitive advantage!

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