Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
Published byClaude Barnett Modified over 8 years ago
1
The Geography of Innovation: What have we learned so far? Meric S. Gertler University of Toronto Presented to the AIM Conference on ‘Social Science and Innovation’, 11 February 2009, Royal Society of Arts, London
2
The Geography of Innovation Recent evidence: – innovation-generating activity highly clustered in a relatively small number of places – Esp. evident in more knowledge-intensive industries – Becoming more pronounced over time, not less – Examples: life sciences, financial services Question: what forces responsible?
3
ISRN Canada: Core Questions To what extent – and in what ways – do local extra-firm relationships and interaction enable firms to become more innovative and successful? Relative importance/role of local vs non-local (national, continental, global) knowledge flows in spurring development of local clusters?
4
Case Studies ICT/photonics/wireless (Vancouver, Calgary, Waterloo, Ottawa, Quebec City, Moncton) Life science (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, London, Saskatoon, Halifax) Mechanical engineering Aerospace (Montreal); Steel, Auto parts (Southern Ontario) Digital media (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver) Food & wine Specialty foods (Toronto); Wine (Niagara, Okanagan) Resource industries Wood products (BC); Mining (Sudbury)
5
Leading innovators ICT/wireless Research in Motion (BlackBerry) Life science QLT (Visudyne) Mechanical engineering CAE, Bombardier, Magna Digital media Soft Image, Alias, EA, IBM Food & wine Vincor Resources Inco
6
1. Markets and Competition Literature: – Importance of strong local market (‘sophisticated and demanding customers’) and strong local competition Our findings: – Neither is universally true – In many cases, the most important customers are continental or global, not local (ICT, bio, aero, auto) – Nor are local competitors more important than non- local competition (often less important)
7
2. Knowledge-producing organizations Literature: – Stresses key role of local universities, PROs, private research labs; local flows of knowledge between economic actors Our findings: – Non-local sources, flows complement local ones – ‘buzz/pipeline’ geographies: local learning dynamics important, but most productive when economic actors, organizations are linked to other non-local nodes of knowledge-generating activity
8
3. Role of local universities Literature: – IP from local research-intensive universities drives cluster formation, development Our findings: – (with a few notable exceptions) universities play more of a supporting role than a leading one – (even in case of exceptions) role considerably more complex, multidimensional than first thought – Beyond tech transfer, ‘commercialization’, spin-outs – Highly educated grads, co-op, consulting (2-way)
9
4. Role of business leaders Literature: – Emphasizes role of business leaders, lead firms in stimulating emergence of successful clusters Our findings: – Support this, but also point to importance of strongly aligned social networks at city-region scale – New institutions of civic governance – broadly based, multi-stakeholder organizations – identify problems, align interests, resources, support for strategies – Size matters, but in surprising ways (mid-size advantages)
10
Implications for innovation policy ‘Payoff’ from universities: have realistic expectations, objectives – Not standalone, self-sufficient generators of knowledge for local industry (more like portals to globally extensive networks) – Equally important to develop ‘absorptive capacity’ of local firms – Need for independent intermediaries to broker industry-university relationships
11
Implications for innovation policy Well-educated labour force: – Single most important attractor to employers in knowledge-intensive, creative industries – Transcends individual clusters Importance of quality of place in attracting and retaining well-educated workers – Urban policy, sustainability closely complementary to ‘innovation’ policy
12
Thank you meric.gertler@utoronto.ca www.utoronto.ca/isrn
Similar presentations
© 2024 SlidePlayer.com Inc.
All rights reserved.