Innovation Regional Development And The Life Sciences

The life sciences is an industrial sector that covers the development of biological products and the use of biological processes in the production of goods, services and energy. This sector is frequently presented as a major opportunity for policy-makers to upgrade and renew regional economies, leading to social and economic development through support for high-tech innovation. Innovation, Regional Development and the Life Sciences analyses where innovation happens in the life sciences, why it happens in those places, and what this means for regional development policies and strategies. Focusing on the UK and Europe, its arguments are relevant to a variety of countries and regions pursuing high-tech innovation and development policies. The book’s theoretical approach incorporates diverse geographies (e.g. global, national and regional) and political-economic forces (e.g. discourses, governance and finance) in order to understand where innovation happens in the life sciences, where and how value circulates in the life sciences, and who captures the value produced in life sciences innovation. This book will be of interest to researchers, students and policy-makers dealing with regional/local economic development.

This book brings together original research on the role of networks in regional economic development and innovation. It presents a comprehensive framework synthesizing extant theories, a palette of real-world cases in the aerospace, automotive, life science, biotechnology and health care industries, and fundamental agent-based computer models elucidating the relation between regional development and network dynamics. The book is primarily intended for researchers in the fields of innovation economics and evolutionary economic geography, and particularly those interested in using agent-based models and empirical case studies. However, it also targets (regional) innovation policy makers who are not only interested in policy recommendations, but also want to understand the state-of-the-art agent-based modeling methods used to experimentally arrive at said recommendations.

The life sciences is an industrial sector that covers the development of biological products and the use of biological processes in the production of goods, services and energy. This sector is frequently presented as a major opportunity for policy-makers to upgrade and renew regional economies, leading to social and economic development through support for high-tech innovation. Innovation, Regional Development and the Life Sciences analyses where innovation happens in the life sciences, why it happens in those places, and what this means for regional development policies and strategies. Focusing on the UK and Europe, its arguments are relevant to a variety of countries and regions pursuing high-tech innovation and development policies. The book’s theoretical approach incorporates diverse geographies (e.g. global, national and regional) and political-economic forces (e.g. discourses, governance and finance) in order to understand where innovation happens in the life sciences, where and how value circulates in the life sciences, and who captures the value produced in life sciences innovation. This book will be of interest to researchers, students and policy-makers dealing with regional/local economic development.

The past is an increasingly unreliable guide to the future. European workplaces and the regions in which they are located face unprecedented pressures and challenges. Whereas in recent decades incremental adaptation has largely been sufficient to cope with external change, it is no longer clear that this remains the case. Globalisation, technological development and dissemination, political volatility, patterns of consumption, and employee expectations are occurring at a rate which is hard to measure. The rate of change in these spheres is far outstripping the rate of organisational innovation in both European enterprises and public governance, leading to a serious mismatch between the challenges of the 21st Century and the organisational competence available to deal with them. In this context, there is no clear roadmap. The contributors to this volume address these issues and demonstrate that building the knowledge base required by actors in this volatile environment requires continuous dialogue and learning – a context in which social partners, regional policy makers and other participants share diverse knowledge and reflect on experience rather than seeking and imitating any notion of 'best practice'. Action Research has a crucial role to play, embedding shared learning within the process of innovation.

To what extent can regions diverge from established paths of economic development? Are their futures determined by institutional and industrial structures that may be hundreds of years old or do innovations, transfers, and adaptations of knowledge, technology, learning systems, and policy mechanisms offer realistic opportunities for regional development? Rethinking Regional Innovation and Change: Path Dependency or Regional Breakthrough? brings together papers from leading international scholars in the field of regional development and policy. The contributors examine the interactions between path-dependent developments, institutions, and governance structures that influence regional innovation capacity. Using cases from both highly developed and less developed regions, they explore the complex relationships between technical and industrial development paths and regional institutions. They assess the extent to which regional innovative capacity can be increased by strengthening, re-orienting, or creating institutions and policies, and they examine opportunities for reflexive practice at the regional level as a critical tool in orienting regional development. Up-to-date case studies present diverse theoretical perspectives from economics, political science, geography, planning, and public policy. This volume will be of particular interest to researchers, analysts, and policymakers in the fields of regional development, innovation policy, and institutional and organizational change, as well as faculty and students in public policy, public administration, planning, geography, regional economics, and economic development.

'The processes of internationalization, innovation and venture-creation in high-technology new ventures are inextricably intertwined. This is particularly true in the uncertain and troubled waters of the life sciences industry where startups with very uncertain futures are required to face significant challenges in short windows of opportunity. Navigating these waters is not straightforward, either for those immediately involved in it, or for those trying to understand it. This book is a must-read for anyone who is serious about understanding entrepreneurship in the biotechnology industry.' Alberto Onetti, CrESIT (Research Center for Innovation and Life Science Management), Italy In this thought-provoking book, leading experts explore why international entrepreneurship is important to the life sciences industry. From multi-disciplinary and cross-national perspectives, they question why international entrepreneurship scholars might usefully invest interest in research focused on one specific industry context. The book addresses contemporary challenges of relevance to life science firms and draws on leading-edge debates in international entrepreneurship research. Topics include: the nature of the born-global firm; the development of international capabilities and competencies; the role of local and international partnerships and alliances; competitiveness, opportunity recognition and orientation; and the role of specialized complementary assets in internationalization. It concludes by proposing an agenda for future research across the underpinning fields of innovation, entrepreneurship and internationalization. This book will prove a stimulating read for academics, students and researchers with an interest in international business, management and entrepreneurship, as well as for practitioners in the health professions or life sciences academics who are, or may become, entrepreneurs.

Résumé : "Reframing regional development : complex systems integration, "emergence", and policy modularisation / Philip Cooke -- Evolutionary transition space -- A world in emergence : notes toward a resynthesis of urban-economic geography for the 21st / Century Allen J. Scott -- Regional resilience, cross-sectoral knowledge platforms and the prospects for growth in Canadian city-regions / David A. Wolfe -- Forms of emergence and the evolution of economic landscapes / Ron Martin and Peter Sunley -- Strange attractors and policy emergence : complex adaptive innovation / Philip Cooke -- Innovation and diversity -- The health technologies sector in Oxfordshire : evolution or optimism in regional development? / Helen Lawton-Smith -- Reframing regional innovation systems : evolution, complexity, and public policy / Elvira Uyarra and Kieron Flanagan -- Path dependence and new technological path creation in the economic landscape / James Simmie -- Proximity and innovation networks : an evolutionary approach / Pierre-Alexandre Balland, Ron Boschma, and Koen Frenken -- Cluster emergence and destabilisation -- Foresight and innovation : emergence and resilience of the cleantech cluster at Lahti, Finland / Helinä Melkas and Tuomo Uotila -- "Twilight of the gods" : the rise of Asia Pacific and Californian convergent media and the demise of Nordic Mobile Telephony in the ICT global innovation network / Philip Cooke -- The remarkable resilience of cities of art : the challenge of a new renaissance in Florence / Luciana Lazzeretti -- Socio-cultural dynamics in spatial policy : explaining the on-going success of cluster politics / Dieter Rehfeld and Judith Terstriep -- Evolutionary spatial policy -- Transformation of regional innovation systems : from old legacies to new development paths / Franz Tödtling and Michaela Trippl -- Path dependence and the state : the politics of novelty in old industrial regions / Kevin Morgan -- City-regions, innovation, and universities : the evolution and transition of uk urban governance institutions / Fumi Kitagawa."

Higher education institutions play a vital role in their surrounding communities. Besides providing a space for enhanced learning opportunities, universities can utilize their resources for social and economic interests. The Handbook of Research on Science Education and University Outreach as a Tool for Regional Development is a comprehensive reference source for the latest scholarly material on the expanded role of universities for community engagement initiatives. Providing in-depth coverage across a range of topics, such as resource sharing, educational administration, and technological applications, this handbook is ideally designed for educators, graduate students, professionals, academics, and practitioners interested in the active involvement of education institutions in community outreach.