Examining Open Innovation Practices among International Networks of Clusters
Emily Wise, VINNOVA & Lund University, SELise Andersen, Reg-X & Southern Denmark Univ.
Madeline Smith, EKOS Consulting, UK
Presentation Objectives (and Disclaimer)
• Present planned research activities– On topics of open innovation, social capital
development, and value-added of organized cluster efforts in the context of international innovation networks
– Focused on five transnational networks of innovation environments, clusters and SMEs in the Baltic Sea Region
• Get peer input on how other regions are working with these topics (in relation to their cluster activities)
WARNING
WARNING
Outline
• The EU Strategy for the BSR and the BSR Stars Flagship Prog
• Research objective/questions• Discussion
4
The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Macro Region
FOUR OVERALL OBJECTIVES:• To make the Baltic Sea region an environmentally CLEAN place
• To make the Baltic Sea region a PROSPEROUS place
• To make the Baltic Sea region an ACCESSIBLE and ATTRACTIVE place
• To make the Baltic Sea region a SAFE and SECURE place
And an action plan with 15 action areas (one of which is research and innovation – co-led by Sweden and Poland)
5
Flagship projects in Chap 7 Research & Innovation
Lead Partner
1Fast T
Innovation, Clusters & SME Networks
Sweden (Vinnova)/ Lithuania
2 Baltic Sea Fund for Innovation & Research
The Skåne Region
3 Services innovation Lithuania/Finland
4 Innovation in Health & Life sciences
Lithuania/Germany
5 Science link for research infrastructure
Sweden (Swedish Research Council)
6
WHY INCREASED TRANSNATIONAL COOPERATION BETWEEN INNOVATIVE
MILIEUS, CLUSTERS AND SME NETWORKS?
• Countries grow with neighbors that grow• Larger Home Market for products, services and knowledge,
110 million people in 10 countries. (especially important for SMEs)• There is potential that BSR can be a global recognized strong
environment in a number of areas • We have Leading companies/universities/ clustersThree logics:
1. A stronger value chain can be offered within the macro region2. A larger critical mass in research and innovation3. Complementary competences creates renewal
BSR Stars/Stardust aims at creating a number of globally-leading research and innovation hubs
-building on existing commercial strengths and specialised competencies around the BSR
-linking these research and innovation nodes through transnational collaboration projects
-developing stronger critical mass, attractiveness and international competitive position
Some of the topics we talk about at TCI conferences
• Globalization of innovation and the importance of international cluster cooperation
• Cluster dynamics and the process of social capital building (within clusters)
• Open innovation• Evaluation of impact from policy investments
in clustering efforts
Objective of the research project
Understand how international innovation processes are facilitated by the network of cluster organizations (and other
actors within regional innovation systems)
within the BSR
• What are cluster actors’ expectations/expected benefits with transnational cluster networks?
• Do cluster organizations facilitate the strengthening of international linkages between company and research actors in the networks?
• Is it important to have strong internal cluster dynamics (i.e. social capital) before pursuing innovation activities internationally?
• Do existing policies support open innovation activities within a cluster and between clusters internationally?
How do knowledge linkages develop internationally (through network nodes)?
ILLUSTRATIVE
Clusters and Social Capital• Previous studies give a snapshot picture
– Show current state– Are relatively static
• Reality is that:– How organisations work together is important– This is poorly captured in evaluation (Social
Capital?)• Cluster dynamics model
– Systems thinking approach– explores dynamic nature of clusters– Shows behaviours and company interaction as
cluster develops – Developed in Scotland, successfully implemented
in Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, California, Finland
Stimulation andAcquisition of relevant research and development
L5 FUTURE FOCUS LOOP
Performance of individual firms
Overall performance of all firms in the zone
Overall Cluster competitive performance
Motivation for competitive innovation
Degree of enhancement of competitive innovation
Platform for new level of innovation
Sharing of critical sectoral knowledge
Extent of cooperative initiatives
Extent of shared response to common challenges
L1 INTER-FIRM RIVALRY LOOP
L2 INTER-FIRM CO-OPERATIONLOOP
Global competition and external market pressure
Type of cultural context
L3 COLLABORATIVEADVANTAGELOOP L4 VENTURE
ATTRACTIVENESS LOOP
Collection – Cooperation - Collaboration
Competitive power of cluster
Smith and Brown, Local Economy, June 2009
The Cluster Dynamic Loops
Open Innovation – Leveraging Social Capital
Traditional Innovation Open Innovation
Expertise triumphs Diversity trumps expertise
We know what the consumer wants
Consumers are passionate users who innovate – producers follow
What you know matters Who you know matters
Take no risks - copyright, patent & protect
Judge the risk of releasing information against the return of gaining understanding
The goal is to agree The goal is to tap into those who agree and disagree
Improve ideas by applying more resources
Improve ideas by sharing them
Judge ideas by how they fit Judge ideas by how they differ and what they offer
Relationship hierarchies Relationship networks
Innovation management - control Innovation cultivation - evolve
Expertise
Consumer
Knowledge
Intellectual Property
Collaboration vs. competition
Development
Assessment
Relationships
Organising
Clusters are ...
Learning organisations By nature open and collaborative Share knowledge Learn from each other Work in different ways
A Hotbed of Open Innovation?Need better understanding of how clusters can also
work in this way transnationally?
Questions for Discussion
• How can Open Innovation approaches (and mind-sets) help cluster development?– How can we encourage collaboration– Within a cluster, between clusters,
transnationally
• What are the essential pre-requisites for successful transnational cooperation?
• Are there other transnational cluster pilots that we can share learning between?