Effective regional innovation systems

The main purpose of this IRE working group is to explore the key design elements of an institutional network architecture that supports the needs of regional innovation. The group will deal with ambiguous issues such as territorial dimension of the innovation systems, the role of institutions, and interaction between different actors in the innovation process, such as between users and producers or between business and academia.

The working group will study regional innovation systems in the 15 member regions by exploring their differences and similarities, common elements and characteristics which could form an Effective Innovation System model, transferable to other regions. It will attempt to identify the key weaknesses and strengths of the system in these regions thereby assisting the regional governance system in policy making. This will generate useful information for the formulation and development of appropriate regional innovation policies for the future.

The objectives of the working group are:

• to provide regional policy-makers with information on good practice for effective regional innovation systems in European regions;
• to assist policy-makers to acquire knowledge about various kinds of  European regional innovation practices;
• to raise awareness of the need for effective innovation systems.