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Services and innovation systems: European models of Technology Centres

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Abstract

In regional contexts with a dense fabric of small- and medium-sized companies, the promotion of knowledge-intensive services through Technology Centres is a key innovation policy. This paper examines four models of Technology Centres in Europe: Baden-Württemberg (Germany), Denmark, Emilia-Romagna (Italy) and the Valencian Community (Spain). Aspects such as the participation of private agents, the financing of the Centres, and the diversity and heterogeneity of the models are discussed. Both the economic-productive base (company structure, sector specialization, location patterns, etc.) and the political–institutional features (distribution of competences, available budget, etc.) are major points for establishing the definition of each model.

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Notes

  1. The distinct innovative capacities of each territory are, in turn, the result of specific learning trajectories that are incorporated into their respective institutional systems (Isaksen and Hauge 2002). Given the complex and interactive nature of innovation (Lundvall and Johnson 1994) and as learning is a localized process (Asheim and Isaksen 2000), the capacity for innovation can be favoured by the proximity (in a multidimensional sense) of innovation system components.

  2. This might have been the case of the Spanish toy industry when, in the second half of the 1980s and upon entrance into the European Union, the use of the CE mark was introduced as a guarantee of safety. The provision of laboratory testing and certification by the Toy Technological Institute meant a starting point for the development of complementary services. The introduction of the CE mark was designed to enhance the role of packaging and product presentation as competitive elements. The toy industry became connected with other industries that were facing stringent requirements in this area (e.g. the wood and card industries as providers of packaging products, and the food industry, with huge demands on packaging and labelling). An increase in technological activities regarding packaging gave birth to a specialized centre, ITENE, focusing initially on packaging and later expanding its activities to transportation and logistics.

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Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Emilio Cubel for his useful comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper. All remaining errors and omissions are the sole responsibility of the author.

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  1. Technology University of Valencia, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain

    Francisco Mas-Verdú

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  1. Francisco Mas-Verdú
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Correspondence to Francisco Mas-Verdú.

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Mas-Verdú, F. Services and innovation systems: European models of Technology Centres. Service Business 1, 7–23 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-006-0002-y

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