Regions as the driving forces of European competitiveness: from theory to practice

1. The Policy Factor in Emerging Regional Hot-Spots: ‘good’ and bad factors to support high tech regions Regions as the driving forces of European competitiveness: from theory to practice Den Bosch 19 May 2006 Patries Boekholt www.technopolis-group.com

2. This presentation • Focus on a particular type of region: a S&T based growth region or ‘hot-spot’ • Dutch study on EU regions • Success factors • Things to avoid • The role of policy on different levels • Policy lessons

3. What is a hot-spot? • A regional agglomeration that manages to create added value and economic growth through a well networked ‘value chain’ ranging from knowledge creation to commercialisation and diffusion, in one or more technology based markets.

4. Characterising the regions • Grenoble: a science & research city ‘pushed’ by the French central government, taken up by local actors and large companies Cambridge & Leuven: long history of top-research with relative recent attention and success in entrepreneurship and commercialisation of R&D • München & Helsinki: wealthy metropoles with important national nodes in science and business • Oulu: created hot-spot with Nokia as central player • Öresund: emerging trans-national hot-spot • Eindhoven region: industrial ‘technopole’ with Philips as centre • East- Netherlands: aspiring hot-spot with some niches

5. Positioning of Regional Hot-Spots Public sector initiative East-Netherlands Øresund Grenoble München Cambridge Regionally led Nationally led Leuven Olou Helsinki Eindhoven Private sector initiative

6. Success Factors (1) • Successful hot-spots have a combination of excellence in research, entrepreneurship and good framework conditions for high-tech starters • Active networks of local ‘champions’ who are spiders in the triple helix network • Critical mass of research excellence and linkages with locally based value chains that can turn this into a commercial success • Value chains: mostly key role for large corporations, in emerging technology areas: a large group of start-ups / research excellence attracting foreign investors

7. Success Factors (2) • Framework conditions for the development of new (high-tech)businessincluding: • Seed and VC funds • Strong incubation support attached to research centres • Professional technology transfer and incubation climate and business support for new entrepreneurs • Focus and vision building on 1- 3 technology/market combinations (and stimulating cross fertilization between these themes) • The role of policy has not always been decisive but in many case they have played a facilitating role

8. Practices to avoid • Expectations that investments in R&D institutions alone will automatically ‘spill-over’ to the economic fabric: Excellence in science and research alone is not sufficient • Copy models that have worked elsewhere without contextual adaptations • NOT choosing policy priorities • Or choose generic thematic areas that are on every one’s policy agenda (for over a decade e.g. Bio-tech, ICT) instead find unique niches • Choose a too narrow focus on one technology area or market and thus risking lock-ins • Expect quick results and easy wins

9. What policy levels played a decisive role?

10. Typical roles/initiatives of regional/local actors • Support of start-ups (intern in universities, incubators, through management support, seed- en venture capital) • Local technology transfer initiatives • Creation of networks and platforms • Infrastructure: business en science parks • Develop a common medium / long term vision and action plan • Regional/city marketing

11. Typical role of national governments • By means of Science & Technology policy: create and support critical mass of scientific excellence and human capital (intended and unintended) • Create framework conditions: from infrastructure to regulation • In some countries: stimulate competition between regions and encourage coherent vision • Few countries have explicit policies for ‘hot-spots’ • Trend in ‘Nordic’ countries, France and UK: regionalising innovation policy through shifts in the ‘governance’ and reallocation of resources

12. Role of EU thus far in the background • Structural Funds not applicable in these examples in almost all cases • Enabled potential hot-spots (e.g. South-Brabant) to enter into a process of strategic decision making and building of ‘Triple Helix’ type networks (e.g. RITTS/RIS, Intereg, Regions of Knowledge) • Stimulates cross-border networking to enable high-tech clusters at a larger scale • In future: possibilities to involve regional cluster initiatives in Technology Platforms and Joint Technology Initiatives (JTI)

13. Can hot-spots be created (by policy)? • Policy definitely has a role to play BUT is not a sufficient condition. • Aspects to take into account: • Timing:take the growth wave • Path dependency: all cases had structural strengths that go back some decades • Tenacity:long termstrategy: don’t expect quick fixes • In many cases: lots of (public) moneyfrom multiple sources • Find the unique selling point

14. What policy lessons can we learn? • There is no single blueprint for a hot-spot and no ‘recipe’ how to create them • A good interaction between national, regional and local is essential: policy coordination • Stimulate ‘triple helix’ networks in the regions • Without local champions with self-organising capacities, national policies will not achieve much • Investment in critical S&T assets of sufficient critical mass • Strengthen the ‘governance’ at regional and local level • Enable the process of collective vision building • Choose for a focus in one or two key areas but not too narrowly defined • Entrepreneurship: instigated from the local level with strong involvement of universities, research centres and colleges • Don’t expect immediate impacts: it’s a long term strategy