3. Innovation and knowledge sourcing Competitiveness of firms and clusters in advanced countries increasingly depends on innovation A variety of knowledge inputs required innovation is result of collective process among firms and other organisations Relevant knowledge often located outside the firm within clusters, innovation systems and networks In-house knowledge needed to source and absorb external knowledge and to apply it to bring forward innovations 3
4. Knowledgesourcing and Geography Company and cluster location matters:different opportunities for knowledge exchangee.g. in metropolitan, industrial, peripheral regions Exchange ofparticularkindsofknowledgeisfavoured by geographic proximity(e.g. complex / tacitknowledgeasagainststandardised / codifiedknowledge) There are different views / findings in the literature regarding the pattern of knowledge interactions and their role for innovationperformance clusters, industrialdistricts, and innovative milieuxemphasizelocal/regional knowledgeexchange global netwoks and communities„local buzz and global pipelines“ ? Seite 4
5. Different types of regional innovation systems Regional Innovation Systems account for density of firms and organisations, interrelationships between actors, underlying institutional settings and policy dimensions Metropolitan RIS provide many and diverse opportunities for knowledge sourcing and good preconditions for innovation Peripheral RIS face problem of organisational “thinness” few firms and organisations as knowledge sources Industrial RIS often have advantages of specialised clusters; sometimes problems of “lock in” 5
6. Typesofknowledgesources and geographicallevels The roleofgeographicalproximityvariesbetweentypesofknowledgesources: Universities and researchorganisationareoften „distant“ tofirms (cognitive and relational distance) facetofaceinteractionattheregional levelsupportsknowledgeexchange Customers and suppliersare „close“ from a cognitive and relational perspective and knowledgeexchangeisshapedbyexistingcustomer / suppliernetworks oftenathigherspatialscales/ international level Seite 6
8. ICT is a generic technology, linked to a broad variety of sectors key sector of the knowledge economy (OECD 2002, 2006) It is characterized by a high degree of innovation activity a high relevance of and importance for the respective RIS Tendency towards spatial clustering local knowledge flows and spillovers seem to have some relevance besides global networks ICT sector is a very heterogeneous sector (ICT equipment, components, telecom, software, content providers...) different kinds of knowledge bases are relevant different types of innovation and knowledge links in specific subsectors Characteristics of the ICT sector
9. Research questions How do companies in Austrian ICT subsectors source external knowledge? * what kinds of knowledge sources * which mechanisms of knowledge exchange * at which geographical levels Does the pattern of innovation and knowledge sourcing vary between types of regions / RIS? How does location / type of RIS and the pattern of knowledge sourcing relate to the innovativeness of companies? Seite 9
10. Methodology Data generated through FWF/ESF-funded project (“Constructing Regional Advantage”- CRA; 8 European countries participating) Company interviews in three Austrian regions in the following ICT subsectors: Vienna (metropolitan RIS): ICT manufacturing Upper Austria (industrial RIS): Software development Salzburg (“thin” RIS): Software development, ICT service and manufacturing Descriptive analyses of innovation and knowledge sourcing data Multivariate analysis of relationships 10
18. Multivariate analyses (1) Four ordinal regression models: Using alternatively logit and cauchit link functions Considering alternatively the different variance depending on whether the companies belong to ICT manufacturers or to software and service companies Dependent variable: Degree of innovativeness Low: Companies with no patents nor product innovations new to the market Medium: Companies with patents or product innovation new to the market High: Companies with patents and product innovations new to the market Independent variables represent kinds of external knowledge sourcing, in-house knowledge, location, company size and ICT sub-sector 18
19. Multivariate analyses (2) 19 Factors with significant positive effect on innovativeness: R&D cooperations Knowledge sourcing within region Knowledge sourcing at international level In-house knowledge Share of employees with science degree Location in metropolitan region of Vienna
21. Conclusions (1) Pattern of knowledge sourcing External knowledge sourcing is of considerable importance for investigated ICT companies different patterns can be observed: Knowledge from universities, R&D institutes and other knowledge providers is predominantly sourced on the regional level (Vienna, Upper Austria) Knowledge from suppliers and customers is often sourced internationally (in particular in “thin” RIS of Salzburg) Highly interactive mechanisms for knowledge exchange, in particular R&D cooperations, occur frequently on the regional level Formal and informal networks are used at both regional and international levels ( beyond local buzz and global pipelines) 21
22. Conclusions (2)Relation to innovation performance External knowledge sourcing (in particular R&D cooperation) strengthens the innovation performance of firms Positive effects of both regional and international knowledge sourcing on the innovation performance of firms No evidence for the importance of national sources for innovativeness Some evidence found that firms in Vienna are more innovative than those in other locations 22
