By Jens Eklinder-Frick, University of Gävle, Sweden, presented at the 16th TCI Global Conference, Kolding 2013.

1. A guide in the rain forest – the role of a regional
strategic network in an innovation process
Jens Eklinder-Frick
Academic Summit: Innovation and business models in clusters
4 September 2013

2. 2013-08-22

3. A GUIDE IN THE RAIN FOREST? – THE ROLE OF A
REGIONAL STRATEGIC NETWORK IN AN
INNOVATION PROCESS
by Jens Eklinder-Frick
Gävle University

4. Regional strategic networks (Cluster initiatives)
Innovation processes
it is a complex process of combining something new
with the organizational structures needed to enable its
widespread use
Theoretical framework

5. Studied case
• Future Position X (FPX) in Gävle
• RSN focusing on GIS technology
• Founded in 2006
• 41 member org in 2013
• 13 employees, board of 11 members
• Development of the CRISP (Crisis Information Sharing
Platform) technology started in 2007

6. The CRISP plattform
CRISP emergency services
RALFSOS –Alarm Service
Swedish TransportAdmin
Real property regeristry
Swedish Police

7. The CRISP plattform
CRISP
CRISP
emergency services
RALFSOS –Alarm Service
Swedish TransportAdmin
Real property regeristry
Swedish Police Karolinska Uni
Heidelberg Uni
Fudan Uni
Huazhong Uni
Local medical facilities
pre-schools /Kinder Gardens
ISS China (India, Sweden)

8. The CRISP plattform
CRISP
CRISP
CRISP
emergency services
RALFSOS –Alarm Service
Swedish TransportAdmin
Real property regeristry
Swedish Police Karolinska Uni
Heidelberg Uni
Fudan Uni
Huazhong Uni
Local medical facilities
pre-schools /Kinder Gardens
ISS China (India, Sweden)
Catch a Feather
City of Sandviken
Local shops
Local sports teams
Local youth organizations

9. Geotest
RALF
ISSC
ISSI
ISSS
SCA
RALF
10
test
10 test stations
in India
10
test
1 500 test stations
in China
Lantmäteriet –
Real property
Swedish Police
Swedish
Transport Admin
SMHI –
Weather services
LFV-
Aviation
SOS –
Alarm Service
South Hälsingland
Emergency Service
Gästrike
Emergency Service
Soft Security
Blueplot
Invotech
R-con
Sweden
Reflektus
Anido
Heidelberg
University
Huazhong
University
Fudan
University
Baidu Map Ltd
Karolinska
University
Gävle
University
Folk-
universitetet
ESRI
S-Group
Gästrike
Recycling
Gästrike
Energy
Gästrike
Water
City of
Sandviken
Gadder AB Donald
Davies
Triona Bicycle
Project
Swedish Civil
Contingencies Agency
Swedish Inst for
Communicable Disease Control
N I for Communicable Diseases
In South Africa
County of Ujjain
In India
RD Gardi
Medical Collage
Uppfinnaren
Daycare
Gävleborg county
epidemiology
Gävleborg County 1177 –
Medical hotline
Private company
Academic institution
Public organization
Several actors
Joint project
Applications of the
CRISP platform
North Hälsingland
Emergency Service

10. “Innovation is the
invention in use”
(Ingemansson, 2010:13)
“An innovation must fit into
the eco-system of the
market”
(Håkansson et al, 2009)

11. Developing, producing and using
setting
The developing setting is where new solutions are searched for by
combining alternative combinations of material and immaterial resources.
“Birth of the innovation”

12. Developing, producing and using
setting
The developing setting is where new solutions are searched for by
combining alternative combinations of material and immaterial resources.
“Birth of the innovation”
The producing setting: In order for a new potential innovation to be
embedded into producer‐user interfaces it must be transformed into
some type of product or process. “innovation brought to market”

13. Developing, producing and using
setting
The developing setting is where new solutions are searched for by
combining alternative combinations of material and immaterial resources.
“Birth of the innovation”
The producing setting: In order for a new potential innovation to be
embedded into producer‐user interfaces it must be transformed into
some type of product or process. “Innovation brought to market”
The using setting consists of a wide set of material and immaterial
investments made by the actors in the established business structure. The
outcome of any new solution is dependent upon how it effects these
actors’ prior investments; if only a few can gain advantages from using the
new solution it will never reach widespread use. “Innovation in use”

14. Developing, producing and using
setting
The developing setting is where new solutions are searched for by
combining alternative combinations of material and immaterial resources.
“Birth of the innovation”
The producing setting: In order for a new potential innovation to be
embedded into producer‐user interfaces it must be transformed into
some type of product or process. “Innovation brought to market”
The using setting consists of a wide set of material and immaterial
investments made by the actors in the established business structure. The
outcome of any new solution is dependent upon how it effects these
actors’ prior investments; if only a few can gain advantages from using the
new solution it will never reach widespread use. “Innovation reaching
widespread use”
The developing setting is where new solutions are searched for by
combining alternative combinations of material and immaterial resources.
The producing setting: In order for a new potential innovation to be
embedded into producer‐user interfaces it must be transformed into
some type of product or process.
The using setting consists of a wide set of material and immaterial
investments made by the actors in the established business structure. The
outcome of any new solution is dependent upon how it effects these
actors’ prior investments; if only a few can gain advantages from using the
new solution it will never reach widespread use.

15. This paper investigates the hindrance and
driving forces that a policy initiated
innovation process will encounter
when undertaken within the context
of a regional strategic network.

16. Developing setting
Scientific, academic and business actors were involved in the
projects.
“The CRISP platform was already half way developed when the ISS
project was initiated. It was easy to see that the CRISP information
and the symptoms data was almost the same thing, we could plot it
out in the same system”. (ISS, RALF)
“In this project it is the academics that have created the problem that
they are trying to solve, and they have theories they wish to verify. If a
single business actor would steer the development they would have a
single practical problem that they wished to solve” (ISS).

17. Producing setting
“Not even in China is it safe to assume that it is feasible to include
manual data into a large scale system” (ISS)
“It would take a while to coordinate all these different data into an
application, and to communicate the benefit. Then you would need to
market the application and to provide support enabling the use.
Marknadsplats Sandviken does not have the knowledge required to
handle such an operation”. (Chatch a feather)
“the most important issue is that when this project comes to and end
and we are supposed to enter the next phase in development, there
must be a supplier that takes care of certain things. We are in need of
some form of customer support that may help us in customizing the
applications”. (RALF)

18. Using setting
“The important thing is that there is communication between us and them; that
they know of our problems. ”We want to solve your problems”, that should be the
business actors role.” (ISS)
“The technology is really a small part of the investment needed. What is also
needed is the training of the users and the incentive to do so”. (ISS)
“It is easy to buy an advert in the local paper; you understand how to do that. You
do not need to show the customer how to read the local paper, but to use an
smartphone application is another issue ”. (Catch a feather)
“Well, when he (a developer of CRISP) is making his sales pitch, it gets a little too
complicated. -What can you do and offer? -Well, everything! The customer wants to
know more precisely what is on offer”. (RALF)

19. FPX played the role of being the bridge between science and
business.
Combining a wide range of developers and end-users in one
innovation process without retaining intellectual property
rights and heightened secrecy might be one way in which a
RSN plays an important role in the “eco-system” of the
market.
focus in the studied RSN was put upon the developing and
the using setting.
The lack of resources in the producing setting was by several
respondents adhered to the rules that a RSN must abide by
because of their external funding.
Conclusions