Accelerating Technology-Based Growth in Developed, Developing, and Emerging Regions Worldwide - Technopolis: Best Practices for Science and Technology Cities - page 216

This chapter is based on authors, 25 years working with colleagues on
regionally-based technology/knowledge-based growth in developed, developing,
and emerging regions worldwide. This work has been a combination of ''think and
do'' often on unstructured problems as advocated by IC 2 Institute, The University
of Texas at Austin. 2 And these activities have involved innovation clusters,
research parks, incubators, consortia, and a range of public and private organi-
zations and partnerships. The main objective of this chapter is to identify key
assets and challenges to developing and sustaining regionally-based creative/
innovative ecosystems as well as global knowledge sharing networks.
This chapter suggests that the success of selected science parks, innovation
clusters, incubators, etc., is due in large part to the regions in which they are
embedded. The chapter also discusses processes of Knowledge/Technology
Transfer (KTT) to commercial use at the level of the firm and start-ups as well as
some ideas on forming and sustaining global networks for sharing knowledge
among developed, developing, and emerging regions worldwide. As stated by
George Kozmetsky the founding director of IC 2 Institute: then the quote by

Kozmetsky:
Technology continues to shrink the world. There is no choice other than to
participate in the global community. Science and technology is too precious a
resource to be restricted from drawing the world together. That is what the twenty-
first century is all about.

2 Global Perspectives

Worldwide there have been a range of labels for planned regional technology-
based growth. Perhaps, the first and most successful regional initiative was
Stanford's Research Park which was founded by Professor Frederick Terman and
others in the 1950s ( 1984 ). One of the first major nationally planned initiatives was
in Japan with MITI's Technopolis Law in 1983 ( 1988 ). Later national and regional
efforts have been labeled Technopoles, Multi-Function Polis, Science and
Research Parks, High-Tech Corridors, University and Technology Parks, and
Innovation Clusters. Clearly there are different perspectives and orientations
underneath these labels but the fundamental goal that links them all is the desire to
accelerate the creation of regionally-based high-value jobs and wealth. It is also
useful to think of these efforts in terms of differences and similarities of theory and
practice in developed, developing, and emerging regions including the charac-
teristics of different industry sectors or clusters worldwide.
Two quotes are offered at the global level of analysis, one a vision of the future,
the other a warning:

2 ''Unstructured Problems'' are those that have no clear solution or even methodology and are
usually large and complex and require a transdisciplinary approach.