Innovation and Networks in Industrial Clusters: Empirical Results from Three Large Cities - Technopolis: Best Practices for Science and Technology Cities - page 267

firms. In the Busan mechanical parts and materials industry, the most important
source of information when exchanging tacit knowledge is the customers. A
27.3 % of the surveyed companies regarded customers as the most important actor.
Only a few responded seminars, discussions, and informal exchanges among
researchers are the most important source of tacit knowledge in the innovation
process.
When exchanging tacit knowledge, the most important source of knowledge is
the joint R&D among universities and research institutes for the Daejeon ICT
firms. A 23.8 % of the surveyed firms considered the exchanges among univer-
sities and research institutes as the most important source. While the exchanges
with the customers were cited as the most important relationship for the Busan
mechanical parts and materials businesses, they were regarded as the second most
important for the Daejeon ICT industry. Table 8 also shows that while the semi-
nars and informal exchanges among researchers are crucial for the Gwangju
photonics industry, they do not play any significant role for the Busan mechanical
parts and materials industry.
4 Summaries and Conclusions
4.1 Summaries
The purpose of this chapter is to compare and analyze the innovation capacity,
innovation network, and source of innovation of the regional strategic industries in
the three metropolitan cities, and to suggest policy implications for strengthening
clustering and networking. In order to examine the status of innovation and net-
works of enterprises, a firm level survey was conducted among the strategic
industries of the three metropolitan cities.
Most of the firms in the Busan mechanical parts and materials industry have a
longer history than those in Gwangju and Daejeon with the sales of their primary
products two to three times higher. However, the innovation capacity of most of
the firms is low compared to those in other regions, and the innovation activities
are also highly concentrated in the enhancement of the manufacturing process
rather than in the new product introduction.
In contrast, companies in Gwangju and Daejeon were newly founded after the
financial crisis with a high proportion of R&D investment. They are more expe-
rienced in innovation, and most of the innovation activities are related to the
development of new products. For the Busan enterprises, differentiated support
should be considered according to each individual company's characteristics since
their innovation activities are different—this results from the difference in the
companies' employment size and characteristics.
On the other hand, in Gwangju and Daejeon, small and medium-sized firms are
common, and the level of cooperation and interactions among them is higher than