Innovation and Networks in Industrial Clusters: Empirical Results from Three Large Cities - Technopolis: Best Practices for Science and Technology Cities - page 270

this, it is necessary to add new functions to existing institutions or establish new
agencies. It is also required that research institutes and supporting institutions
assist the cooperation among small and medium-sized enterprises rather than that
among large companies. In order to promote innovation, they need to lead local
firms rather than follow them.
Another possible route to encourage academy-industry links is to further
develop technopark which is designed to accommodate and support the technol-
ogy-based firms. Technopark creates the channel by which academic science may
be linked to commerce. The technopark model is just one approach to bridging the
gap between academic research and commercialization. One of the basic objec-
tives of technopark is to promote cooperation among businesses, and between
businesses and universities or research institutes.
Another purpose is to facilitate technology transfer and cooperation for inno-
vation among enterprises. In order to reduce uncertainty and encourage a sense of
synergy among enterprises, universities and research institutes, technoparks needs
to provide information and organize R&D cooperation as well as formal meeting
such as conventions, seminars and conferences.
The third policy conclusions refer to the new roles of innovation supporting
institutions such as broker institutions, universities and research institutes. Uni-
versities and industrial firms exist for different purposes, and many barriers impede
research cooperation among researchers. If there are problem in bridging them,
agents are required to mediate between knowledge producers and users. In this
respect, public and semi-public technological service institutions are important
such as technological innovation centers, regional research centers and techno-
parks. With the intermediary organizations, communication and cooperation can
be further facilitated.
Government-sponsored research institutes and universities are the main per-
formers of generic research and produce a body of basic knowledge for the use and
further development by industry. They have many brilliant people making new
discoveries but they lack the means or the will to reach out to the market. From the
enterprise point of view, firms agree that they could benefit from universities or
research institutes. Nevertheless, they may get weary of the cooperation with
universities or research institutes, and lack the information concerning the services
to be offered. It may be, therefore, necessary for academic institutions to take the
lead in establishing linkages through the provision for local businesses of infor-
mation on the types of linkages available.
References
Asheim, B., & Cooke, P. (1999). Local learning and interactive innovation networks in a global
economy. Making connections: Technological learning and regional economic change.
Aldershot: Ashgate.
Breschi, S., & Malerba, F. (2001). The geography of innovation and economic clustering: Some
introductory notes. Industrial Corporate Change, 10(4), 817-833.