850 resultados para Innovation System, Research Policy
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Maps on lining papers.
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Using a panel of Irish manufacturing plants over the period 1991-2008 we test for dynamic complementarities in the joint use of internal R&D and external knowledge sources. We find little evidence, either from considering successive cross-sectional waves of comparable surveys, or in terms of the strategy switch choices of specific plants, that there has been a systematic move towards the joint use of internal and external knowledge in innovation. We then test formally for the presence of complementarities in the joint use of internal R&D and external innovation linkages. In static terms we find no evidence of complementarity, but in dynamic terms find evidence that strategy switches by individual plants towards a more 'open' strategy are accompanied by increased innovation outputs.
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This paper focuses on teaching boys, male teachers and the question of gendered pedagogies in neoliberal and postfeminist times of the proliferation of new forms of capitalism, multi-mediated technologies and the influence of globalization. It illustrates how a politics of re-masculinization and its reconstitution needs to be understood as set against changing economic and social conditions in which gender equity comes to be re-focused on boys as the new disadvantaged. This re-framing of gender equity, it is argued, has been fuelled by both a media-inspired backlash discourse about failing boys and a neo-positivist emphasis on numbers derived primarily from standardized testing regimes at both global and national levels. A media-focused analysis of the proliferation of discourses about failing boys vis-a-vis the problem of encroaching feminization in the school system is provided to illuminate how certain truths about the influence of male teachers come to define how the terms of ensuring gender equity are delimited and reduced to a question of gendered pedagogies as grounded in sexed bodies. Historical accounts of the feminization of teaching in the North American context are also provided as a basis for building a more informed understanding of the present, particularly as it relates to the contextualization of policy articulation and enactment regarding the problem of teaching boys. In light of such historically informed and critical media analysis, it is argued that what is needed is a more informed, evidenced based policy articulation of the problem of teaching boys and a more gender sensitive reflection on the politics of masculinities in postfeminist times. (DIPF/Orig.)
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We use an augmented version of the UK Innovation Surveys 47 to explore firm-level and local area openness externalities on firms innovation performance. We find strong evidence of the value of external knowledge acquisition both through interactive collaboration and non-interactive contacts such as demonstration effects, copying or reverse engineering. Levels of knowledge search activity remain well below the private optimum, however, due perhaps to informational market failures. We also find strong positive externalities of openness resulting from the intensity of local interactive knowledge searcha knowledge diffusion effect. However, there are strong negative externalities resulting from the intensity of local non-interactive knowledge searcha competition effect. Our results provide support for local initiatives to support innovation partnering and counter illegal copying or counterfeiting. We find no significant relationship between either local labour quality or employment composition and innovative outputs.
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Israel figures among the world-leaders in R&D expenditure and has a high-performing scientific community. Since the 1990s it has been associated with the Scientific Policy of the European Union via the European Research Framework Programmes (FP). The cooperation between Israel and the EU in this domain has gradually increased and benefits the scientific communities on both sides. In 2014 the association of Israel to the latest and biggest European FP ever adopted (Horizon 2020) was renewed for the fourth time. Based on all the scientific evidence provided, the elaboration of a European Research Policy can be identified as a highly regulated domain, offering relevant channels of influence. These channels offer Israel the opportunity to act within the Research Policy system. Being a member of several formal EU bodies in charge of implementing EU Research Policy, Israel is able to introduce its positions effectively. This is accompanied by an outstanding level of activity by Israel in linking concrete EU Research Policy measures to the Israeli Scientific Community at the national level. To carry out this task, Israel relies on an effective organization, which remodels the provided EU structures: European National Contact Points (NCPs) are concentrated within the Europe Israel R&D Directorate (ISERD). ISERD connects efficiently all the relevant actors, forums and phases of EU-Israeli Research Policy. ISERD can be recognized as being at the heart of Israel's research cooperation with the EU, and its structure may be a source of in
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The objective of this research is to unveil the dynamics of technological innovation in planned economies in transition. It is proposed in the thesis that all innovation systems in the world, in fact, consist of certain configurations of market and hierarchy. These systems have always been shifting from one existing market-hierarchy mix to a new one, which is expected to be more conducive to technological innovation and economic development. Current reforms in many planned economies in transition reflect this theoretical proposition. A research framework is constructed to include three main dimensions for the study of a specific innovation system, i.e. Arrangements, Achievements and Actors. China, which has undergone reforms since 1978, is chosen as the empirical basis of the research. The research examined technology policy and technological innovation in China between 1978 to 1988. The thesis starts from Arrangements - R&D System in China and Its Reform. The thesis illustrates reforms in the R&D system in relation to government technology policy. There exist coherent government efforts to promote innovations through various plans, and the planning process incorporates both market and command elements. The institutional structure of Chinese R&D system remains still vertically departmentalised, but horizontal links are created through the market. Secondly, Achievements - Performance of Chinese R&D System is assessed through patterns of technological innovation. Data from National Awards for S&T Progress (1978-1988) are included in a substantial database, which is used to generate patterns of technological innovation and patterns of innovating organisations. These patterns were presented and interpreted in relation to geographical differences, sectoral differences, typological differences, forms of co-operation and the impacts of S&T policy and reform. The third dimension is study on Actors - Innovation in Applied R&D institutes. Through semi-structured interviews and questionnaire survey, internal structure and research management are analysed in the light of ongoing reforms. The reform of R&D funding system greatly affected the way applied R&D institutes operate. Both organisational and individual incentives for innovating are increasingly associated with economic or material benefits. The research suggests there is a need to put reforms in the R&D system into a wider societal and political context. Some general attributes of applied R&D institutes are also discussed in the thesis.
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Chinas long term development path has always been strongly infl uenced by its own ways of innovation and invention. Though around one thousand years ago China had been undoubtedly the most advanced country in the world, by the 17th century Europe had surpassed it. And when the PRC was founded in 1949, it was only a poor, severely underdeveloped country without adequate, modern technologies. In the last three decades, however, the country has achieved remarkable success in economic terms: China has become the second largest economy in the world, and its new economic, fi nancial and trading power has made it clear that the dominance of the USA and Europe has passed. At the same time China is still lagging behind technologically. Though there are huge efforts to narrow the gap, it is extremely diffi cult to build up a new technological and innovation system without deep, organic foundations. China, however, has rich experience of innovations from the past, and the question is whether it is possible to use them to formulate a new technology policy. In this paper I will try to examine Chinas technology system, its functioning and its prospects, while comparing it with the traditional ways of innovations in China. I would like to show that current technology policy is, at least partly, based upon traditional values, and that high tech research, R&D, and state of the art innovations can be reconcilable with several thousand-year-old approaches.
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Executive summary<br/>Digital systems have transformed, and will continue to transform, our world. Supportive government policy, a strong research base and a history of industrial success make the UK particularly well-placed to realise the benefits of the emerging digital society. These benefits have already been substantial, but they remain at risk. Protecting the benefits and minimising the risks requires reliable and robust cybersecurity, underpinned by a strong research and translation system.<br/>Trust is essential for growing and maintaining participation in the digital society. Organisations earn trust by acting in a trustworthy manner: building systems that are reliable and secure, treating people, their privacy and their data with respect, and providing credible and comprehensible information to help people understand how secure they are.<br/>Resilience, the ability to function, adapt, grow, learn and transform under stress or in the face of shocks, will help organisations deliver systems that are reliable and secure. Resilient organisations can better protect their customers, provide more useful products and services, and earn peoples trust.<br/>Research and innovation in industry and academia will continue to make important contributions to creating this resilient and trusted digital environment. Research can illuminate how best to build, assess and improve digital systems, integrating insights from different disciplines, sectors and around the globe. It can also generate advances to help cybersecurity keep up with the continued evolution of cyber risks.<br/>Translation of innovative ideas and approaches from research will create a strong supply of reliable, proven solutions to difficult to predict cybersecurity risks. This is best achieved by maximising the diversity and number of innovations that see the light of day as products.<br/>Policy, practice and research will all need to adapt. The recommendations made in this report seek to set up a trustworthy, self-improving and resilient digital environment that can thrive in the face of unanticipated threats, and earn the trust people place in it. <br/>Innovation and research will be particularly important to the UKs economy as it establishes a new relationship with the EU. Cybersecurity delivers important economic benefits, both by underpinning the digital foundations of UK business and trade and also through innovation that feeds directly into growth. The findings of this report will be relevant regardless of how the UKs relationship to the EU changes.<br/>Headline recommendations<br/> Trust: Governments must commit to preserving the robustness of encryption, including end-to-end encryption, and promoting its widespread use. Encryption is a foundational security technology that is needed to build user trust, improve security standards and fully realise the benefits of digital systems.<br/> Resilience: Government should commission an independent review of the UKs future cybersecurity needs, focused on the institutional structures needed to support resilient and trustworthy digital systems in the medium and longer term. A self-improving, resilient digital environment will need to be guided and governed by institutions that are transparent, expert and have a clear and widely-understood remit. <br/> Research: A step change in cybersecurity research and practice should be pursued; it will require a new approach to research, focused on identifying ambitious high-level goals and enabling excellent researchers to pursue those ambitions. This would build on the UK's existing strengths in many aspects of cybersecurity research and ultimately help build a resilient and trusted digital sector based on excellent research and world-class expertise.<br/> Translation: The UK should promote a free and unencumbered flow of cybersecurity ideas from research to practical use and support approaches that have public benefits beyond their short term financial return. The unanticipated nature of future cyber threats means that a diverse set of cybersecurity ideas and approaches will be needed to build resilience and adaptivity. Many of the most valuable ideas will have broad security benefits for the public, beyond any direct financial returns.<br/>
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Based on the paper presented at the Doctorate Conference on Technologogy Assessment in July 2013 at the University Nova Lisboa, Caparica campus
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Based on the paper presented at the Doctorate Conference on Technologogy Assessment in July 2013 at the University Nova Lisboa, Caparica campus
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Suomenlahden lisntynyt meriliikenne on herttnyt huolta meriliikenteen turvallisuuden tasosta, ja erityisesti Venjn ljyviennin kasvu on lisnnyt ljyonnettomuuden todennkisyytt Suomenlahdella. Erilaiset kansainvliset, alueelliset ja kansalliset ohjauskeinot pyrkivt vhentmn merionnettomuuden riski ja meriliikenteen muita haittavaikutuksia. Tm raportti ksittelee meriturvallisuuden yhteiskunnallisia ohjauskeinoja: ohjauskeinoja yleisell tasolla, meriturvallisuuden keskeisimpi stelijit, meriturvallisuuden ohjauskeinoja ja meriturvallisuuspolitiikan tulevaisuuden nkymi, ohjauskeinojen tehokkuutta ja nykyisen meriturvallisuuden ohjausjrjestelmn heikkouksia. Raportti on kirjallisuuskatsaus meriturvallisuuden yhteiskunnalliseen sntelyn rakenteeseen ja tilaan erityisesti Suomenlahden meriliikenteen nkkulmasta. Raportti on osa tutkimusprojektia SAFGOF - Suomenlahden meriliikenteen kasvunkymt 2007 - 2015 ja kasvun vaikutukset ympristlle ja kuljetusketjujen toimintaan ja sen typakettia 6 Keskeisimmt riskit ja yhteiskunnalliset vaikutuskeinot. Yhteiskunnalliset ohjauskeinot voidaan ryhmitell hallinnollisiin, taloudellisiin ja tietoohjaukseen perustuviin ohjauskeinoihin. Meriturvallisuuden edistmisess kytetn kaikkia nit, mutta hallinnolliset ohjauskeinot ovat trkeimmss asemassa. Merenkulun kansainvlisen luonteen vuoksi meriturvallisuuden sntely tapahtuu posin kansainvlisell tasolla YK:n ja erityisesti Kansainvlisen merenkulkujrjestn (IMO) toimesta. Lisksi mys Euroopan Unionilla on omaa meriturvallisuuteen liittyv sntely ja on mys olemassa muita alueellisia meriturvallisuuden edistmiseen liittyvi elimi kuten HELCOM. Joitakin meriturvallisuuden osa-alueita sdelln mys kansallisella tasolla. Hallinnolliset meriturvallisuuden ohjauskeinot sisltvt aluksen rakenteisiin ja varustukseen, alusten kunnon valvontaan, merimiehiin ja merityn tekemiseen sek navigointiin liittyvi ohjauskeinoja. Taloudellisiin ohjauskeinoihin kuuluvat esimerkiksi vyl- ja satamamaksut, merivakuutukset, P&I klubit, vastuullisuus- ja korvauskysymykset sek taloudelliset kannustimet. Taloudellisten ohjauskeinojen kytt meriturvallisuuden edistmiseen on melko vhist verrattuna hallinnollisten ohjauskeinojen kyttn, mutta niit voitaisiin varmasti kytt enemmnkin. Ongelmana taloudellisten ohjauskeinojen kytss on se, ett ne kuuluvat pitklti kansallisen sntelyn piiriin, joten alueellisten tai kansainvlisten intressien edistminen taloudellisilla ohjauskeinoilla voi olla hankalaa. Tieto-ohjaus perustuu toimijoiden vapaaehtoisuuteen ja yleisen tiedotuksen lisksi tieto-ohjaukseen sisltyy esimerkiksi vapaaehtoinen koulutus, sertifiointi tai meriturvallisuuden edistmiseen thtvt palkinnot. Poliittisella tasolla meriliikenteen aiheuttamat turvallisuusriskit Suomenlahdella on otettu vakavasti ja paljon tyt tehdn eri tahoilla riskien minimoimiseksi. Uutta sntely on odotettavissa etenkin liittyen meriliikenteen ympristvaikutuksiin ja meriliikenteen ohjaukseen kuten meriliikenteen shkisiin seurantajrjestelmiin. Mys inhimilliseen tekijn merkitykseen meriturvallisuuden kehittmisess on kiinnitetty lisntyviss mrin huomiota, mutta inhimilliseen tekijn osalta tehokkaiden ohjauskeinojen kehittminen nytt olevan haasteellista. Yleisimmin lkkeeksi esitetn koulutuksen kehittmist. Kirjallisuudessa esitettyjen kriteereiden mukaan tehokkaiden ohjauskeinojen tulisi tytt seuraavat vaatimukset: 1) tarkoituksenmukaisuus ohjauskeinojen tytyy olla sopivia asetetun tavoitteen saavuttamiseen, 2) taloudellinen tehokkuus ohjauskeinon hydyt vs. kustannukset tulisi olla tasapainossa, 3) hyvksyttvyys ohjauskeinon tytyy olla hyvksyttv asianosaisten ja mys laajemman yhteiskunnan nkkulmasta katsottuna, 4) toimeenpano ohjauskeinon toimeenpanon pit olla mahdollista ja sen noudattamista tytyy pysty valvomaan, 5) lateraaliset vaikutukset hyvll ohjauskeinolla on positiivisia seurannaisvaikutuksia muutoinkin kuin vain ohjauskeinon ensisijaisten tavoitteiden saavuttaminen, 6) kannustin ja uuden luominen hyv ohjauskeino kannustaa kokeilemaan uusia ratkaisuja ja kehittmn toimintaa. Meriturvallisuutta koskevaa sntely on paljon ja yleisesti ottaen merionnettomuuksien lukumr on ollut laskeva viime vuosikymmenien aikana. Suuri osa sntelyst on ollut tehokasta ja parantanut turvallisuuden tasoa maailman merill. Silti merionnettomuuksia ja muita vaarallisia tapahtumia sattuu edelleen. Nykyist sntelyjrjestelm voidaan kritisoida monen asian suhteen. Kansainvlisen sntelyn aikaansaaminen ei ole helppoa: prosessi on yleens hidas ja tuloksena voi olla kompromissien kompromissi. Kansainvlinen sntely on yleens reaktiivista eli ongelmakohtiin puututaan vasta kun jokin onnettomuus tapahtuu sen sijaan ett se olisi proaktiivista ja pyrkisi puuttumaan ongelmakohtiin jo ennen kuin jotain tapahtuu. IMO:n tyskentely perustuu kansallisvaltioiden osallistumiseen ja sntelyn toimeenpano tapahtuu lippuvaltioiden toimesta. Kansallisvaltiot ajavat IMO:ssa pasiallisesti omia intressejn ja sntelyn toimeenpanossa on suuria eroja lippuvaltioiden vlill. IMO:n kyvyttmyys puuttua havaittuihin ongelmiin nopeasti ja ottaa sntelyss huomioon paikallisia olosuhteita on johtanut siihen, ett esimerkiksi Euroopan Unioni on alkanut itse sdell meriturvallisuutta ja ett on olemassa sellaisia alueellisia erityisjrjestelyj kuin PSSA (particularly sensitive sea area erityisen herkk merialue). Merenkulkualalla toimii monenlaisia yrityksi: toisaalta yrityksi, jotka pyrkivt toimimaan turvallisesti ja kehittmn turvallisuutta viel korkeammalle tasolle, ja toisaalta yrityksi, jotka toimivat niin halvalla kuin mahdollista, eivt vlit turvallisuusseikoista, ja joilla usein on monimutkaiset ja epmriset omistusolosuhteet ja joita vahingon sattuessa on vaikea saada vastuuseen. Ongelma on, ett kansainvlisell merenkulkualalla kaikkien yritysten on toimittava samoilla markkinoilla. Vastuuttomien yritysten toiminnan mahdollistavat laivaajat ja muut alan toimijat, jotka suostuvat tekemn yhteistyt niiden kanssa. Vlinpitmtn suhtautuminen turvallisuuteen johtuu osaksi mys merenkulun vanhoillisesta turvallisuuskulttuurista. Verrattaessa meriturvallisuuden sntelyjrjestelm kokonaisuutena tehokkaiden ohjauskeinoihin kriteereihin, voidaan todeta, ett monien kriteerien osalta nykyist jrjestelm voidaan pit tehokkaana ja onnistuneena. Suurimmat ongelmat lienevt sntelyn toimeenpanossa ja ohjauskeinojen kustannustehokkuudessa. Lippuvaltioiden toimeenpanoon perustuva jrjestelm ei toimi toivotulla tavalla, josta mukavuuslippujen olemassa olo on selvin merkki. Ohjauskeinojen, sek yksittisten ohjauskeinojen ett vertailtaessa eri ohjauskeinoja keskenn, kustannustehokkuutta on usein vaikea arvioida, mink seurauksena ohjauskeinojen kustannustehokkuudesta ei ole saatavissa luotettavaa tietoa ja tuloksena voi olla, ett ohjauskeino on kytnnss pienen riskin eliminoimista korkealla kustannuksella. Kansainvlisen tason meriturvallisuus- (ja merenkulku-) politiikan menettelytavoiksi on ehdotettu mys muita vaihtoehtoja kuin nykyinen jrjestelm, esimerkiksi monitasoista tai polysentrist hallintojrjestelm. Monitasoisella hallintojrjestelmll tarkoitetaan jrjestelm, jossa keskushallinto on hajautettu sek vertikaalisesti alueellisille tasoille ett horisontaalisesti ei-valtiollisille toimijoille. Polysentrinen hallintojrjestelm menee viel askeleen pidemmlle. Polysentrinen hallintojrjestelm on hallintotapa, jonka puitteissa kaikentyyppiset toimijat, sek yksityiset ett julkiset, voivat osallistua hallintoon, siis esimerkiksi hallitukset, edunvalvontajrjestt, kaupalliset yritykset jne. Kansainvlinen lainsdnt mrittelee yleiset tasot, mutta konkreettiset toimenpiteet voidaan ptt paikallisella tasolla eri toimijoiden vlisess yhteistyss. Tmn tyyppisiss hallintojrjestelmiss merenkulkualan todellinen, kansainvlinen mutta toisaalta paikallinen, toimintaymprist tulisi otetuksi paremmin huomioon kuin jrjestelmss, joka perustuu kansallisvaltioiden keskenn yhteistyss tekemn sntelyyn. Tllainen muutos meriturvallisuuden hallinnassa vaatisi kuitenkin suurta periaatteellista suunnanmuutosta, jollaisen toteutumista ei voi pit kovin todennkisen ainakaan lyhyell thtimell.
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The concept of open innovation has recently gained widespread attention, and is particularly relevant now as many firms endeavouring to implement open innovation, face different sets of challenges associated with managing it. Prior research on open innovation has focused on the internal processes dealing with open innovation implementation and the organizational changes, already taking place or yet required in companies order to succeed in the global open innovation market. Despite the intensive research on open innovation, the question of what influences its adoption by companies in different contexts has not received much attention in studies. To fill this gap, this thesis contribute to the discussion on open innovation influencing factors by bringing in the perspective of environmental impacts, i.e. gathering data on possible sources of external influences, classifying them and testing their systemic impact through conceptual system dynamics simulation model. The insights from data collection and conceptualization in modelling are used to answer the question of how the external environment affects the adoption of open innovation. The thesis research is presented through five research papers reflecting the method triangulation based study (conducted at initial stage as case study, later as quantitative analysis and finally as system dynamics simulation). This multitude of methods was used to collect the possible external influence factors and to assess their impact (on positive/negative scale rather than numerical). The results obtained throughout the thesis research bring valuable insights into understanding of open innovation influencing factors inside a firms operating environment, point out the balance required in the system for successful open innovation performance and discover the existence of tipping point of open innovation success when driven by market dynamics and structures. The practical implications on how firms and policy-makers can leverage environment for their potential benefits are offered in the conclusions.
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In the network era, creative achievements like innovations are more and more often created in interaction among different actors. The complexity of todays problems transcends the individual human mind, requiring not only individual but also collective creativity. In collective creativity, it is impossible to trace the source of new ideas to an individual. Instead, creative activity emerges from the collaboration and contribution of many individuals, thereby blurring the contribution of specific individuals in creating ideas. Collective creativity is often associated with diversity of knowledge, skills, experiences and perspectives. Collaboration between diverse actors thus triggers creativity and gives possibilities for collective creativity. This dissertation investigates collective creativity in the context of practice-based innovation. Practice-based innovation processes are triggered by problem setting in a practical context and conducted in non-linear processes utilising scientific and practical knowledge production and creation in cross-disciplinary innovation networks. In these networks diversity or distances between innovation actors are essential. Innovation potential may be found in exploiting different kinds of distances. This dissertation presents different kinds of distances, such as cognitive, functional and organisational which could be considered as sources of creativity and thus innovation. However, formation and functioning of these kinds of innovation networks can be problematic. Distances between innovating actors may be so great that a special interpretation function is needed that is, brokerage. This dissertation defines factors that enhance collective creativity in practice-based innovation and especially in the fuzzy front end phase of innovation processes. The first objective of this dissertation is to study individual and collective creativity at the employee level and identify those factors that support individual and collective creativity in the organisation. The second objective is to study how organisations use external knowledge to support collective creativity in their innovation processes in open multi-actor innovation. The third objective is to define how brokerage functions create possibilities for collective creativity especially in the context of practice-based innovation. The research objectives have been studied through five substudies using a case-study strategy. Each substudy highlights various aspects of creativity and collective creativity. The empirical data consist of materials from innovation projects arranged in the Lahti region, Finland, or materials from the development of innovation methods in the Lahti region. The Lahti region has been chosen as the research context because the innovation policy of the region emphasises especially the promotion of practice-based innovations. The results of this dissertation indicate that all possibilities of collective creativity are not utilised in internal operations of organisations. The dissertation introduces several factors that could support collective creativity in organisations. However, creativity as a social construct is understood and experienced differently in different organisations, and these differences should be taken into account when supporting creativity in organisations. The increasing complexity of most potential innovations requires collaborative creative efforts that often exceed the boundaries of the organisation and call for the involvement of external expertise. In practice-based innovation different distances are considered as sources of creativity. This dissertation gives practical implications on how it is possible to exploit different kinds of distances knowingly. It underlines especially the importance of brokerage functions in open, practice-based innovation in order to create possibilities for collective creativity. As a contribution of this dissertation, a model of brokerage functions in practice-based innovation is formulated. According to the model, the results and success of brokerage functions are based on the context of brokerage as well as the roles, tasks, skills and capabilities of brokers. The brokerage functions in practice-based innovation are also possible to divide into social and cognitive brokerage.
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This thesis examines innovation development needs of firms in a remote rural region. The perspective of the study is in strategic innovation management and three dimensions of innovation development: innovation environment, value delivery and innovation capability. The framework is studied with a theoretical and methodological approach in the context of the development of a regional innovation system and the defining of innovation development needs. The thesis is based on existing innovation management literature, expanding it by examining the features of the three dimensions. The empirical data of the study comprise 50 purposefully selected firms within the region of Pielinen Karelia located in Eastern Finland. Most of the firms (70%) included in the study represent manufacturing firms, and over 90% are small and medium-sized enterprises. The research data consist of two questionnaires and an interview, which were done during 2011 in the connection of a regional development project. The point of view of the research is in regional development and harnessing the innovation capability of the firms within the region. The principal research approach applies soft systems methodology. The study explores the means to foster the innovativeness of firms from the viewpoints of innovation environment, innovation capability and value delivery. In closer detail, the study examines relations between the innovation capability factors, differences in innovation development needs within the value delivery system, between sectors and between firm size categories. The thesis offers three major contributions. First, the study extends earlier research on strategic innovation management by connecting the frameworks of innovation capability, innovation environment and value delivery process to the defining of innovation development needs at the regional level. The results deepen knowledge especially concerning practice-based innovation, peripheral regions and smaller firms. Second, the empirical work, based on a case study, confirms the existence of a structural connection integrating five factors of innovation capability. Statistical evidence is provided especially for the positive impacts of the improvement of absorption capability, marketing capability and networking capability, which are the main weaknesses of firms according to the study. Third, the research provides a methodological contribution by applying the innovation matrix in the defining of the innovation development needs of firms. The study demonstrates how the matrix improves possibility to target policy instruments and innovation services more efficiently through indicating significant differences between the innovation support needs regarding various time horizons and phases of innovation process.
