Institutional Change in Old Industrial Areas – Lessons for ... - UMAR

habits (something that is harder than learning new ones). Therefore, SME cluster
creates for the region as a whole positive spill-over and demonstration effects as to
the importance of joint learning.
These cluster firms are embedded in a rich environment These cluster firms are
embedded in a rich environment of enterprise supporting institutions. Examples of
research, technology and development institutions are the Montanuniversity Leoben,
Christian Doppler Laboratories, Joanneum Research and the Technology Transfer
Centre in Leoben. In addition, several training institutions ensure transfer of new
knowledge to the firms.
4.6 Towards a regional Innovation system in Styria
A so far last step in the process of reconversion of this old industrial area is the
attempt to integrate it in the combined strategies and instruments of a national and
regional innovation system. Innovation is now understood to be an iterative
interaction between a wide range of actors including research organisations, firms,
policy providers and the market. This is a very different understanding to the former
linear model which supposed a series of clear phases from concept development to
product launch. The new model of innovation is considerably more complex involving
a greater number of actors and focusing as much on relationships and the operation
of systems and networks as on the individual actors themselves. Further, research
into the process of learning and knowledge transfer also identifies much knowledge
as tacit and collective and therefore linked it to its human and social context. Taken
together, these concepts bring into sharper focus the role of the social environment
within which innovation actors operate.
This approach puts more emphasis on activities on a regional and local level. The
exceptional feature of the regional level of policy making is the fact that the region
can provide a more appropriate spatial dimension for the design and implementation
of elements of technology and/or innovation policy. The potential benefits of regional
policy derive either from a greater knowledge of the relevant characteristics of the
local economy or from the establishment of a local network and institutions which
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