THE RISE OF INNOVATION DISTRICTS

dustry clusters, provide information fornew discoveries and help firms acquireresources and enter new markets.Networks are generally described aseither having strong ties or weak ties. 6Strong ties occur between peopleor firms with a working or professionalhistory that have higherlevels of trust, are willing to sharemore detailed information, andare more apt to participate jointproblem solving. Networking assetsthat build strong ties focuson strengthening relationshipswithin similar fields. These typesof assets include: “tech regulars”(where “techies” discuss problemsor advances in their work as acollective), workshops and trainingsessions for specific fields,industry-specific conferences andmeetings and industry-specificblogs for local firms and entrepreneurs.—To help develop networks, 22@Barcelona organizes manyevents including their monthly networking breakfasts.Credit: Barcelona City Council. Area of Economy, Business andEmployment“It’s all about programming:choreographing ‘spontaneous’opportunities for smart people tointeract with each other. This is whatseparates us from traditional scienceparks.” 7Weak ties occur between peopleor firms working within differentcontexts or economic clusterswhere there is infrequent contact.Weak ties provide access to newinformation, new contacts andbusiness leads outside of existingnetworks. Networking assetsthat build weak ties focuson building new relationships7