Strengthening our regional systems of innovation

Dr Neville Comins

Dr Neville Comins, CEO, The Innovation Hub Management Company (Pty) Ltd

The challenges faced by most countries with growth strategies centre on complementing the traditional economy with extensions into the knowledge economy. One of the major ingredients in this regard is a regional strategy linked to regional R&D and local intellectual property, and the successful transfer of technologies into the business world.

The growth of Science Parks internationally has become acknowledged as a stimulus to economic growth. They create environments that promote innovation, sustain development, generate intellectual property and support the commercialisation of technology. The very essence of a Science Park is not just to sell real estate, but to create technology clusters that open up new market sectors and stimulate national and regional economic advancement. It is a proven contributor to the commercialisation value chain.

Technology clusters have led to a greater focus on regional business dynamics and the creation of regional systems of innovation, where different role players - education, research, incubation, Science Parks, local development authorities in cities and metropolitan regions and regional governments - focus on positive interactions and high levels of cooperation to grow regional knowledge-based economy sectors. Such regional developments are integrated into and supplement the overall national systems of innovation.

Finland and China are examples of dramatically changed economies through investment in Science Parks, where the quality of regional environments have been central to the performance of the Science Parks.

In China the Science Park model has made substantial contributions to economic development: 53 national Science Parks and 108 regional parks with 38 000 businesses employ 4, 5 million people and contribute to almost five percent of the country's economy. This aggressive approach clearly indicates the strategic potential of this model to create clusters and impact the economies of developing countries.

Finland's redevelopment in the 1990s was greatly enhanced through the establishment of 22 Science Parks. These parks created new businesses, integrated R&D projects and identified research breakthroughs for technology transfer and commercialisation across regions. As a result, Finland today is acknowledged as a world leader in innovation and competitiveness.

South Africa is above the world average in the Knowledge Economy Index (developed by the World Bank), but lags well behind the developed world. The South African government is well aware of the need to stimulate entrepreneurship, innovation and growth amongst knowledge intensive businesses. Science and technology education, innovation and commercialisation are integral components of our National System of Innovation. The key challenges are adequate funding, skilled human resources, improved private sector R&D spend and most importantly, moving from a narrow-focused, competitive mindset to an inclusive approach of optimising synergies and collaborating widely in a regional system of innovation.

Networking is crucial for the innovation process

Innovation is a complicated phenomenon that needs good social capital. A networked society, therefore, is an asset that helps spur the innovation process. South Africa's 2002 National R&D Strategy highlights the 'commercialisation chasm' between R&D and business, and the need to develop improved technology transfer mechanisms.

During the past five years significant developments in this regard have taken place in Gauteng, in addition to the national initiatives such as SEDA and GODISA. These have included the Blue IQ initiatives such as The Innovation Hub and Blue Catalyst, technology transfer offices at the region's universities, the Gauteng Business Enterprise Propeller, the developments in the science councils and the visible growth of an entrepreneurial high-tech business community in the province. We have, however, only begun to follow the international trend to create business clusters in value-adding environments where synergies can be exploited.

The challenge now is to overcome our natural competitiveness instincts and optimise synergies to gain the full impact of what is surely the greatest concentration of knowledge workers on the African continent and drive forward the regional economy.(¹)

he imperatives of creating networks and extending collaboration were echoed by Malcolm Parry, Director of the Surrey Research Park in the UK at the 2005 IASP World Conference in Beijing. "Recognition of [regional] interdependence and an understanding of the gap that exists between knowledge generation and knowledge utilisation show the importance of creating the right policies, strategies for their implementation and actual investments in bridging this gap. The conclusion is that to achieve this, for those involved in the science park movement, there is a great need to become enmeshed in this network if the full potential of any park is to be achieved in terms of supporting business formation and growth. However, where no such networks exist, science parks are well placed to create a focal point for bringing the necessary agencies together to build the network, support policies and create investments that have influence over economic development."

At the same event, Antti Joensuu, Deputy Director of General Technology in the Department of Trade and Industry in Finland, said "Science parks working in the vicinity of universities [and research institutions] promote the creation of new business in their regions. They foster the founding, growth and internationalisation of innovative, high-tech companies and act as active middlemen in collaboration with universities, companies and local authorities." (²)

The Innovation Hub welcomes the opportunity of growing a regional system of innovation to gain the full impact of the substantive knowledge resources deployed in Gauteng. Together, the business, research and academic knowledge community can start this process, for mutual benefit, of emulating the win-win relationships found in successful regions. Now is the time to contribute and allow Gauteng to achieve its potential in this new era.

¹ Extract from Parry, M & Roberts, E: The performance of Science Parks as part of the framework for regional development and regional innovation and science strategies in the United Kingdom, a paper presented at the 2005 IASP World Conference on Science and Technology Parks in Beijing, China in September, 2005, Conference proceedings, p 381.

² Extract from Joensuu, A: Finland's Technology Policy Yields Fruit, an article in the ICT Cluster Finland Review 2005 p 11, published by the TIEKE Finnish Information Society Development Centre.

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