Regional Innovation Systems

Regional innovations systems are a response to the emerging view in the 1990s that national innovation systems were not necessarily successful in addressing the challenge of competitiveness in period of globalisation. Indeed, with the emergence of clusters as a local innovation system much of the emphasis on competitive advantage in innovation was predicated on the existence of regional and local innovation systems. Hence, the relationship saw local innovation systems being the basis for national competitive advantage, a significant shift in emphasis.

In the 21st century governments in most advanced economies were promoting regional innovation and cluster-building policies as ways of boosting national competitiveness.