Ontario Network on the Regional Innovation System

TRRA Launches Online Regional Fact Base

The Toronto Region Research Alliance (TRRA) is pleased to launch the Map and Regional FactBase section of its website. The Regional FactBase contains a wealth of information about the Toronto Region - its world-renowned institutions, diverse and multi-faceted industries, and all-round prominence on the international stage. Data files, fact sheets, reports, links, and other resources are available to view and to download. The Toronto Region consists of Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Peel, Toronto, Waterloo, Wellington, and York regions. The FactBase features a map of the Toronto Region with facts about the region's communities and institutions. The map transitions between municipal- and community-level information and highlights larger education and research institutions.

EDITOR'S PICK                                                             [Table of Contents]

Silicon Valley in the Polder? Entrepreneurial Dynamics, Virtuous Clusters and Vicious Firms in the Netherlands and Flanders

L. Hulsink, H. Bouwman, T Elfring, Erasmus University

Gatekeepers in Regional Networks of Innovators

Holger Graf
The internal density of a local network is said to increase the region-specific knowledge stock and might lead to a comparative advantage. However, it might also lead to a lock-in situation, if local trajectories are directed towards inferior solutions. Accordingly it is argued that successful clusters are characterized by the existence of gatekeepers, i.e. actors that generate novelty by drawing on local and external knowledge. This paper attempts to answer questions related to the role and characteristics of gatekeepers within regional innovation systems by applying social network analysis based on patent data for four East-German regions. The regional
networks appear to be significantly different with respect to the overall degree of interaction and with respect to their relative outward orientation. Concerning the characteristics of gatekeepers, size does not play the major role for being a gatekeeper. It is rather absorptive capacity that matters for gatekeepers. It also shows that public research organizations serve the functions of a gatekeeper to a higher degree than private actors.

STATISTICS & INDICATORS                                                 [Table of Contents]

Higher Education and Regions: Globally Competitive, Locally Engaged

OECD
T his publication explores a range of helpful policy measures and institutional reforms. Drawing from an extensive review of 14 regions across 12 countries as well as OECD territorial reviews, it considers the regional engagement of higher education regarding teaching, research and service to the community. It offers answers to the following questions: What is higher education’s regional engagement all about? What are its drivers and barriers? What does regional engagement mean for the governance and management of higher education institutions, for regions and for nations? And how does regional engagement fit in with the pursuit of world class academic excellence?

In the past, neither public policy nor the higher education institutions (HEIs) themselves have tended to focus strategically on the contribution that they can make to the development of the regions where they are located. Particularly for older, traditional HEIs, the emphasis has often been on serving national goals or on the pursuit of knowledge with little regard for the surrounding environment. This is now changing. To be able to play their regional role, HEIs must do more than simply educate and research – they must engage with others in their regions, provide opportunities for lifelong learning and contribute to the development of knowledge-intensive jobs which will enable graduates to find local employment and remain in their communities. This has implications for all aspects of these institutions’ activities – teaching, research and service to the community and for the policy and regulatory framework in which they operate.

In the regions involved in the OECD study, partnerships are being developed between HEIs and the public and private sector to mobilize higher education in support of regional development. While the case for engagement is patchy, it is becoming acknowledged across a wide range of HEIs in most regions. The partnerships, which are in most cases at early stages, are often bottom-up initiatives with limited support from central governments. The early stages are characterized by numerous small scale and short term projects championed by key individuals. The environment for higher education to engage in regional development across OECD countries remains highly variable.

There are a number of key barriers identified by this report that need to be overcome in the implementation of effective regional eduction policy:

Overcoming b arriers to promoting innovation with a regional focus:
Despite the existing constraints, the new tasks of HEIs have increased as countries have reinforced the HEI apparatus in relation to firms and regional economies. The policies have had a common goal: to transform each HEI into an engine for growth. The efforts have often been indirect i.e. granting enhanced autonomy to HEIs and improving framework conditions and incentives to co-operate with the private sector. Two prominent approaches have been: enhancing the role of tertiary education within regional innovation
systems and enhancing the participation of HEIs in cluster type initiatives. Temporary incentives have been developed in the form of grants, calls for projects or joint programmes. Policies have often prioritized the uptake and development of high technologies, while mechanisms to support social entrepreneurship and innovation for wider needs of excluded groups in rural areas and inner cities have been limited. There has also been less emphasis on services, which account for 70% of the workforce in the OECD countries.

Overcoming barriers to developing human capital within regions
Higher education can contribute to human capital development in the region through educating a wider range of individuals in the local area, ensuring that they are employable when they leave education, helping local employers by responding to new skills requirements, ensuring that employees go on learning by supporting continuous professional development, and helping attract talent from outside. Widening access to higher education is a national as well as a regional task, but the regional dimension is particularly significant in countries with wide disparities. Some countries, for example Australia, have introduced a specific regional dimension to the higher education equity initiatives. Given that one-third of working age adults in the OECD countries have low skills, up-skilling and lifelong learning are particular challenges. HEIs can also improve the balance between labour market supply and
demand. This requires labour market intelligence and sustained links with local businesses, communities and authorities.

Overcoming barriers to promoting the social, cultural and environmental development of regions
Regional development is not only about helping business thrive: wider forms of development both serve economic goals and are ends in themselves. HEIs have long seen service to the community as part of their role, yet this function is often underdeveloped. Few OECD countries have encouraged this type of activity through legislation and incentives. The mandatory social service for higher education students in Mexico provides an interesting model for countries seeking to mobilize higher education towards social goals.

In regional engagement much depends on the institutional leadership and entrepreneurialism of HEIs. Mainstreaming the regional agenda and scaling up the institutional capacity from individual good practice cases to a welldeveloped system requires senior management teams able to deliver the corporate response expected by regional stakeholders, modern management and administration systems (human resources management system and financial management system underpinned by modern ICT systems), transversal mechanisms that link teaching, research and third task activities and cut across disciplinary boundaries, permanent structures that enhance regional engagement. There is also a need to ensure that units established to link the HEIs to the region, such as science parks, centres of continuing education and knowledge transfer centres do not act as barriers to the academic heartland or provide an excuse for detachment. Finally, there is a need to acknowledge that regional engagement can enhance the core missions of teaching and research and that the region can be seen as a laboratory for research projects, a provider of work experience for students and a source of financial resources to enhance the global competitiveness of the institution.

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