Transcript Annex 30-9 - KnowInG Project

"Regional policies for Innovation and
Knowledge Εconomy in the Region
of Attica ;
Current trends and prospects"
Antonis Kolimenakis
Researcher- economist, MSc Management, MA Economics
University Research Institute of Urban Development and Human
Resources, Panteion University,Athens (UEHR),
[email protected]
4 Important Points
The Poor South
The case of Attica in Regional Policy
The Greek Credit Crisis
The knowledge economy in the case of
ambiguity
Innovation and EU Policy
• Innovation and its importance, as a content of the new
global economy is recognized as a priority by the Lisbon
Strategy and the Cohesion Policy for the reinforcement
of regional growth
• EU policy claims that the regional level is the most
adequate for the implementation of the innovation
policies.
• It is supported that physical and geographical proximity
favours collaboration between the private and the public
sector and leads to the boost of regional clusters, which
remain the basic component of technological growth and
innovation
Innovation and EU Policy
• Knowledge economy and the notion of Regional
Innovation Systems – RIS have adopted an important
role in the scientific literature for the EU Regional Growth
Policy
• Most recent economic theories and facts verify the
positive correlation between regional spatial level and
innovation for economic activities aiming at GDP growth
• However, it is a fact that the least developed regions are
those of the South which rank much lower than the
Centre
Regional Innovation Performance Groups for all EU
Regions
EIS: 2006
Reasons for the poor performance of the
South
The insufficiency can be attributed to:
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Distance from the heart of Europe
Structural problems
Polarized growth
Lack of infrastructures
Low R&D level
Human Resources Inadequacy
Low clustering activities
Low networking level with R&D enablers
Lack of incubators and innovation boosting organizations
Reasons for the poor performance of the
South
• Their production systems are characterised by
the small economic size of the firms, the use of
lower-class technologies, and their addiction to
central sources of knowledge.
• The low R&D level does not only decrease the
regional innovative activities but also the
capability of firms to utilise the inter-regional
knowledge and information and of course the
EU funds available
Ranking of the country
•The 2007 EIS found Greece in the same group of 'catching up' countries as
in the previous years, although with declining growth rate of the SII
•The 2008 EIS upgraded Greece to the group of moderate innovators for the
first time
European Innovation Scoreboard:
country page (2009)
The case of Attica
• Region of Attica produces almost 50% of the
total country’s GDP and remains dominant
formulators of the Greek economy
• In comparison to the EU25s GDP, Attica has
progressed significantly reaching in a 8 years
period 87% of the EU average, from 78%.
• 80% of the regional output stems from the
tertiary sector
Innovation in the Region of Attica
• The country’s spatial structure is characterized
by intense polarization, as 50% of GDP is
produced in the Region of Attica
• The Greek Regions in the Regional Innovation
Scoreboard 2006 (in a total of 208), occupy
positions from 199 to 203 with Attica being the
only exemption occupying position No 86
Innovation Performance in Attica
• In the sectors of research and innovation and in the use of ITC the
Region of Attica outperforms the rest of the Regions, but still low in
comparison to EU average
• This is a result of their low contribution to the improvement of
competitiveness.
• Remarkable tension of the Region’s firms to enable with research
projects especially in clusters
• Competitive advantage in non-technological innovations
• Improvement of ITCs and diffusion has been essential in both the
firms’ and citizens’ level
• Concerning R&D and Innovation, attention should be given to the
production of new knowledge and in the transfer of research in the
production level with concrete targets and activites
• The high and important number of Research Institutions and
Educational Structures should be exploited
Innovation Performance in Attica
• The entrepreneurial innovation presents a basic
insufficiency which is mainly due to the
characteristics of the domestic production base,
as well as to the low national GDP expenditures
for R&D
• 0,57% of total GDP to 1,84% of the average EU
expenditures, 21st position in EU-25 (Eurostat,
2008)
Regional Comparison
Discussion about current facts
• There does not seem to be a well thoughtout centrally designed innovation policy
• Except for the component that derives
from research
• Critical elements are missing, principally in
connection to university and general
education policies
• Difficulty to establish 'thematic' priorities
• Absence of a lead market policy
Discussion about current facts
• Successful cases of innovative and knowledge
driven enterprises have not received appropriate
attention
• Competing priorities of other ministries and the
strong ties of an important number of
policymakers to the older sectors of the
economy
• Lack of centralized and targeted innovation
policy makes it difficult to organize the transition
to the knowledge driven economy
Proposed Measures
• Organizational and technological
restructuring and updating of learning
activities
• Focusing on SMEs and their incapacity to
enable innovation
• Attraction of new dynamic sectors and
firms and reinforcement of clusters
• Connection of firms with the enablers of
knowledge
Proposed Measures
• Promotion of concrete targeted R&D
interventions focused on the high priority sectors
• Aimed to contribute at the restructuring of the
production function towards orientations of;
 New product development
 Higher added value quality services
 Current environmental needs
Policies for the Business Sector
• Reinforcement of the firms and the entrepreneurial environment
• Reinforcement of FDIs especially in the fields of high-tech with
increased demands in scientific personnel
• Support and increase of the investment in production that contribute
to the reinforcement of the presence of firms in the global market
• Improvements in the access of funds for SMEs
• Motivation for networking, clustering activities
• Turning knowledge into innovative products, procedures and
services
• Promotion of knowledge and know-how transfer towards Firms and
mainly SMEs
• Reinforcement of the R&D infrastructures targeting to excellence,
high-added value products
Emphasis of Policies
In the reinforcement of activities that boost:
• The turning of knowledge into innovative products,
procedures and services from current or new spin-offs
• The setup of new innovative firms (start-ups)
• The transfer of technology and know-how to firms
• The creation of technological thematic parks and their
networking
• Boost of clustering and interrelation of firms with
University departments and other Research Insitutes
• Creation of exhibition centres and netwroks for the
reinforcement of SMEs adaptation to new technologies
• The reinforcement of broadband and software services
towards the promotion of regional competitiveness
Scenario No. 1
• As Greece performs better in the absorbing
technological and innovative inflows produced
abroad, and in their marginal adaptation, this
model could seem more secure taking into
account the uncertainty conditions.
• This could imply emphasis in the application of
used-proven technologies and solution, with
slight contributive innovations in their application
and their adaptation to the current consumer
needs, their service modules and to internal
structural procedures than to radical innovations.
Scenario No. 2
• Production of research and endogenous
entrepreneurial innovation
• Boost of the first level R&D, production of
innovative solutions from firms, universities, and
research institutes
• Exploitation of the current “mental” capital,
specialized human resources
• This model can be characterized as the
“Scandinavian type”
Credit crisis and its effect on innovation
activity
• Due to the lack of hard 'now cast' data on innovation
behaviour of firms and consumers, public debate has
been raised around the need to promote innovations that
save on raw materials and energy while reducing costs
and environmental impact without reducing jobs, to
remain competitive and at the same time socially
accountable.
• This recipe seems to be easier to apply by larger rather
than smaller companies
• Larger firms are more innovative than smaller ones (61%
against 30%) and they rely more on process than
product innovations (33% against 26%).
Credit crisis and its effect on innovation
activity
• The government increased the subsidisation rates for
supported enterprises from 50% to the maximum rates
allowed by the State Aid Regulations.
• Subsidies to youth, female, researchers or other
entrepreneurship and general investment incentives
were continued through the operational programmes cofunded by the Structural Funds
• An important effort is made for the dissemination of ICTs
throughout the economy, the civil service and
households
• The penetration of broadband technologies in recent
years seems to be a success story.
Credit crisis and its effect on innovation
activity
• Funding schemes with sectoral priorities,
mainly in the areas of renewable energies
and green economy, but also in traditional
sectors that need urgent technological
modernisation
• Venture capital for new innovative firms
receives renewed attention but still
remains marginal compared to the bulk of
the economic effort in the low and medium
knowledge intensity industry
A small riddle
• The complex notion of knowledge economy and the
Aristotelian thought
• To know means that we have learned,
but if we have learned how can we still
not know?
• Therefore we need a clear reconsideration of what we
know and what we don’t know
• It is believed that big deposits of knowledge are lying
below, in Greece
• Can anybody reveal them?
References:
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Petrakos G., Papadoulis A.,(2010) “Entrepreneurship and innovation in the Greek
regions: An empirical investigation in Thessaly”, Aeihoros, 6 (2), University of
Thessaly, 2010
Lioujas S., Boudouri E., Gkouras A., Lantzouni P.,(2009) Innovation in Greece; A
comparative evaluation with global indicators, policies, strategic proposals, Kokkalis
Foundation
Regional Innovation Scoreboard, (2009), Pro Inno Europe
European Innovation Scoreboard, Comparative Analysis of Innovation Performance,
(2008), Pro Inno Europe
Regional Innovation Scoreboard, (2006), Pro Inno Europe
Innovation Policy Progress Report, Greece, (2009) European Trend Chart on
Innovation,
Innovation Policy Progress Report, (2008) ,Greece, European Trend Chart on
Innovation,