Suchergebnisse

In recent years, the notion of the triple helix approach in regional policies has come to represent an important innovation in regional policy making. In the context of industrial policies in Sweden, there are two cases in point. Firstly, "National program for development of innovation systems and clusters in Sweden (Visanu)" and, secondly, the VINNVÄXT program launched by Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems. There is now a broad consensus amongst policy makers and practitioners that the triple helix approach is an effective form of economic governance for promoting economic development. In tandem with this new policy orthodoxy, regional scientists and related disciplines have shown an increased interest in the connection between contemporary structures of economic governance and the ability to create and sustain industrial competitiveness over the past decade. The overall objective of this study to examine the emergence and development of the Stockholm BioRegion-initiative, from being constituted as an informal network to a nonprofit association of regional businesses, academic and public actors in the counties of Stockholm and Södermanland. More specifically, the study is focusing on the process of mobilization amongst different actors (business, academia and public sector) with a stake in the biotech and pharmaceutical sector. One important finding is that the triple helix approach in the VINNVÄXT-program has stimulated the formation of collaborative arrangements comprising key organisations in the biotech/ pharmaceutical sector (e.g. AstraZeneca and Karloniska institutet) as well as public-private partnerships (e.g. Stockholm-Uppsala biotech partnership, STandUP). In the concluding part of the paper, implications for the triple helix approach in metropolitan regions are discussed. The empirical findings in the study draw on field research undertaken during autumn 2004 to midsummer 2005.

By nature, the biotech industry is a knowledge and R&D intensive industry, one in which new products and innovations develop at the interface between electronics, information technology, biomedicine, and drug discovery. This innovation generally results from the interaction between firms, public and private research organizations, financial institutions, governmental organizations, institutions for collaboration, and specialized services companies. Much of this interaction occurs within a localized geographical setting, often described as a cluster or a regional innovation system, in which the potential for intensified face-to-face interactions, short cognitive distance, a common language, trustful relations between various actors, easy observations, and immediate comparisons enhance the processes of interactive learning and innovation. As a result, numerous regions across the globe are implementing initiatives designed to improve their competitiveness through increasing the ability of their regional organizations to interact and innovate. One such initiative is Uppsala BIO – the Life Science Initiative, a regional initiative in Uppsala, Sweden created by local representatives from government, industry, and academia. To fulfill its purpose, Uppsala BIO has chosen to use its resources to primarily support and collaborate with other regional actors who initiate, run, and most importantly, own various development activities. Examples of these activities include 1) promoting cross-disciplinary biotech research with a strong product focus through the establishment of a cross-disciplinary research center, 2) strengthening the region's innovation system through activities such as the development of an incubator to provide operative support for the commercialization of research findings, 3) ensuring the longterm supply of relevant competence to the region, and 4) improving the region's visibility both nationally and internationally in order to attract investment and competence. Uppsala BIO received considerable government and local funding by Swedish standards in the second half of 2003, and the purpose of this chapter is to describe the activities of this initiative during its first 18 months as well as to present some reflections gathered through a longitudinal study of this initiative. Thus, this chapter is relevant to both practitioners and policy makers involved in regional initiatives as well as researchers working to understand the dynamics of such initiatives.