Academia Superior facilitated a panel discussion on “Alles Innovation – ist Innovation alles?” (Everything is innovation – is innovation everything?) taking place in the smart venue of KVB Bank in the centre of Linz.
Burton Lee, consultant and lecturer at Stanford University, gave a critical key note on innovation ecosystems and recommended the Silicon Valley approach to be implemented in Upper Austria in order to catchup to innovation leaders such as the US, which provided some material for a vivid discussion with policy makers, practitioners and academics. IFI Professor Matthias Fink strongly challenged the assumption of a linear development path of innovation ecosystems in regions as well as the suggested copy&paste approach to regional innovation policy. He pointed at the current consensus in the academic discourse on innovation and regional development that highlights the crucial role of socio-economic contexts and the uniqueness of the development pattern in each specific region. Thus, Matthias proposed a much more contextualised approach is building on regional identity and resources. Especially, institutional environment, trust in networks and regional social legitimacy need to be taken into account for the further development of favourable innovation ecosystems. Upper Austria offers a fertile ground for Innovation as long as is ensures sufficient oppress for learning from an intensive exchange with new players on ideas and practices from outside the region.
Link: Academia Superior