Special features of the promotion
During the development phase the InnoRegios were also given immaterial support like
moderators who monitored the communication and organisation process. Consultancy on
subject areas and bureaucratic aspects of the promotion is given in the development phase
and the phase of implementation.
At the beginning of InnoRegio-program agencies of co-ordination were established. These
agencies are equipped with promotional funds that will declining over time.
The implementation of the InnoRegio initiative will be monitored by complementary research
until 2005 which is conducted by the DIW Berlin. This research undertakes the tasks of
analysing the elaboration and implementation of the InnoRegio projects and identifying
success factors, fostering the dialogue between the networks on their individual experiences,
working out proposals to transfer successful approaches to other networks and regions,
advising the BMBF on the implementation of the main areas of promotion, assessing the
promotional approach, and making recommendations for future promotional programs.
3. Some theoretical references of InnoRegio
In order to ensure competitiveness on the long run, for enterprises it is important to generate
innovations. In reason of increasing specialization of the firms (concentration on core-
competencies) and the complexity of new technologies, the knowledge needed in innovation
processes is widespread. Thus innovation and the process of knowledge creation and
diffusion within the economy almost is based on division of labour. Regarding to the
coordination of those interactions, market-coordination as well as coordination on hierarchies
poses some difficulties. Due to this networks are viewed as superoir mechanism of
coordination according to divided innovative activity (Fritsch 2001).
The concept of innovation systems is based, just like the network-approach, on the idea of
division of labour according to the innovation process. Research activities on this refer to
national, supra-national, sectoral and regional innovation systems. All of those approaches
assume that innovation processes take place in a systemic context, which includes a lot of
actors and their interactions (e.g. feed-back) and interrelations (Edquist 1997). Therefore the
concept focuses on the functions and the contributions of different types of organizations
(such as enterprises, universities, public research facilities, labour administration, ....) to
innovation processes.
Especially evolutionary approaches of innovation theory are regarding, that innovation mostly
depends on re-combination of already existing ideas and experiences. Thus creation of
knowledge always includes aspects of learning. Deepening this theories of learning
differentiate between “lerning by boing” (Arrow 1962), “learning by using” and “learning by
interacting” (Lundvall 1992).
The distinction between codified knowledge, that is easily transmittable in a formal and
systematic language and tacit knowledge (Polanyi 1966), that has an implicit or personal
related character, has an implication for innovative activities. Exchange of tacit knowledge,
that furthermore is increasing over time because of accelerated tempo of knowledge