Quantitative and qualitative analysis
of the innovation ecosystem
Trends
International trends
As science and innovation parks continue to
evolve, what strategies promise future success?
P
Luis Sanz
IASP Director General
Luis Sanz is Director General of
the International Association
of Science Parks and Areas
of Innovation. A trained
sociologist, he is an expert
consultant and senior advisor
to science parks worldwide
redicting the future has always
been a risky job. Lately it has
become an insane attempt.
However there is one thing that
I believe we can say quite safely:
science and technology parks (STPs) have
consolidated their status as important
centres for the concentration and further
development of the knowledge-based
economy. They also offer a strong
platform for the articulation of four
essential ingredients for today’s
economic success, namely: companies,
universities and research institutions,
governments and public administrations,
and last but not least, an ever more active
and demanding civil society, where a
myriad of protean and multi form
organisations and networks are created,
destroyed, recreated, mingled, and
reciprocally fertilised. In other words,
STPs are an environment where the four
ingredients of the so-called quadruple
helix can be efficiently articulated.
However, none of this will happen
using the old formulas. Well-designed
STPs contain in themselves the capacity
to evolve. It is up to us to put said
capacity into action. As with other
concepts laden with potential, STPs have
already shown a relentless evolution
since their inception. We have seen many
different models follow on from each
other, adding new features, innovating
strategies, devising new services,
generating new ways to network, and
in some cases, reinventing themselves.
C o n c e p t ua l f e rt i l it y
This conceptual fertility explains the fact
that STPs can perform successfully in a
great variety of socio-economic contexts,
and are no longer exclusive to highly
developed regions and cities as they
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