A system dynamics approach for the development of a Regional Innovation System

Abstract

Regions play an important role in the global economy by driving research and innovation policies through a major tool, the Regional Innovation System (RIS). The RIS is a social system that encompasses the systematic interaction of the various organizations that comprise it, to improve local knowledge and innovation. It consists of interconnections of various public and private sector institutions, whose activities and interactions create, introduce and diffuse innovations. This paper outlines the methodology employed in developing and validating a mathematical model of Regional Innovation Systems, utilizing the system dynamics approach. To provide a demonstration of the aforementioned concept, the proposed model will then be implemented in the RIS of two specific regions in Greece, namely Western and Central Macedonia. Within this context, various policies will be formulated to modify the indicators of Smart Technology, with the objective of assessing their influence on the overall regional development of the aforementioned regions. The model focuses on the functional structure of the RIS, separating it in six diverse, interacting subsystems consisting of different components, captured by a total of 38 different factors which can be quantitatively assessed.

A Dynamic Analysis to Examine Regional Development in the Context of a Digitally Enabled Regional Innovation System: The Case of Western and Central Macedonia (Greece)

“…The analysis of the individual subsystems with the help of influence diagrams has been published by Samara et al [41]. In this paper, we present the mathematical formulation of the model and consider alternative scenarios in terms of the % of home Internet connections, the existence of ICT specialists in the study area, the use of PCs, and the level of existence of ICT programs in the study area.…”