Cluster Facilitated Regional Innovation and Technological Transfer. When is Close, Close Enough?
Cluster Facilitated Regional Innovation and Technological Transfer. When is Close, Close Enough?

Summary/Abstract: The subject of technological transfer, as a way of approaching innovation in business and society, has been a long time subject of debate. Most questions concerning the matter have touched upon a wide range of issues, from general broad aspects such as R&D benefits and implications on society level to more detailed or concrete ones regarding the way in which innovation is intervened into businesses, and ultimately in our everyday lives. Lately, innovation, technological transfer and adoption have become general recipes for successful businesses, although in reality not many succeed. This article argues, based on current theories, those barriers of innovation and technological transfer reside in the way in which an eco-system manages to enable ―proximities‖. We will take further our theoretical approach to show that even in the case of IT&C, where proximities can be apparently replaced by the means of the industry, cognitive proximity and some degree of ―community feeling‖ are required. Cluster organizations play an important role in facilitating such a construction. Finally, the paper further investigates the presumption that the availability of qualified human resources is sufficient for building economic sustainability.

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