LIST OF PANELS

Whether and how policymakers should have a role in supporting collaborative innovation within technology clusters is still debated in literature: there is no consensus on (and no clear-cut empirical evidence of) the effect of public policy on the innovation performance and cooperation success. This panel wants to discuss this topic considering the demand side perspective, i.e. the perspective of companies that should benefit from public policies dedicated to Technology Clusters. To this aim, the panel invites companies, associations, universities and public institutions to debate and compare different ideas on how policymakers should act to improve collaboration, productivity and innovation of clusters. Should their action be focused on removing obstacles, simplifying rules and reducing inefficiencies or there are good reasons to give them the power to define targets, select technologies, identify champions and regions, foster relations and suggest networks? In this debate, several well known trade-offs need to be investigated: knowledge sharing versus protection, risk and cost sharing versus appropriability of returns, local investments versus global benefits, open versus closed communities, local versus global networks. On all these issues, the public perspective is usually completely different, if not absolutely opposite, to the companies' perspective. That makes it necessary to have demand-side and sullpy-side actors at the same table. Hopefully, this would foster  significant steps both in scientific research and in the practice of companies and institutions.

This panel wants to discuss this topic from the demand side, i.e. from the perspective of those companies that should benefit from public policies dedicated to Technology Clusters. To this aim, the panel invites companies, associations, universities and public institutions to debate and compare different ideas on how policymakers should act to improve collaboration, productivity and innovation of clusters. Should their action be focused on removing obstacles, simplifying rules and reducing inefficiencies or there are good reasons to give them the power to define targets, select technologies, identify champions and regions, foster relations and propose networks? In this very perspective, papers are welcome with reference to Technology Clusters, more precisely on the following sub-topics:   ·         Developing organizational and relational human capital ·         Distance Matters? Local, national, regional technology clusters ·         Collaborative and open innovation processes ·         The protection paradox: knowledge sharing vs knowledge protection ·         Technology transfer and the Improvement of Companies' innovation performance ·          IT tools and innovation communities