Innovation Potential Embodied in Research Organizations in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

The economic crisis, shrinking markets and falling funds have not just brought about decline in formerly communist research systems: in response to external pressures, and on the basis of their accumulated knowledge and skills, research organizations have developed new structures and mechanisms to distribute their results and use their expertise. This paper draws on evidence and analysis generated by a study which focused on the new arrangements appearing in and around research organizations. The objective of this study was not only to search for new organizational forms and to understand their operation, but also to evaluate their potential, in newly emerging innovation systems, to enhance knowledge flows into industry from academic and university research. This analytical approach is underpinned by a comparison of `Science Park'-type developments in Western and Eastern Europe. Although there are clearly differences in their contexts, the comparison provides grounds for optimism. We can see already both the generation of the new, and the recombination of the old, knowledge, skills and contacts which will be necessary to economic regeneration in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.