Designing regional innovation systems in transitional economies: A creative ecosystem approach

Abstract

Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) have become a policy panacea for states looking to develop their economies. However, much of the research on RIS is from Western developed economies, which have established infrastructures and institutional governance networks. Yet, in transitional economies, the growth rate in some parts of the economy is so rapid that policy makers and institutions are unable to record changes as they occur, including the emergence of new economic sectors, such as the creative industries. This results in knowledge gaps, leading to an inability to understand, identify or react to the needs of those nascent sectors. Our research paper, through the analysis of creative industries in Vietnam, proves that taking a creative ecosystems approach to designing RIS will bridge these knowledge gaps by providing a mechanism through which information can be collated and fed into the policy process. Our paper facilitates this process by developing a model to understand the characteristics of the creative ecosystem and as well as a flipped model of policy diffusion to allow bottom‐up development of policy in transitional economies. We then discuss how these models can be used by policy makers to design a more informed RIS to meet the needs of the sector.

Slow design‐driven innovation: A response to our future in the Anthropocene epoch

“…Vietnam is a transitional economy (Gasparin et al, 2020; Gasparin & Quinn, 2020b). Although craft in Vietnam is very important and quite pervasive in establishing local cultures, it is disappearing amidst globalization and rapid development (Gasparin & Quinn, 2020a). The participating designers are keen to develop sustainable growth for ethnic and craft groups based on capacity building, by linking ethnic minorities with designers in the city, in order to create sustainable growth through an ethical supply chain.…”

“…Although craft in Vietnam is very important and quite pervasive in establishing local cultures, it is disappearing amidst globalization and rapid development (Gasparin & Quinn, 2020a) The interviews were conducted in English and on two occasions with the help of an interpreter. Informal interviews were first noted in a diary and then digitally transcribed.…”

Taking the systems approaches out of their comfort zones: Perspectives from under explored contexts

“…Gasparin and Quinn’s (2020) paper takes us to Vietnam. The study broadens the ecosystemic thinking by offering a country case study of the creative economy, something relatively new in the ecosystems or systems literature.…”

“…All of them add new contexts and insights to the discussion of the systemic approaches to economic development. Gasparin and Quinn's (2020) paper takes us to Vietnam. The study broadens the ecosystemic thinking by offering a country case study of the creative economy, something relatively new in the ecosystems or systems literature.…”

Comprehensive evaluation of Iranian regional innovation system (RIS) performance using analytic hierarchy process (AHP)

“…No specific method has been universally accepted as the best for analyzing and assessing RISs. Different authors have used a broad range of approaches to study RISs; among these approaches are participatory evaluation, network analysis, cluster analysis, data envelopment analysis, qualitative content analysis, case studies, regression models and comparative studies (Stejskal et al , 2018; Avilés-Sacoto et al , 2020; Rodríguez-Soler and Brunet Icart, 2018; Fernández-Serrano et al , 2019; Kofler et al , 2018; Berman et al , 2020; Gasparin and Quinn, 2020; Teng and Chen, 2019; Hajek et al , 2019). Wang et al conducted a thorough review of the literature on RISs and based on their findings, identified four approaches that have been developed to analyze RISs: the structural approach, the functional approach, the effectiveness approach and the triple helix approach.…”