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Governments now recognise that the regional dimension of innovation is crucial to promote economic growth and competitiveness. This realisation is increasingly shared among different ministries, including: economy and finance; science, technology and industry; and regional development. At the ministerial meeting in May 2007, ministers endorsed a mandate for the OECD to develop a comprehensive Innovation Strategy. The May 2008 ministerial meeting on regional development further reinforced the message that regional innovation is a fundamental tool for sustainable regional and national economic growth.
Not every OECD region can be a Silicon Valley, but all regions need to improve their capacity to adapt knowledge for their regional innovation needs. OECD work on regional innovation is therefore designed to help policy makers from different policy backgrounds and at both national and regional levels. There is a need to improve the evidence base to target policy, make better use of resources in different regional contexts, ensure coherence between innovation and other policy objectives, and evaluate the impact of policies at regional and national level.
The series OECD Reviews of Regional Innovation includes thematic reports and reviews of specific national and regional approaches (including thus far regions in the UK, Italy, Mexico and Spain). The innovation indicators in the OECD Regional Database allow for international comparisons and analysis at the regional level. Regional innovation and competitiveness are also key themes in other OECD work on regional development, urban policy, rural development and governance.
OECD Work on Regional Innovation
Recent publications related to regional innovation and competitiveness include:
For more information please contact Andrew.Davies@oecd.org.
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