Title: Second International Seville Seminar on Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA): Impacts on policy and decision making 28th- 29th September 2006
1Second International Seville Seminar on
Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA)
Impacts on policy and decision making28th- 29th
September 2006
Foresight in the Context of industrial cluster
the case of Italian Districts
Claudio Roveda and Riccardo Vecchiato
Politecnico di Milano and Fondazione Rosselli
2Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Agenda
Paper Structure
- Innovation in industrial clusters
- Foresight and Innovation in an industrial
cluster - The Knowledge generation helix and the
knowledge generation company - Concluding remarks
3Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Innovation in industrial clusters
Introduction
- Many studies have pointed out that in a local
industrial system innovation is the output of
exchange of more or less formalised knowledge
among various actors, which interact and
cooperate on the basis of mutual trust and
acceptance of shared values. - These interactions involve
- firms
- universities and public and private research
centres - banks
- trade associations
- local governments.
4Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Innovation in industrial clusters
The knowledge creating helix (Nonaka)
- The local economic and social systems strongly
interact in the creation and dissemination of
innovations by means of the production of both
explicit (or coded) and tacit (or contextual)
knowledge, through the following learning
processes - socialization of tacit knowledge
- articulation of tacit knowledge into explicit
knowledge - combination of explicit knowledge
- internalization of explicit knowledge into the
operational processes, with the production of new
tacit knowledge.
5Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Innovation in industrial clusters
The transfer of knowledge and the generation of
innovations
- Translation of knowledge generated outside the
district in a local language - Coding and decoding of knowledge by means of
an integrative process based on communication - Dissemination of new knowledge and new
technology through different steps - - assessing feasibility of innovation
- - raising awareness
- - investing financial and human resources
- - following the leaders.
6Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Foresight in an industrial clusters
Research questions
- Given the features of the innovation process in
an industrial cluster - How can Foresight foster the process of mutual
learning between the main stakeholders of the
district? - How can Foresight be used for acquiring new
coded knowledge from outside the district? - Outlining our experience with foresight
methodologies in the silk district of Como and
the metal-mechanic district of Lecco - Interactive Workshop and Critical technology
list - Scenario Building
7Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Foresight in an industrial clusters
Interactive Workshop and Critical technology list
- identifying emerging technologies
- setting up cooperation between entrepreneurs and
technologists - promoting incremental innovation by means of
technologies that are at an intermediate phase of
their life cycle
8Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Foresight in an industrial clusters
Scenarios
- fostering radical innovations
- exploring the future of the overall
socio-economic and industrial system of the
district - socialising the tacit knowledge about the future
of the district, through the participation of all
the main local stakeholders - articulating the tacit knowledge, by building
the scenarios
9Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Comparing the knowledge creating company
The main strengths of Japanese companies
according to Nonaka
- Nonaka (The knowledge creating company, 1995)
points out three main features of Japanese
companies at the basis of their international
competitiveness - the deep sense of membership of the workforce
- the redundancy
- the interactions among senior managers, middle
managers and frontline employees
10Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Comparing the knowledge creating company
The role of Foresight for the knowledge creating
helix in industrial clusters (1)
- it fosters the commitment of Small and medium
entrepreneurs to their district - it creates redundancy for side technologies
11Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Comparing the knowledge creating company
The role of Foresight for the knowledge creating
helix in industrial clusters (2)
- It drives small entrepreneurs, district
stakeholders, medium and large companies to play
the critical roles of Nonakas frontline
employees, senior managers and middle
managers the first ones grasp what the district
is the second ones build the vision of what it
ought to be the third ones serve as a bridge.
12Foresight in the context of Industrial
Clusters the case of Italian Districts
Concluding remarks
- Foresight can be an effective tool for promoting
innovation in industrial clusters, by - Simple and flexible methods for incremental
innovation - Scenario building for radical innovation
13Second International Seville Seminar on
Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA)
Impacts on policy and decision making28th- 29th
September 2006
Foresight in the Context of industrial cluster
the case of Italian Districts
Claudio Roveda and Riccardo Vecchiato
riccardo.vecchiato_at_polimi.it