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Purpose – Following the line traced by two previous works of Albino et al. and Messeni Petruzzelli, the paper aims to analyze how technology districts reach and acquire external competencies and capabilities by means of organizational and cognitive proximity. This allows districts to modify their geographical boundaries and evolve into technology clusters.Design/methodology/approach – The research design is based on a case study methodology. In particular, two actual technology districts are analyzed, namely Castel Romano and Toulouse, in order to show how they use organizational, and cognitive proximity to acquire external knowledge sources and re-shape their geographical boundaries.Findings – Based on the findings of the empirical study, two main propositions are formulated. The first proposition refers to the negative relationship between the geographical distance to the district's actors and the use of organizational proximity as a means for reaching external knowledge sources. By contrast, the second proposition indicates the positive relationship between the geographical distance to the district's actors and the use of cognitive proximity as a means for reaching external knowledge sources.Research limitations/implications – As regards the firm strategic behaviors, it seems particularly crucial to exploit all the three dimensions of proximity, in order to guarantee openness and sustain innovativeness and competitiveness. Concerning policy implications, the local governments should address their actions to help and promote the openness of technology districts and the formation of technology clusters. With this aim, actions should be devoted also to sustaining single local firms that are part of a technology cluster but not of a technology district. These, in fact, by increasing their competitive position, may generate positive externalities in the local area, fostering the diffusion and sharing of knowledge in the area and, then, acting as knowledge gatekeepers for the whole area.Originality/value – The paper extends the findings of previous works linking three proximity dimensions in a holistic framework that explains the different use of organizational and cognitive proximity to acquire knowledge, according to the geographical distance between organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse if and how technology districts use proximity dimensions (such as geographical, organizational, and cognitive) as a communication resource for accessing external knowledge sources.Design/methodology/approach – To achieve this purpose, the organizational and cognitive links between technology districts' actors and external ones are identified and then the new geographical boundaries of the districts are drawn. A case study related to an Italian technology district (Torino Wireless) is provided in order to identify how different research organizations located in the district use proximity dimensions for reaching knowledge sources external to the district, then re-shaping its geographical boundaries.Findings – The empirical study enables identification of the actors connected to the technology districts by means of geographical, organizational, and cognitive proximity, and their locations. Moreover, results show that organizational proximity is mainly adopted to link actors located near the district area. While, cognitive proximity is mainly adopted to connect actors geographically distant from the district.Research limitations/implications – As regards technology district strategic behaviour, it seems particularly crucial to exploit all the three dimensions of proximity. In particular, the technology district of Torino Wireless should increase its use of organizational proximity to be connected with external knowledge sources.Originality/value – The paper proposes a methodology for identifying the external actors connected with the technology districts by means of proximity. Furthermore, the relationships between organizational and geographical proximity, and cognitive and geographical proximity are also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Italy, as well as many other countries, has increasing interest in Commercial Space Transportation and in particular, in suborbital flights. A suborbital space transportation system is an opportunity to involve the Italian industry in the development of new technologies, exploit opportunities of microgravity experimentation and pilots/astronauts training, as well as catalyse the national industry. The central position of Italy in the Mediterranean basin, the generically favourable climate condition, the touristic vocation resulting in hospitality at the highest level, pretty much allow year round suborbital operations and unique customer experience. Consequently, Italy appears to be a suitable location to host a Spaceport, even though the density of population has to be factored in as a key aspect, together with a proper environmental assessment. This paper outlines the current Italian approach that, instead of focusing on the development of new Spaceport from scratch, evaluates the capabilities of existing airports and their possible upgrades to achieve the Spaceport license, when a proper regulatory frame is established. Advances in the technical activities that are being conducted to assess various Italian sites of interest are described, including trade off methodologies and ranking criteria. Different aspects are considered, from the availability of civil and military airports, to the identification of the best location between coastline or inland sites but, first of all, in compliance to the safety requirements. Some specific Spaceport infrastructure and operational aspects are described, along with their integration with the already existing ones. These include hangars, propellant storage facilities, ground support equipment, high and low airspace surrounding the airport area, ascent and descent corridors, as well as tracking telemetry station to support specific mission profiles in integrated fashion with the existing airport infrastructure and air traffic. The paper will also describe the approach to the definition of a harmonized cooperative regulatory framework, according to the Aviation Authority, that represents the basis to assess suborbital operations and allows the relevant missions execution. In this activity, basing upon an established Memorandum of Cooperation between FAA, ENAC and the Italian Space Agency, the existing FAA/AST regulatory work frame is considered as reference benchmark and further tailored to the Italian case. Some considerations will also be developed relevant to initial challenges to be faced, by interested stakeholders, in starting commercial spaceflight initiatives as a new ground and emerging business opportunity. Highlights • Spaceport and Ground Segment assessment for future suborbital transportation system. • Market opportunities and benefits for the Italian economy. • Spaceport requirements identification for the Italian case. • Spaceport operations business strategy considerations for the Italian case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]