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Entrepreneurial universities have become a key concept in debates concerning regional economic development. Yet, we still fall short of having a clear comprehension of the enablers of such localized impacts arising from academic activity. Such conditions are particularly critical for the context of developing countries, which have mostly mimicked initiatives taking place in the context of developed markets. To address these issues, we analyze the impacts generated by research-intensive universities on local innovation ecosystems. We apply a combination of econometric and case study methods for the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Results suggest that research-intensive universities, mostly public universities, positively impact their respective innovation ecosystems. Moreover, qualified research funds and the existence of a support structure (incubators and science and technology parks) significantly enhance the impacts generated by research-intensive universities. These findings highlight the relationship between the internal constraints of universities and their capacity to generate impacts on local ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inter-organisational openness in megaproject innovation ecosystems helps stimulate innovation synergies (thereby promoting value creation), but it also may induce opportunistic behaviours such as imitation (thereby destroying value capture). Such a paradox of openness has received little attention. Previous studies have explored the paradox of openness primarily from the firm-centric perspective, without investigations at the ecosystem level. Based on evolutionary game theory, this study models and analyses actors’ behavioural strategy choices (innovating or imitating) in the megaproject innovation ecosystem, in order to understand how the paradox of openness develops in this ecosystem and how it can be reconciled. We find that there are two possible equilibrium states for the evolutionary game in this ecosystem: all actors innovating, or all actors imitating. The latter means that opportunism spreads and leads to ecosystem failure, revealing the consequences of the openness paradox not being properly addressed. A series of factors jointly determine the direction of evolution, and mechanisms such as cost subsidies and innovation rewards can also affect it, providing theoretical references for ecosystem governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the development of a national strategy for the information society in the realities of Ukraine. The contemporary trend of civilizational development is the informatization of society and all aspects of its life. The development of concepts for the functioning of the information society for Ukraine is becoming the crucial assignment of socio-political development of the contemporary state, which should be based on science, innovation and advanced technologies, as well as culture and creativity. Domestic digital capital is in the process of formation, while digital technologies are the driving force of socio-economic development, due to the large-scale penetration of information and communication technologies everywhere. A characteristic resource of the information society is characterized by accurate, reliable, truthful and timely information. The expansion of the use of digital platforms, blockchain technology and artificial intelligence stimulates the creation of a digital economy in Ukraine. The development of the information society requires the integration of digital and business ecosystems. The creation of information infrastructure within business ecosystems, the expansion of services and intangible production as a result of advancement in the field of technology will guide to the transformation of Ukrainian society and the achievement of a high level of informatization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the way the digital transformation of the agricultural sector is implemented in Europe and in France. It describes the main European and national strategies, the structure of research and innovation initiatives, and the investment in capacity building to foster innovation, adoption and use. More specifically, the French research and innovation ecosystem on digital agriculture is described. The actors involved come from different organisations, such as research and higher educational institutes, government agencies, agricultural technology (AgTech) companies, farmer unions etc., and work together by means of associations (e.g. Robagri), networks (e.g. RMT Naexus, DigiFermes, Fermes Leader), or living labs (e.g. Occitanum) on both digital technology assessment and co-design. Additionally, support is devoted to capacity building (e.g. Le Mas numérique , Mobilab) and a better understanding of the drivers of adoption and use of digital technologies (e.g. FrOCDA). Among these various organisations, #DigitAg, the Digital Agriculture Convergence Lab, has been created to foster interdisciplinary research on digital agriculture. All these initiatives aim to use digital technologies to support the European Green Deal, Farm-to-Fork and Biodiversity strategies as well as the French orientation towards more agroecological practices for safer and more sustainable food systems. Even though this organisational ecosystem is developing fast, the objective of encouraging the coevolution of both digital and green transformations is not without challenges that still need to be overcome, either through new research, innovations, initiatives or collaborations between the actors involved. Worldwide, agriculture is facing the challenges of digital and green transformations of its practices. This article describes how, in Europe and in France, an organisational ecosystem is developing to tackle these transformations in digital agriculture and facilitate their coevolution. Through European and national strategies, the structuring of research and innovation initiatives and capacity building, we describe how organisations are investing in the creation and deployment of digital technologies and solutions for safer and more sustainable food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Italian public administration is confronted with two challenges peculiar to the current times, which share some common features: on the one hand, the use of ever-changing digital technologies; and, on the other hand, the role in social innovation processes involving multiple actors. In the first case, the emergence of public digital platforms calls for re-organization processes based on greater integration among internal departments, and stable relations between different administrative levels and between public and private actors. In the second case, the social demand for innovation in public services and policies leads to the development of ways of involving different actors in collaborative processes that are configured as innovation ecosystems. The thesis of this contribution underlines how the analysis of these modes of collaborative governance constitutes a relevant field for evaluation research, also because of the opportunity to integrate some significant elaborations developed by policy analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the determinants of innovation activities in Central European economies at the firm, sectoral, country and international levels. It focuses on innovation activities in four countries, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia. Our dataset includes data from the three waves (2010, 2012, 2014) of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS), in a total of 58,880 observations, which we combined with 2-digit NACE rev. 2 sectoral variables (Herfindahl index, average values of age, profits, intangible assets, shares of large and medium-sized enterprises). These variables were calculated from 910,731 observations originating from the Amadeus database. We used Heckman and Bivariate Probit estimation procedures to observe the dynamics of new-to-the-market product and process innovation over time and at different levels of the innovation ecosystem. We focused on sectoral variables and found that determinants of innovation activity differed substantially. Our analysis documented the fluctuation of sectoral variables over time, which aligns with evolutionary theories. At the international level, the results suggest a disequilibrium effect of some sectoral variables over time. National innovation systems differ, and individual coefficients are hardly comparable without an innovation input-output context. We provided several recommendations for future research, such as the issue of non-linearity in some identified determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to advance knowledge of social innovation through understanding how public policy frameworks can both support and constrain its efficacy in an ever-changing world. In doing so, this article contributes to the framework for studying interventions related to innovation models that emerge from a multidisciplinary approach to interpreting ecosystems. The question this paper attempts to answer: how can we best mitigate and overcome challenges and obstacles posed to social innovation in growing ecosystems? To answer this, we examined empirical data from actors involved in social innovation projects from two distinct, growth-stage ecosystems: Guadalajara, Mexico and Barcelona, Spain. The analysis yields three key constraining factors that obstruct social innovation: 1) Lack of critical mass for social innovation. 2) Fragmentation of actors' efforts in the innovation ecosystem. 3) Lack of citizen participation. By synthesising both the existing literature and this paper's findings, we'll propose three strategies that address issues that growing ecosystems face in their efforts to implement social innovation. The first strategy refers to mechanisms that connect citizens to scientific knowledge. The second pertains to the construction of common frameworks of action by different actors. Finally, the third strategy highlights the importance of citizen participation in social innovation projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research aimed to identify the causes for the increase in the number of unicorn start-ups by analyzing the geographical and sectoral factors in two main online databases. The United States, with a traditionally strong innovation ecosystem, is leading the way in creating successful start-ups, but China, India and some European countries are also showing considerable results. The number of unicorns, referring to privately held start-ups worth more than $1 billion, is significantly influenced by qualitative factors (ecosystem development) and the size of the economy (nominal GDP). Therefore, small economies (like Israel) can only be included in the top 10 unicorn countries if their ecosystem is especially developed. The global pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation in several sectors. Fintech, e-commerce, internet, software and AI services are areas where unicorns have been able to achieve significant value growth. Introducing the attributes of these start-ups can be an inspiration for students in economics courses and can serve as illustrative examples in the related curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Industry-Academia Collaborations (IAC) both academic, scientific research results and industrial practitioner findings and experiences are produced. Both types of knowledge should be gathered, codified, and disseminated efficiently and effectively. This paper investigates a recent (2014–2017) large-scale IAC R&D&I program case (Need for Speed, N4S) from a learning perspective. It was one of the programs in the Finnish SHOK (Strategic Centres of Science, Technology, and Innovation) system. The theoretical bases are in innovation management, knowledge management, and higher education (university) pedagogy. In the future, IAC projects should be more and more commonplace since major innovations are hardly ever done in isolation, not even by the largest companies. Both intra-organizational and inter-organizational learning networks are increasingly critical success factors. Collaborative learning capabilities will thus be required more often from all the participating parties. Efficient and effective knowledge creation and sharing are underpinning future core competencies. In this paper, we present and evaluate a collaboratively created and publicly shared digital knowledge repository called "Treasure Chest" produced during our case program. The starting point was a jointly created Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), which defined the main research themes and listed motivating research questions to begin with—i.e., intended learning outcomes (ILO). During the 4-year program, our collaborative industry-academia (I-A) learning process produced a range of theoretical and empirical results, which were iteratively collected and packaged into the Treasure Chest repository. Outstandingly, it contained, in addition to traditional research documents, narratives of the industrial learning experiences and more than 100 actionable knowledge items. In conclusion, our vision of the future is that such transparently shared, ambitious, and versatile outcome goals with a continuous integrative collection of the results are keys to effective networked I-A collaboration and learning. In that way, the N4S largely avoided the general problem of often conflicting motives between industrial firms seeking answers and applied solutions to their immediate practical problems and academic researchers aiming at more generalizable knowledge creation and high-quality scientific publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how innovation ecosystems emerge and can be sustained is an important issue. However, the lack of sound relational analysis methods to explain such dynamics could constrain a deeper understanding of the emergence and evolution of ecosystems. This article aligns with the call for innovation ecosystems to utilize developed theoretical foundations through defining and analyzing an innovation ecosystem as a Complex Adaptive System. Of importance is the identification in the article of key functional activities that occur in the system, termed change attractors, informed by Technological Innovation Systems functions. The article takes a reflective look at a technological platform, the District Health Information System (DHIS2) Platform through a review of 73 publications comprising of postgraduate dissertations and reports from the creators and implementers of the DHIS2 Platform from the University of Oslo's Global Health and Infrastructures group. We identify ten key change attractors as functional activities that can be used by managers and implementers of an innovation ecosystem in explaining the current behavior and dynamics in an innovation ecosystem. These attractors assist innovation ecosystem management on what aspects to look at with regard to the evolution and growth of a technology-centric innovation ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University-industry collaboration is increasing its significance due to the active role that society demand from universities. An entrepreneurial university requires understanding the different rationalities and asymmetries of university, researchers and industry in order to best encourage inter-organisational willingness to collaborate as well as to know the impact of their collaboration beyond the boundaries of their partnership. This paper presents an exploratory and conceptual framework providing propositions to gain a better understanding concerning the factors driving and hindering interactions and the willingness to collaborate between university-industry actors. In addition, this research discusses the relevance of the type of impact (economic, technological and societal) of this collaboration as agents of an eco-system accomplishing innovation goals. It concludes with theoretical, managerial and policy implications based on asymmetries on expectations, benefits, capabilities, norms and actors-agency. Such asymmetries affect the entrepreneurial predisposition to interact and strive to achieve societal desirable collaboration outcomes. A preliminary collective actions framework is proposed. Such framework renders a useful tool for universities, industry and government in the management of knowledge transfer and collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is devoted to development of theoretical and methodological foundations, conceptual provisions and practical recommendations for the development of innovation ecosystems of Ukraine. The theoretical and methodological foundations of the concept of innovation ecosystem as a result of the development of innovation theory are improved; the interconnection between glocalization of the world economy and the development of innovation processes is revealed. The research revealed the leading role of industry in the development of innovation ecosystems. Scientific and methodical approach for assessment of innovation activities in industry was developed; analysis and assessment of innovation processes in industry was carried out on the basis of proposed approaches in the context of industries and regions. The necessity of neo-industrialization of the economy is substantiated as a condition for the development of the national innovation ecosystem of Ukraine. Obstacles on the way to neo-industrialization and development of national innovation ecosystem are identified and characterized, the proposals for overcoming them have been developed. Systematization of the institutional foundations, the state and problems of European integration of Ukraine in scientific, technical and innovation sphere has been carried out; the directions of strengthening of Ukrainian participation in the European research area were revealed. A conceptual approach to the development of national innovation ecosystem of Ukraine in accordance with the requirements of the European NUTS classification was proposed; a conceptual model of Ukrainian innovation ecosystems was developed. The proposals for the institutional support of the formation of regional innovation ecosystems of Ukraine at the level of economic regions are substantiated. The scientific and methodological approach to the formation of special economic zones as stimulating regulatory regimes aimed at the development of innovation ecosystems was improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to propose an innovation ecosystem, in accordance with the characteristics of the dairy chain in the Latin American context. This research is based on a descriptive study through the analysis of literature on research trends in the dairy chain, the analysis of some sources and barriers to innovation, and the identification of the activities, indicators and agents that support the ecosystem proposal. As a result, an innovation ecosystem is presented for the dairy chain that contemplates the interaction between different internal and external organizations, and that facilitates the diffusion and adoption of innovations throughout the chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective of the study: The present study aimed to answer the following question: How are resources orchestrated to generate innovation in innovation ecosystems? Methodology/Approach: An exploratory qualitative research was conducted through documentary analysis, non-participant observation, and in-depth interviews with actors from two Brazilian ecosystems in different stages of development: 4th District (emerging) and Porto Digital (growth). Originality/Relevance: Innovation ecosystems can be understood as a set of resources that foster innovation. Current research suggests that even more important than resources is the articulation among them and the way they are orchestrated. Main Results: It was found that resource pooling characterizes the transition moment from the emergency stage to the growth stage. Theoretical/Methodological Contribution: A direct relationship between resource orchestration and the stage of ecosystem development was identified. Social/Management Contribution: The importance of the orchestration role, as well as the presence of an orchestrating actor, was emphasized, and a framework of analysis on the orchestration of resources in innovation ecosystems was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social innovation is on the rise as a mode of governance through which to address societal challenges. Seeking to empower SI initiatives, researchers and policy makers are concerned with the development of supportive "ecosystems". This concept usefully calls attention to the distributed nature of SI agency, but many questions remain on the kinds of network constellations involved. This contribution unpacks the "SI ecosystems" concept, specifying how the empowerment afforded through SI networks rests on (1) local embedding, (2) transnational connectivity and (3) discursive resonance. Charting the variety of network constellations as studied in an international comparison of 20 transnational SI networks, a typology of SI ecosystems is constructed. Distinguishing five SI ecosystem ideal-types ranging from loosely integrated and locally focused co-creation hubs to globally connected and widely resonating political movements, the typology informs a differentiated approach to their understanding and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uber and Airbnb have advanced into emblematic cases in debates in which the new digital capitalism is framed in terms of the so-called sharing economy. While this strand of inquiry has produced a wealth of insights into the workings and impacts of peer-to-peer platforms, the digital transformation of business-to-business interactions has so far attracted less attention. The present Exchange confronts this challenge by juxtaposing platform conceptions with a pre-eminent framework to conceptualize business-to-business relations: global production networks (GPN). Specifically, this Exchange addresses challenges posed by the platform approach for the GPN framework in the four dimensions: value (from owning assets to granting access), governance (from make-or-buy to employ-or-enable), management (from back-end to front-end) and labour (from jobs to gigs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a lack of alignment between the concepts of innovation ecosystem and innovation system, which are often used interchangeably. Thus, the objective of this research is to identify characteristics, distinctions and similarities between an innovation ecosystem and an innovation system. For that, an integrative literature review was carried out. 24 articles were retrieved and analyzed qualitatively. As a result, it can be seen that the concepts of innovation ecosystem and innovation systems have differences that need to be considered. The innovation systems literature is more developed and robust, has a focus on institutions, regulates the actors, adopts a linear and hierarchical approach. In turn, the innovation ecosystem is dynamic, self-regulating and focused on the market. It is concluded that both approaches can be used under a specific lens and are useful, provided that they are approached in a non-analogous way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cameroon introduced community forestry (CF) in 1994 as a means of improving community engagement in forest management, enhancing forest conservation, and reducing poverty for forest-dependent people. More than 20 years on, reflection on uptake, conceptual evolution, and innovation is necessary to understand how best community forests can contribute to Cameroon's post-2015 sustainable development goals. We investigate, review, and reflect on how community forestry has evolved from an innovation ecosystem perspective, with a view to enhancing innovations and performance. Interest and momentum in community forestry remains strong in Cameroon, with the number of community forests growing, reaching 430 and covering 1.7 million ha (7% of total forest area). Major innovations identified are the introduction of pre-emption rights and steps toward sustainable forest management (ban on industrial logging, development of certification standards, and the introduction of the environmental notice in lieu of a full environmental impact assessment for CF activities). Little or no innovation is registered in areas related to forest enterprise (i.e., products and services value chains) and in terms of practicing sustainable forest management. Evidence suggests that knowledge generated directly feeds innovation. Coincidentally, areas for which little progress was made (enterprise and sustainable practices) also recorded few publications, suggesting that partnerships aimed at improving knowledge generation and sharing could help catalyze innovation. Other options for unlocking innovations within community forestry discussed include: enhancing intercommunity forest and private sector community forests partnerships and collaboration, increased capacity development and capital investments, and deploying incentives (financial and nonfinancial). Together these options can potentially transform community forestry in Cameroon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposal described herein is aimed at technological innovation, with a focus on product sustainability. The object of this study was six companies from the innovation ecosystem Cidade Pedra Branca, which sought to identify socio-environmental actions that also have the goal of generating significant results in economic terms. We concluded that, in general, the companies in Cidade Pedra Branca are committed to achieving social, environmental, and economic sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a while, universities have been perceived by academics and policymakers as potential engines of regional economic development. One specific field of analysis in this regard involves the role of academia in shaping regional attractiveness for knowledge-intensive investments. Nonetheless, there are scant approaches dealing with these issues in developing countries. The goal of this article is to address the attraction effects exerted by high-quality universities on the location of investments in knowledge-intensive activities at the level of cities and microregions, drawing from the case of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Two-stage Heckman models are applied. Findings suggest weak effects associated with top-tier universities in defining whether a given location receives productive investments or not, but these gravitational impacts are absent in the definition of investment levels. These results indicate weak connections between academic research and agglomeration trends around specific locations in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Facilitating start-ups located in the port-city interface is one of the current policy strategies of municipalities in many port-cities worldwide to encourage innovations in constantly evolving port areas. This could help the re-development of vacant ex-port land, while also offering new economic orientations for the city and the port. The aim of the paper is therefore to explore what conditions are needed to facilitate and encourage start-ups in innovation ecosystems in the port-city interface. The analysis is based on two in-depth case studies of the port-cities of Montreal (Canada) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands). The results indicate that government initiatives to actively facilitate start-ups in formerly industrialized port areas are quite successful. However, the functional linkages between start-ups and port activities remains rather limited, if not entirely absent, and the impact on the functioning of the innovation ecosystem at large is not substantial. Other factors such as capital, collaboration and proximity are valued more than the physical location of the start-up. In this, other actors in the ecosystem besides the municipality and the port authority also play a key role. Furthermore, start-ups often feel limited in their innovative capacity because of stringent regulations and institutional rigidness. Governments and port authorities could facilitate in this respect by working more demand-driven in terms of unburdening and creating more institutional support, instead of imposing top-down rules and regulations to try to govern the ecosystem, which in itself can be considered a contradiction in terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This article focuses on 10 case studies of companies/organizations that are part of the current innovation ecosystem of regenerative medicine (RM) in the United Kingdom. It analyzes the actors, linkages, and influences that will determine the future shape of the RM industry sector and its capacity to live up to its initial expectations. Methods Using the case study approach, purposive sampling was used to get 18 interview respondents from 10 RM companies/organizations in the United Kingdom. We used semistructured interviews for data gathering and thematic analysis for identifying gaps in the RM value chain (ie, the range of activities required for bringing a product from conception to market and end-use) and the influences of the innovation ecosystem on the evolving RM business models. Findings RM promises to address currently unmet health care needs by restoring the normal form and function of cells, tissues, and organs. The innovations emerging to support the progress of RM to satisfy these important health care markets will disrupt the business models of incumbent industry sectors, particularly pharmaceuticals. Companies involved in this area must develop innovative business models and value chains and negotiate the complex influences of the innovation ecosystem, including regulatory systems and standards, financial support systems, and new market dynamics. Implications This article highlights the needs for more systemic analyses of the needs of potentially disruptive innovations, in RM and more widely, and for policymakers to give greater attention to these insights in planning regulatory and other supporting initiatives, with the promotion of innovation in mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's networked age, managing access to expertise is becoming a strategic issue for innovative companies. The digital economy and Big Data are changing the shape of accessing global expertise. Global competition means that large firms can no longer assume that all the expertise they need is available within their own walls, or even within their own countries. To face this growing challenge, organizations of all sizes need a new generation of tools to identify, understand, compare, recommend, and capitalize on their company's networks. By combining impactful data with a collaborative workflow, Expernova helps companies to structure their open innovation processes and access the best expertise worldwide so that they may capitalize on a global network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we concentrate on relational capital, manifestation of the old adage "it is not what you know but who you know". We propose that in this networked world, the importance of relationships between multiple stakeholders created by key personnel and financing becomes fundamental, and hence understanding and measuring those becomes fundamental, too. Accordingly, we highlight a need to go beyond social, individual or personal relationships and organizational context, as well as beyond the limitations of the dyadic (one actor to one actor) view on relationships. Hence, we are introducing the ecosystem as the context for measuring relational capital. This paper builds on a construct of ecosystemic relational capital, created for understanding and measuring the importance of relationships in the context of ecosystems. It looks at the totality of relationships both at organizational level and at individual level, measuring the structures and characteristics related to individuals, organizations as well as the ecosystem as a whole (Still et al. 2014a). We acknowledge that the initial framework emphasizes the "networking capabilities" element of relational capital, with less attention to the element of "customer loyalty and reputation", which is the motivation for building on the construct. The processes of ecosystemic relational capital are built on the possibilities afforded by the volumes of digital data, mostly from social media, providing details on the relationships between various actors related to various regions, sectors, technologies and products. However, we propose enhancing the holistic integration for better understanding and measuring of relational capital with the application of methods of social network analysis (SNA), network visualizations and social media analytics. In this paper, we present concrete examples of the enhanced framework. At the same time, we acknowledge that there are many other avenues for obtaining novel insights for relational capital with these analytics, and we strongly encourage researchers and practitioners to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores opportunities for supporting the orchestration of innovation ecosystems, hence contributing to a fundamental capability in the networked world. We present analysis, evaluation and interpretation toward the objective of decision support and insights for transforming innovation ecosystems with a case study of EIT ICT Labs, a major initiative intended to turn Europe into a global leader in ICT innovation. Towards this, we use a data-driven, relationship-based and network centric approach to operationalise the 'innovation ecosystems transformation framework'. Our results indicate that with coordinated and continuously improved use of visual and quantitative social network analysis, special characteristics, significant actors and connections in the innovation ecosystem can be revealed to develop new insights. We conclude that the IETF transformation framework can be used to develop shared vision and to support the orchestration of innovation ecosystem transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on value creation and capture in innovation ecosystems. It presents and discusses the findings from a qualitative, comparative case study on two European-led innovation ecosystems from the ICT and aerospace and defence sectors. The purpose of the research is to explore the tangible and intangible mechanisms related to how leading firms may facilitate value creation and capture in this context. In particular, we focus on mechanisms related to the building phase to help attract and gather relevant stakeholders, and on the management phase to help maintain and realise the business goals of all ecosystem participants. We also discuss the differences between the case industries concerning the effectiveness and usage of such mechanisms. Overall, the research findings provide new evidence on the facilitating initiatives, underlying mechanisms and structures that are related to the leading firms' orchestration of innovation ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology transfer and innovation are considered major drivers of sustainable development; they place knowledge and its dissemination in society at the heart of the development process. This article considers the role of research universities, and how they can interact with key actors and institutions involved in ‘innovation ecosystems’. Considering various approaches of innovation and institutional analysis design (IAD), it proposes an institutional model of innovation where different authorities produce rules and knowledge that can be mobilized and/or changed in their respective action arenas. On this conceptual basis, one initiative is described: integrated poles of excellence (IPEs) for renewable energy in West Africa, which were conceptualized as a resource and knowledge centre connected to project implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this world of specialization and globalization the pharmacy education in India is suffering from serious backdrops and flaws. There is an urgent need to initiate an academic exercise aimed at attaining revamping of curriculum, keeping in pace with current and emerging trends in the field of pharmacy. Unfortunately all these years, enough emphasis was not laid on strengthening the components of Community Pharmacy, Hospital and Clinical pharmacy, while designing curriculum at diploma and degree levels of teaching. The curriculum followed by almost all universities in India are no were up to the world standards and students are still getting the 20-30 yrs older compounding practical exposure in labs during the graduation level. The article emphasises the concept of innovation ecosystems and quality management. Application of TQM to the educational system improves the present situation. The counseling system which serves to be the gateway of the students for entry into the profession should be brought under the scanner. Introducing specializations at the graduation level will result in professional expertise and excellence. Education is a customer focused industry and every student should be capable of evaluating themselves for continuously improving their quality and professionalism. Teacher focused mastery learning should give away to student focused smart learning. An educational institution should provide the student with a stress-free atmosphere for learning and developing his intellectual capabilities. Every college should have a counseling centre to address the problems of students in their academic and personal life. An emphasis on the concept of quality teacher is included. Revival of the pharmacy education in India is the need of the hour which in turn will pave the way for the up gradation of the pharmacy profession in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meeting the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) will require breakthrough innovations in a number of areas. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) can contribute to these goals by fomenting innovation considering the coevolution of responsible research and innovation (RRI) with the maturity of innovation ecosystems. Therefore, a conceptual model of the roles of multinational enterprises contingent on the evolutionary phases of a firm and the ecosystem in which it is embedded is derived. These MNE roles and RRI activities in SDG-oriented innovation ecosystems are explored through case examples of specific multinationals. Based on different archetypes of innovation ecosystems and RRI maturity levels, the identified roles include secretive innovators, builders, theater directors, platform leaders, dominators, and amplifiers. More responsible enterprises are found to support the SDGs through platform leadership and by amplifying the sustainable innovations of other ecosystem participants, whereas less responsible firms innovate internally and achieve less sustainable results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beyond the mainstream discussion on the key role of China in the global AI landscape, the knowledge about the real performance and future perspectives of the AI ecosystem in China is still limited. This paper evaluates the status and prospects of China's AI innovation ecosystem by developing a Triple Helix framework particularized for this case. Based on an in-depth qualitative study and on interviews with experts, the analysis section summarizes the way in which the AI innovation ecosystem in China is being built, which are the key features of the three spheres of the Triple Helix -governments, industry and academic/research institutions-as well as the dynamic context of the ecosystem through the identification of main aspects related to the flows of skills, knowledge and funding and the interactions among them. Using this approach, the discussion section illustrates the specificities of the AI innovation ecosystem in China, its strengths and its gaps, and which are its prospects. Overall, this revisited ecosystem approach permits the authors to address the complexity of emerging environments of innovation to draw meaningful conclusions which are not possible with mere observation. The results show how a favourable context, the broad adoption rate and the competition for talent and capital among regional-specialized clusters are boosting the advance of AI in China, mainly in the business to customer arena. Finally, the paper highlights the challenges ahead in the current implementation of the ecosystem that will largely determine the potential global leadership of China in this domain. • The paper aims to both expanding the knowledge about the AI ecosystem in China and contributing to the innovation ecosystems theory. • It also stresses how a qualitative approach is useful to tackle the complexity in emerging environments of innovation. • In addition, it allows the extraction of insights and gaps that are not directly available from a quantitative analysis of the ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A circular economy maximizes the value of material resources and minimizes greenhouse gas emissions, resource use, waste and pollution. We will posit that circularity needs to be understood as a property of a system (e.g., the mobility system of a city), rather than a property of an individual product or service (e.g., a car or a car-sharing service). Hence, there is a need for more knowledge on how to innovate towards 'circular ecosystems'. This study proposes a set of principles for 'circular ecosystem innovation', based on: 1) a concise literature review to retrieve recommended principles on how to successfully innovate in ecosystems, 2) a mobility case of circular ecosystem innovation to investigate how relevant and useful these principles are for circular oriented innovation. The case data include 20 interviews, workshop data and internal background documents. The identified principles can be categorized in three groups: 1) collaboration (i.e., how firms can interact with other organizations in their ecosystem to innovate towards circularity), 2) experimentation (i.e., how firms can organize a structured trial-and-error process to implement greater circularity) and 3) platformization (i.e., how firms can organize social and economic interactions via online platforms to achieve greater circularity). Future research may focus on identifying opportunities and barriers to applying these principles in different contexts than in the one that is investigated in the present study. • We present literature and a case on 'circular ecosystem innovation'. • Circularity is argued to be a property of a system, rather than a single product. • Circular ecosystems widen the lens of product and business model innovation. • We propose a set of recommended principles for circular ecosystem innovation. • Principles can be grouped into experimentation, collaboration and platformization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]