Regional Economic Growth and Open Innovation Platforms

Abstract

R&D is increasingly becoming globalized and implemented on a collaborative basis. It leads to the need for search of partners, resources, and ideas from outside the company. Currently authorities all over the world have a tendency to develop regional economic systems into regional innovation ecosystems. It in turn creates new challengers to the innovation intermediaries. The chapter is devoted to the search for ways to unite the innovation ecosystem concept with the theory of innovation intermediation, emphasizing specific types of innovation intermediation and fundamental mechanisms thereof, supporting incentives and the role in the innovation ecosystem. Hence, there needs to be a shift to the network organization of infrastructure that ensures a high level of participants' cooperation. Moreover, end-users of innovations are being considered as key actors in the innovation processes. The research results may be implemented into managerial practices in order to improve the competitiveness of regional economic systems.