Regional Value Generation Systems: identifying actions and priorities towards current development paths for priority sectors

The aim is to codify the process, identifying actions and priorities towards current development paths for priority sectors (e.g. biotechnology, energy, tourism, etc.) in different regions. The national innovation systems theory provides the theoretical framework that guided a series of studies.

The findings demonstrate that the sustainable development of a technology- or science-based sector does not depend on the original priorities or directions, rather the level of consistency of those policies and their continuous evolvement towards a complete systemic value generation system. However the selection of a path provides only limited scope for regional development. To exceed the limitations other approaches need to be integrated into the policies (e.g. networked innovation). The realisation of this evolutionary strategy may lead even a small nation or underdeveloped region to succeed.

A systems Dynamics methodology is proposed to simulate different scenarios of development.