Disruptive Innovation in Traditional Clusters: The Case of the Kerajet Ceramic Tile Cluster in Spain

Academic literature has often emphasized how firms in regional clusters exploit both place-specific local resources and external, world-class knowledge to strengthen their competitiveness by expanding the influence of regional systems of innovation. Innovation based on more complex and disruptive technologies tends to also be based on more open systems that utilize the clusters’ external networks. However, most of the literature has associated clusters with incremental innovation. This paper will analyze the determinants of disruptive innovation development in traditional (low and medium tech) clusters caused by high-tech entrepreneurs. It will analyze the case of the development of breakthrough innovation, its diffusion in the Spanish ceramic tile cluster, and its consequent diffusion in the industry worldwide. It will examine how market demands, customer orientation, technology diffusion from other industries, industry competitiveness, as well as internal and external networking of clusters can facilitate the development of complex technology within a common set of social capital goals, cognitive schemes, and knowledge. The paper is based on a case study and field work carried out over10 years in the field in the Italian and Spanish tile ceramic clusters. The main contribution of this paper to technology strategy theory will be thorough the utilization of the disruptive technology paradigm in explaining industry changes and sustainability.

TENDENCIES OF KNOWLEDGE-BASED REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN RUSSIA (EXAMPLE KEMEROVO REGION

<p>Economic development in its territorial aspect is uneven, which increases in time due to the path depend-ence effect. At the same time, development level of territories is sensitive to macroeconomic and global factors, including the genesis of so-called “knowledge-based economy”. The article contains an analysis of Russian’s knowledge-based economy at the mesoeconomic (regional) level in 2005 – 2015 in the Kemerovo region. The au-thor evaluates the key parameters of Russian Federation subjects’ development, including regional systems of innovation and education, ICT-infrastructure and environmental conditions of life. The study has proved that the back-ground of the knowledge-based economy in Russia (ICTs and ecological and health-saving infrastructures) displays a tendency toward convergence, whereas the core of knowledge-based economy (educational and innovation sys-tems) is characterized by a divergent trend. The differentiation of educational systems in Russian regions increased within the 10-year period, which means that the options for peripheral regions to shift to the knowledge-intensive development are steadily declining. The gap between leaders and outsiders (a vast majority of regions) of regional innovation system’s development is maximal. The author concludes that the conservation of liberal-orientated meso-economic policy in Russia will contribute to the shaping of an asymmetrical model of the knowledge-based economy.</p>

The citizen in the smart city. How the smart city could transform citizenship

Smart city-policy makers and technology vendors are increasingly stating they want to bring about citizen-centered smart cities. Yet, it often remains unclear what exactly that means, and how citizens are envisaged as actors in smart cities. This article wants to contribute to this discussion by exploring the relation between smart cities and citizenship. It aims to do this by introducing a heuristic scheme that brings out the implied notions of citizenship in three distinct sets of smart city visions and practices: The Control Room envisages the city as a collection of infrastructures and services; The Creative City views the city from the perspective of (economic) geography and ponders on local and regional systems of innovation; The Smart Citizens discourse addresses the city as a political and civic community. These smart city discourses are mapped against two visions on citizenship and governance taken from political philosophy. A `republican' perspective with strong presence in social-democratic countries is contrasted with a libertarian one, most prominent in Silicon Valley approaches to smart city technologies. This provides a scheme to reflect on potential benefits and downsides if a specific smart city discourse would develop. Instances of smart cities may promote notions of citizenship that are based on consumer choice and individual responsibility, alternatively they could also reinforce collective responsibilities towards the common good of society.