Key words: technological prospective, knowledge management, regional development.
Introduction.
In the coming years, the success of regional development policies will depend on the actions to be implemented, supported by all the agents involved, capable of guiding the effect of innovation for the long term.
Innovation processes constitute an opportunity for the regions of emerging countries to develop. In turn, these processes represent a threat, since they can increase the distance from the regions that have reached a higher level of development. This leads such countries to rethink their development policies, specifically their regional development policies.
On the other hand, it is seen the intention to undertake studies related to knowledge management and innovation of projects aimed at regional development in Latin American countries, as well as the search for projection models and conformation of the possibilities and mechanisms of knowledge transfer necessary to support innovations in a given region.
In this context, a theoretical model of development management valid for various sectors in a given region is presented. This theoretical model of knowledge management, established in the networks built between the agents (nodes) involved in the interactive projects developed by the R&D organizations of a given sector. The model must finally be useful, so that the transfer of knowledge is analyzed - and its best use, privileging regional spaces - and for the projection of regional knowledge networks.
For this purpose, the various forms of regional conglomerates are presented, such as poles, technology parks, clusters, business networks, conglomerates. Consequently, some concepts related to the transfer of knowledge are presented. Next, a regional application model will be presented in a given context.
Fig. 1.- Regional / sectoral development model activated by the demand for knowledge.
1 Regional Development and Competitive Advantage.
The new concept of Competitive Advantage emphasizes regional spaces as the new protagonists of development, which motivates their study through approaches such as regional innovation systems, innovation networks, knowledge networks, triple helix, among others.
A new production model has been reconfigured, moving from a model based on production and economies of scale, to one based on distribution and economies of scale according to the requirements of a market with increasing demands.
This trend has been reflected in the formation of various conglomerates of companies - spontaneous or induced - that promote agglomeration economies and the intensity of interactions. Within these interactions, emphasis will be placed on those that seek and / or facilitate the flow of knowledge, since knowledge, together with creativity, is the greatest input for innovation and the development of new products.
The new competitive advantage of a region is the knowledge available in it, the ways in which knowledge exchange, regional training and learning are facilitated, productive chains (in some sectors), available financing, infrastructure and telecommunications. It is also expected that there is a vision of the future shared by the actors. So that development strategies are sustainable over time.
There is a perceived trend towards greater participation of the regions in the design of their own development. This is because the greater integration that is generated, at the base coinciding with what Cooke et (1997) call «development from the bottom up». Regional development is the subject of many studies in its most diverse forms. Among these can be identified: innovation networks, knowledge networks, technological poles, modernization poles, parks and business incubators. All are characterized by the existence of regional concentration and by the occurrence of exchanges, the results of a larger contact enroll participants from the same sector and space.
On the other hand, Cooke (1999) has identified some characteristics common to all regional economies: agglomeration, institutional learning, associative government, interactive proximity and innovation economies.
And it is mainly small and medium-sized companies that seek knowledge through their interaction with the university.
Agglomeration economies.
Agglomeration economies are established in the proximity of the agents of a certain region and determine the complementary sectors. Such proximity stimulates exchanges of knowledge.
Institutional learning.
Institutional learning is reflected in the "learning organization", in the way in which companies or organizations organize themselves to capture the exogenous knowledge necessary for their operation, as well as the ways to give learning, at the local level.
1.1 Forms of regional agglomeration.
Technological pole.
A technological hub consists of a conglomerate of specialized companies located in a certain region.
Technological Park.
A technology park constitutes a conglomerate of companies from different sectors previously planned and with the development of an architectural project, an orientation and characterization of the previous park. As an example, Tromso Science ParK, located in Norway, has at least three areas of interest.
Cluster
Clusters are agglomerations formed spontaneously by companies in a certain economic sector. In relation to clusters, Porter (1998) argues, coinciding with Altenburg & Meyer Staner (1999), that they are common among traditional small companies and in labor-intensive activities. It is a social factory based on shared values through interactions, where the dissemination of knowledge and innovation is facilitated. The lack of entrepreneurial spirit, lack of trust and barriers to shared information have been identified as the biggest bottlenecks in a cluster.
2 Innovation, creativity and knowledge.
Innovation is increasingly seen as a systemic process in which multiple agents participate. Thus, the company, in order to seek the necessary knowledge for the development of new products, resorts to interactions with other companies, suppliers, universities, research institutions, among others.
Peters (1997) highlights the importance of moving away from «commodities» for the survival of companies, by adding value through continuous innovation processes.
The knowledge obtained by companies through their interactions with organizations in their environment constitutes the crucial element for the innovation of services, processes and products. According to Cooke et (1997), innovation is increasingly seen as a systemic process with diverse flows and directions of information circulation and with the participation of multiple agents. For them, an institutional change in the field of production, consumption and society is considered innovation. In an era where knowledge is the greatest asset, the intellectual capital of organizations is the basic element of their competitive strategies. From this it follows that there is a close relationship between knowledge and innovation. Thus Merino (2003) has in creativity is an element that,according to its relationship, it allows the link between knowledge and innovation: knowledge + creativity = innovation. This focus coincides in part with the Rutten & Oosten (1999) model that establishes links in the form of three circles with their respective interfaces: generation of knowledge, development of capacities and technology, and innovation.
3 Demand and transfer of Knowledge.
Taking into account that what circulates through such networks is something as subtle and as intangible as knowledge, it is essential to typify it. By doing this, you have subjects to study the bilateral mechanisms of knowledge transfer that, in their growth and reticular integration, form knowledge and innovation networks. It is also important to identify the ways in which knowledge networks are formed and developed over time. In relation to time, Bloedon & Stocks (1997) present a conical growth model of interaction that is valid for the particular case of university-business interaction. Finally, a methodology for the evaluation and projection of knowledge networks is presented.
* It is also important to note that the computer and microelectronics are considered characteristic artifacts of the knowledge society, elements that are found or have application in any industry or service, thus diluting the distinction between "high tech and low tech".
- Types of knowledge.
Mainly what flows between agents (nodes) through such networks is knowledge, which has begun to become a fundamental input for innovation and the generation of new products, processes and services in a given region. The need to typify this knowledge appears, to be able to identify it properly in the course of the processes and for its exchange. It is perceived that different types of knowledge require different channels and processes of learning and transfer.
Tacit knowledge is that which has been accumulated over time and is the result of practices carried out in a company or in an R&D organization, this knowledge is generally embedded in people and can only be transferred through personal interaction between the "teacher and the apprentice". Such knowledge is given through lessons: it is practical and is acquired in which to do daily (learning by doing). Merino (1998) presents a case of university-company interaction, where a laboratory develops a «FRAES» system that incorporates information from experts on the subject of design and automatic selection of pipelines for the transportation of oil from the seabed to the surface in a university-business interaction practice.
Articulated or explicit knowledge is that available in manuals, in the documents of the organizations, in the texts. It is susceptible to acquisition through the reading and analysis of documents. It can also be placed in files available on the internal network of computers (intranets). It is important to point out that it is the nature of knowledge that is important and not the way it is made available or filed.
Nonaka (1997) highlights the importance of the conversion of tacit knowledge into other forms of articulated and tacit knowledge, as well as forms of conversion of articulated knowledge into tacit and articulated knowledge. According to this author, knowledge is present in these two forms and the success of innovation is highly determined by the ability to establish links, incorporating these two types of knowledge in a clear way in their conversion processes.
- Knowledge transfer and mapping.
Knowledge through their movements through networks, makes knowledge spaces appear, through a system of interactions (zetas) between the main agents (knots). To identify the dynamics that occur in the generation, transmission, and dissemination of knowledge through various channels, and to better evaluate the transfer, some projects or interactions developed by anchor organizations, thus called the main R&D organizations, or universities that generate the knowledge to be transferred.
The transfer of knowledge is characterized by the multidirectionality of its orientations and the variation of these over time. However, for the purpose of simplifying the analysis undertaken here, two nodes (organizations) of the network are incorporated into the transfer study, the process thus, in accordance with Bonaccorsi & Piccaluga (1997), can be analyzed according to three stages:
- a) The generation - stage that occurs in the source organization of knowledge and where the objective is to identify the potential of the knowledge to be transferred and the own available knowledge that will be transferred. b) Transmission - occur at the interface between two organizations. As soon as the characteristics of the knowledge were identified, the best measures for its transmission are defined. C) Propagation - occurs in the organization receiving the knowledge and aims to determine the impact of the knowledge acquired in the technological core or «court business »Of the company.
Rutten & Oosten (1999) consider, alternatively, the following stages: knowledge development, including basic research, strategy and applied research, development work and practical research; the dissemination of knowledge, called extension and education; and the use of knowledge, called the introduction of new work practices, techniques and technologies.
In order to supervise the transfer of knowledge in the regional context, it is convenient to make use of a knowledge map, once this element has been structured it will allow the knowledge available in a defined region or sector to be identified. A knowledge map presents a holistic view according to areas and experts in each area.
Having the methodology for preparing a knowledge map, the availability of knowledge within a sector or region must be identified. Within a region and a certain sector, the participatory design of a sector development policy in that region will be very useful. By identifying the availability of knowledge you can clearly determine its degree of use; to evaluate its impact on the technological core of the region through improvements in products, services and processes; to design mechanisms for the transfer and dissemination of this knowledge, and thus detect the need for new knowledge.
This is intended to relate available or offered knowledge to that demanded in the future.
Fig. 2 temporality of the knowledge maps.
| Present | Future | |
| Knowledge offer | Schematic diagram | Technological prospective |
| Demand for Knowledge | Diagnosis | Technological prospective |
Source: self made.
Knowledge maps also have a dynamic character, variable in time; being the stages for its elaboration the following:
- a) determine the existing knowledge in a sector in a region; b) identify the regional or sectoral technological nucleus, that is, determine what is the preeminent technology in the region. The technological core is related to competitive advantage. Here, one will identify in the region and the sector under analysis which are the products and processes where it has a technological trajectory and in which it would have a competitive advantage. C) Prepare a taxonomy of the knowledge existing in the region in relation to the nucleus technological. Here, knowledge is classified by areas, establishing an indicator of proximity to the technological nucleus; d) In each area, those who participate in this knowledge, published and taken through the courses carried out, begin to identify patents if they would havelines of research, procedures developed. It is important to perceive that there is tacit and codified knowledge; e) the knowledge disaggregated according to the areas is systematized by means of the indicators of its accumulation and recorded in the database. Both for this stage and for the previous one there are several applications of informatics - such as Leximappe f) the maps of knowledge by means of schematic diagrams formed by four quadrants can be presented: the first represents the central themes of the strategic nucleus of the system, then find the themes that are gradually ceasing to be central; in the third, peripheral and poorly developed topics; in the fourth quadrant, those related to topics with promising new lines of research.It is important to perceive that there is tacit and codified knowledge; e) the knowledge disaggregated according to the areas is systematized by means of the indicators of its accumulation and recorded in the database. Both for this stage and for the previous one there are several applications of informatics - such as Leximappe f) the maps of knowledge by means of schematic diagrams formed by four quadrants can be presented: the first represents the central themes of the strategic nucleus of the system, then find the themes that are gradually ceasing to be central; in the third, peripheral and poorly developed topics; in the fourth quadrant, those related to topics with promising new lines of research.It is important to perceive that there is tacit and codified knowledge; e) the knowledge disaggregated according to the areas is systematized by means of the indicators of its accumulation and recorded in the database. For this stage as well as for the previous one, various computer applications are available - such as Leximappe.f) Knowledge maps using schematic diagrams formed by four quadrants can be presented: the first represents the central themes of the strategic nucleus of the system, then find the themes that are gradually ceasing to be central; in the third, peripheral and poorly developed topics; in the fourth quadrant, those related to topics with promising new lines of research.e) the disaggregated knowledge according to the areas is systematized by means of the indicators of its accumulation and recorded in the database. Both for this stage and for the previous one there are several applications of informatics - such as Leximappe f) the maps of knowledge by means of schematic diagrams formed by four quadrants can be presented: the first represents the central themes of the strategic nucleus of the system, then find the themes that are gradually ceasing to be central; in the third, peripheral and poorly developed topics; in the fourth quadrant, those related to topics with promising new lines of research.e) the disaggregated knowledge according to the areas is systematized by means of the indicators of its accumulation and recorded in the database. Both for this stage and for the previous one there are several applications of informatics - such as Leximappe f) the maps of knowledge by means of schematic diagrams formed by four quadrants can be presented: the first represents the central themes of the strategic nucleus of the system, then find the themes that are gradually ceasing to be central; in the third, peripheral and poorly developed topics; in the fourth quadrant, those related to topics with promising new lines of research.Both for this stage and for the previous one there are several applications of informatics - such as Leximappe f) the maps of knowledge by means of schematic diagrams formed by four quadrants can be presented: the first represents the central themes of the strategic nucleus of the system, then find the themes that are gradually ceasing to be central; in the third, peripheral and poorly developed topics; in the fourth quadrant, those related to topics with promising new lines of research.Both for this stage and for the previous one there are several applications of informatics - such as Leximappe f) the maps of knowledge by means of schematic diagrams formed by four quadrants can be presented: the first represents the central themes of the strategic nucleus of the system, then find the themes that are gradually ceasing to be central; in the third, peripheral and poorly developed topics; in the fourth quadrant, those related to topics with promising new lines of research.then there are the themes that are gradually ceasing to be central; in the third, peripheral and poorly developed topics; in the fourth quadrant, those related to topics with promising new lines of research.then there are the themes that are gradually ceasing to be central; in the third, peripheral and poorly developed topics; in the fourth quadrant, those related to topics with promising new lines of research.
Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of knowledge.
| two
Themes ceasing to be central |
Density 1
Central themes Centrality |
| 3
Peripheral and poorly developed themes |
4
Promising themes |
Source: (callón et al, 1991)
Once these six (06) stages are satisfied, the strategic diagram may be finalized, determining the supply of knowledge in a region or sector.
Continuing through a Delphi diagnosis and methodology, the demand for knowledge is characterized according to specific topics. After this, a balanced oscillation between the supply and demand of knowledge is expected.
Fig. 4 balance between supply and demand of knowledge
This comparison makes it possible to establish and improve the mechanisms for the transfer and dissemination of knowledge in a given context. To carry it out, the following table can be provided:
Fig. 5 Present demand and supply of knowledge according to topics
| Themes | Offer | Demand | Actions |
| Central | |||
| Ceasing to be central | |||
| Peripherals | |||
| Promising |
Source: self made.
In the column of actions are the decisions to be made. Likewise, assuming that supply exceeds demand, it could excite a greater demand for this knowledge through technology transfer or mini-plants, if possible; in the opposite hypothesis, the offer would have to be extended, through the generation of knowledge, or it would have to be from identified external sources of knowledge.
It is also necessary to identify the knowledge transfer processes that have occurred or are occurring according to each topic, as shown below.
Fig. 6 Knowledge transfer according to topics.
| Themes | Transmitter | Receiver | Project or framework |
| Central | |||
| Ceasing to be central | |||
| Peripherals | |||
| Promising |
Source: self made.
4.- Future and prospective dimension.
The knowledge map, in addition to its present dimension, also presents a future dimension, in which the projection of the demand and supply of knowledge is made through the planning of future scenarios in relation to: technological trajectories, global and local trends and consolidation of competitive advantages.
In order to obtain and adequately process information external to their business environment, companies structure their own Competitive Intelligence (SIC) systems - a system of activities to control a company's external environment, which collects and analyzes the information in the market, technology, external clients and competitors, trends, political and socioeconomic - useful for defining your evolution strategies. The literature presents other terms with small variations, among them: Competitive Intelligence, Business Intelligence, Economic Intelligence, Technological Monitoring, Technological Surveillance, Surveillance and Scientific Technique, Concurrent and Commercial Surveillance, technological prospective (Pozzebon et al., 1997).
At the time of the projection of a regional knowledge network in a certain region, it will be necessary to facilitate the formation of a technological prospective center, which will carry out the monitoring of markets and new technologies in the specialization sectors of the region.
The permanent need to search for information and give it the appropriate treatment for the characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises - SMEs cannot be forgotten. The diverse sources of specialized information (Campello & Campos, 1993) allow the state of the art to be identified, adjusting them to their particularities. The specialized services obtain the information from the appropriate provider with high added value or have developed an interactivity of possible intelligence or knowledge generation. In Brazil, the recent outbreak of information networks, such as the Information Network for Small Businesses and Micro-enterprises of Mercosur - Redsur- (Barreto, 1996), the Technological Promotion and Business Information system. (Valenti, 1996), the Latin American Organization of Micro, Medium and Small Business - Olamp,the Sebrae network (service to help Micro and Small Enterprises) and the Network of Information Technology Nuclei (coordinated by the Brazilian Institute of Information on Science and Technology), among others, has contributed to the dissemination, mainly, of the culture of the use of information among micro, small and media entrepreneurs.
Some features seem particularly appropriate to contribute to a more effective planning process concentrated on a regional scale. Thus, it is necessary to think with a focus on the long term. The agents involved must be given information on possible scenarios for social evolution, economic and technological developments, and environmental issues that are not normally considered in current economic and territorial planning practices. In addition to this, an emphasis on long-term goals favors collaboration and a positive attitude, reducing the conflicts typical of daily operations.
It is also necessary to influence multidisciplinarity. Exercises such as those of technological foresight promote the participation of agents with different points of view, diverse competences and cultural bases, to facilitate reciprocal enrichment, adding value to the process of identifying objectives and priorities.
It is satisfying to give more attention to the process than to the result, that the exercise of the construction of visions is transformed into a collective and participative learning process capable of feeding and being fed from the position of various institutional competences of the agents, economic and social. On the other hand, it may take a considerable time of up to two or three years - to have ensured a degree of continuity than an in-depth analysis of attempts to analyze the issues and to debate the results. In this way, a planning process can be turned into an occasion to induce a change in the behavior of the agents, instead of identifying only the priorities and the objectives.
It is important to have convergence for one or more of the possible scenarios of the objective. The prospective consists of an interactive process that must define an objective and intends to shape the actions and use resources to work until their completion. In this way, shared planning, planning and vision prevents the formation of simple associations focused on specific interests and becomes an opportunity to learn and increase collective knowledge and intellectual capital on a local scale. These characteristics seem to provide an alternative to the limits identified in traditional planning systems.
The development of local innovation systems depends on the quality of the interaction between its agents (fig 1). In the traditional system, business associations, unions, local institutions, universities, SMEs, and large companies interact in pursuit of common goals and policies by formulating that define their particular interests. This focus drives regional policy in view of short-term objectives, with little strategic content and the consequent dispersion of resources.
The broadening of the perspective to which the results of a scenario-building exercise appears to contribute leads to a larger consensus on the need for options for a community and also to greater awareness of future challenges to be faced; Above all, more importantly, it induces the association process to a larger plan for generality planning directed better at operational aspects that occur in practice.
A different way of doing regional policy can thus derive the discussion between local agents in a larger plan. This can facilitate a common vision of the future and, therefore, the identification of politics and strategies capable of making solutions to structural problems appear more than to conjunctural ones, and thus focus resources can focus on clear objectives.
The priorities defined by the construction of a common space for future visions. Therefore, it seeks to stimulate the development of a community that learns and transform agents who defend interests into agents who are aware of local development.
In this way, with the discussion among local agents, it is expected that different ways of doing regional politics appear.
From the result of the foresight at the regional level, the determination will be adjusted, both the future demand and the future supply of knowledge. To carry out prospective you can follow some of the methodologies presented in the following table:
Fig. 7. Foresight methodologies:
| Method. | Focus | Advantage | Limitations | Appropriate use |
| Delphi survey. | Seeks the opinion of a large number of people | Free process of individual influences | Resource intensive | Test and confirmation, stimulate debate, engage the masses. |
| Stage construction | Construction of possible alternative futures. | Explore uncertainty, guide “no forecast” decisions | Imagination highlights the point of view of its creators. | Strategic contexts for organizations sensitive to external factors, identify interconnections. |
| Morphological analysis | Analyze the components of a system | You can find new combinations and possibilities, compare and contrast. | Look at the individual parts in parallel, you cannot do an exhaustive analysis of each part. | Structure thinking about a problem, look for new solutions. |
Source: adapted from Ortega (2003)
The scenario construction methodology consists of the construction of a number of internally constant visions of possible futures, combining what is available from the information and the factors of change (drivers), and expressed in this case as a narrative.
This methodology identifies possible futures, takes qualitative consideration into perspective, takes into account the discontinuities that can be presented, and takes the form of perspective stories that multiple actors can express in complex events.
The measure of a good scenario is that we are correctly identifying them in the future and that they will allow the company to make the best decisions in the present assumptions that presuppose, new ideas that become, developing a shared agreement, responses, effective strategies even in the face of circumstances. changing.
The key to the scenarios planning points would be: the number of scenarios identified, differentiation of the scenarios, identification of the possible scenarios, clear differentiation of the desirable scenarios from the probable extension of the scenarios, the emphasis of the narration.
To this end, the analysis of the scenarios consists of:
Stage 1: identification of the focal topic, the objectives of the exercise, secular horizon and adaptation of the participant.
Stage 2: analysis of the environment.
Stage 3: characterization of identification and factors of change
Stage 4: validation of the factors (drivers).
Stage 5: exchange (drivers) graduation function of the importance of the factors (drivers).
Stage 6: graduation of the function of the exchange of factors (drivers) critical uncertainties.
Stage 7: selection of the scenarios; stage 8: development of the scenarios
Stage 9: Assessment of the coherence of the scenarios.
Stage 10 of the scenarios: evaluation of the planning implications regarding the strategic scenarios.
Before proceeding to the respective narration, the scenarios are plotted and grouped according to the drivers. The importance of the theme grows vertically; while in the right-to-left orientation uncertainty increases.
Table 1: Grouping of drivers
More important
| BASE
Items in this quadrant appear in all scenarios (default items) |
DIVERSITY
The elements in this quadrant create the differences between the scenarios (critical uncertainties) |
| ENVIRONMENT
The elements in this quadrant provide the background in all settings |
DETAILS
The elements in this quadrant provide the background in some of the settings |
Less important
Source: Ortega (2003)
- Knowledge networks in regional spaces.
The regional focus, both on innovation and knowledge, is of increasing importance. Because as globalization continues and national disintegration occurs, the importance of local / regional components grows. According to Quandt (2000), the division between the more and less developed areas is increasingly the result of the relative capacity to innovate, to spread out and to apply knowledge.
In this context, the dissemination of knowledge through formal and informal networks is as important for economic development as its generation. For this reason, local agents and their action, the structures that support the use and extension of knowledge in the economy and the regional ties (Zetas) between them are essential for the existence of a local capacity to generate and to generate outwards. innovations, to absorb and maximize the use of relative technology of products and processes and, finally, to consolidate a common culture based on exchanges of knowledge. These mechanisms are characterized by being plural, thanks to a valorization of the base organizations of the regions.
The occurrence of consensus for the development of this type of mechanism is basic, especially when in some Latin American countries where the atavistic traces of the subsistence of a centralism - particularly in the Andean countries tends to immobilize the potential of regional knowledge and make decision while an initiative of the organs of a central government is delayed. For the study of these various elements described of the interactions in specialized literature, there is, for example, the actor theory, the triple helix, the regional / national systems of innovation, the networks of innovation and knowledge. In a context as presented,The focus of innovation and knowledge networks is the one that best adapts to the analysis of this problem and of attempts at regional development as the construction of networks of multiple actors.
This highlights the importance at the regional level of knowledge exchanges, which will have an increasing character in a given region, to the extent that the interactions are consolidated in a reticular and irregular extrapolation of the Bloedon & Stocks (1995) model of growth. of the bilateral interactions between two agents (knots). Local and regional agents are active and promote the established actions of knowledge-based technological development. As the decision to form a network is discussed and analyzed by local agents, it will have greater possibilities of acceptance.
Networks are chaotic and symmetrical structures consisting of knots and zetas that facilitate technological learning and that support the socialization and democratization of knowledge, which, in turn, leads to innovation and reduces uncertainty in the environment where innovative agents operate..
Innovation and knowledge networks are precursors to a Regional / National Innovation system. This would still be in the construction phase in emerging countries in Latin America, a fact that agrees with the thinking of Cooke et al (1997). For Casas et al. (2000) knowledge networks would be an alternative approach to regional innovation systems.
Knowledge networks facilitate interactions and knowledge transfer between multiple agents (knots) in a given regional and sectoral context. In a given region, the flow of knowledge between the university and R&D centers contributes to the formation of a critical mass of researchers, to the existence of learning processes, and to the democratization and socialization of knowledge.
In a graphic representation, we can identify the knots as the organizations or the reception of generation of the knowledge united by the Zetas, constant in the channels through which the knowledge flows. The network would be shaped by structuring in a reticular way the system of these bilateral relations
Such informal networks cover a regional space and are originated by the anchor organization, of knowledge generation. The referred regional space can achieve technological development as a result of the local accumulation of knowledge and the formation of networks.
Networks evolve over time where interactions are consolidated and new agents are integrated. It is equivalent to say that it has a dynamic character.
In their evolution, knowledge networks become innovation networks for the generation of regional innovation systems, as an integral part of national innovation systems.
According to DeBresson & Amesse (1991), networks supported by a common regional identity are generally more durable than strategic alliances, taking advantage of local proximity and common culture, facilitating the factors of tacit knowledge transfer.
The study of knowledge and innovation networks aims to perceive the agents (knots), the flows (zetas), their growth and / or extension, and power structures.
The study of networks also aims to identify improvements in services and products offered for companies that require technology, learning processes, problems decided in organizations as a result of interaction, increased knowledge and of the accumulated technological capacities in the organizations of the network, the assimilation and the propagation of the knowledge in the scope of the receiving organizations.
The creation of innovation and knowledge networks can be part of the public policy agenda in regional development strategies. In certain sectors with potential competitive advantages, they are chosen, which will be concentrated in regions where the generation of knowledge spaces that excite innovations and regional development are specified. Regional networks are oriented more towards technological and economic externalities that benefit the actors of a region.
The development of innovative regions is one of the challenges for Latin America. The intention of mobilizing local capacities to build synergies and achieve regional competitive advantages would have to be extensively analyzed, regarding the capacity to stimulate regional growth and to develop alliances, partnerships and technological agreements with outsiders, investing in networks, parks, incubators, university and R&D agencies. It is also important to consider the possibility of having international cooperation for developing countries.
On the other hand, the formation of a network is justified when the accumulated knowledge available in universities, in R&D organizations is identified and when it exists and can be generated to direct the demand for the use of such knowledge in products in order to maintain and consolidate internal and external markets. According to Johnson & Lundvall (1992) the interactive process involves a complex social learning process, which requires continuous interactions. On the other hand, deepening interactions requires continuous improvement of intercommunication codes. Consequently, the cooperative identification of pre-existing links between actors with complementary capacities constitutes an important advantage.The interactive nature of the learning process is also related to the proximity of the space.
Furthermore, and in accordance with the thinking of Cooke et al (1997), it is important to identify the propensity of regional agents to trust in the process of forming a sectoral network of innovation and knowledge. Decisions appear in a horizontal and upward direction, but this does not limit the existence and development of current offers.
The project of a network would also have to consider its sustainability over time, because it will be necessary to preserve social and natural capital, according to what is typified by Johnson & Lundval (2000) for the resources available for regional technological development.
Table 2: Resources available for regional technological development.
| Easily renewable resources | Hardly renewable resources | |
| Intangible Resources | Knowledge | Social capital |
| Tangible Resources | Production assets | Natural resources |
Fonte: Johnson & Lundvall (2000)
The formation of knowledge and innovation networks as suggested in this book should have two points of departure. For this, it is necessary to work in parallel with local organizations to motivate them and to get them to participate in a project that would bring benefits for the community and local development. On the other hand, in the countries of Latin America, where the bureaucracy and all public and private organizations make any initiative of this type slow and difficult; These have to be submitted to the government agencies whose objective is to register them in the projection of the aforementioned mechanism.
The way of managing and administering to guarantee the success of such a company must have units with a certain autonomy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- ACS, Z. (2000). Regional Innovation, Knowledge, and Global Change. (ed.) London, Pinter ALVAREZ, JC (2002) "Business Management in the Knowledge Society" in industrial Data 2002 (5) 2; UNMSM magazine. Lima - Perú.AUDRETSCH, D. (2000) “Knowledge, Globalization and Regions: An Economists perspective”, in Dunning, J. (ed) Regions, Globalization, and the knowledge-based Economy ”, Oxford, Oxford University Press.BENKO, G. (1996). “Novos Espaços Industriais e Tecnopolos: algumas reflexoes” Chapter 7 in Economia, espaço e globalização na aurora do século XXI, São Paulo, Nobel.DAVENPORT, T & PRUSAK, L. (1995) Working Knowledge, Hardvard Business School Press.EDVINSSON, L. & MALONE, M. (1996) Capital Intellectual, Editorial Norma.
TITLE: MANAGEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
AUTHOR: Ing. José Carlos Alvarez Merino. MsC. in Production Engineering. [email protected]
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