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Knowledge Network Management in Technology Parks (Know-Man)
Start date: Dec 31, 2009, End date: Dec 30, 2012 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Know-Man improves regional development and spatial innovation policies by exchanging and transferring regional approaches, competencies and instruments of knowledge network management (KNM) to strengthen the regions global competitiveness. To achieve this goal, the partnership uses instruments developed for intra-firm knowledge management transferring them to a regional level. In business science, knowledge management helps to identify, mobilise, and combine implicit (person-bound) knowledge and competencies making it available for other employees in order to improve the firms competitiveness. In the project, such instruments (e.g. knowledge maps, benchmarking, action reviews) are implemented to identify and connect regional cross-sectoral and cross-institutional knowledge potentials within the participating regions.The project does not intend to introduce a new organisational level within the participating regions. Rather, it unites regional development stakeholders and decisionmakers (1. public authorities, 2. economic actors represented by technology parks, and 3. academic representatives) – altogether representing regional TRIPLE HELIX STRUCTURES – to create links between regional endogenous potentials in the knowledge economy. Know-Man specifically intends to improve policies in favour of innovative SMEs, because due to their limited financial and personal resources, SMEs face difficulties to successfully gain access to either regional or global knowledge networks. Each partner contributes to the projects objectives with rich experiences in strengthening the triple helix structure, in initiating links between enterprises and universities, or by having developed unique policies for innovative SMEs. Uniting these spatially separated experiences, knowledge and competencies, the partnership will be able to elaborate, transfer and publish policies supporting regional KNM. Technology Parks are an ideal partner for KNM as they were institutionalised by publicauthorities as a regional economic development & innovation instruments and have proven to be a motor for local economic development with a regional dimension.The projects activities have following objectives:1. strengthening the creative interaction in the knowledge–business–public triangle through an intensive involvement of triple-helix stakeholders2. identifying, publishing and transferring best practices KNM policies, instruments and tools and their transfer conditions, such as demand analyses, benchmarking KNM services, and regional knowledge atlases3. Implementing KNM in participating regions through pilot actions4. developing KNM policy instruments that accelerate the process of bringing new and innovative ideas from public R&D facilities to markets.The project supports and initiates regional innovation impulses and strengthens each regions competitiveness. Furthermore, the project develops KNM policies and instruments that can be transferred to other European regions. Achievements: Know‐Man aims at improving regional development and spatial innovation policies by using tools of regional Knowledge Network Management, using shared instruments at the one hand side and transferring practices between partners with expert tandems. In the past semesters, Know‐Man developed and worked with following knowledge network management instruments: 1 - Know‐Man Good Practices: For the Know-Man Good Practice Brochure 43 practices were summarized using the same structure including identification box, aims, and the practices central phases, as well as its interregional transfer potential. 2 - Demand Analysis: This analysis was implemented in each participating region and helped to identify further needs for linking economic and academic actors in technology parks and beyond. 3 - Knowledge Atlas: The Knowledge Atlas provides answers to questions like: Who provides what kind of knowledge and where can it be found? In contrast to many other information brochures for start-ups the atlases provide combined information on where to find business support, networking institutions, training, academic and research organisations. Last but not least, the partnership benchmarked services offered in technology parks that specifically support the linkages and networking among academic and economic contexts.Know‐Man work could already be integrated in the development of regional innovation strategies in the past. This semester intensified the work on translating project related activities to a more strategic level. In each region, round tables were initiated with the aim to discuss the KNM instruments used by the project consortium trying to establish these instruments within regions for the time after the official project closure. In case of Berlin, e.g., the knowledge atlas approach was integrated in a project proposal for the cooperation among Berlin and Warsaw. Additionally, the round tables also communicated the results of the implemented instruments in order to negotiate and find agreements with regional stakeholders to deal with e.g. the suggested actions in the demand analysis. At local and regional level, each partner is involved in an expert tandem or expert group, either as an expert for providing a Good Practice, or as a partner interested in transferring a practice. This semester was the prime time for the transfer of Knowledge Network Management practices within the project via expert tandems. As explained in the application, no practice can be transferred without adjustments and changes among regions. The Know-Man Tandems are very lively examples for that. The Roman partner started to implement the Berlin Transfer Café, WIWEX course established at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin became Ideas to Reality in Koroška. The business plan tandem became a small expert group uniting and comparing the regional approaches. The Slovenian partners then transferred ideas from different expert into their own business plan competition. Some other tandems realised during their cooperation the transfer difficulties related to the complexity of a practice. Therefore, the tandem on Soft Landing Services did develop a Service Blueprint as foreseen as well as implemented a tandem meeting. PP11, PP12, and PP15 already benefit from the deeper understanding of this practice, but will probably use this knowledge in other contexts. The tandem between PP12 and PP06/PP05 resulted in the knowledge that the polish partners do have a comparable practice like the Cartuja working breakfast. Instead of developing an implementation roadmap based on the developed service blueprint, both partner decided to develop a recipe book describing the ingredients for a successful working breakfast. A Similar process was observed with the Humboldt Innovation practice. Even though the implementation roadmap could not be finalised this semester, already the tandem work led to a letter of intent for a better cooperation among the partners.
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  • 78.2%   1 684 562,66
  • 2007 - 2013 Interreg IVC
  • Project on KEEP Platform
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14 Partners Participants