"Global innovation networks: where is Europe?"
by Susana Borrás and Stine Haakonsson, Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Denmark, September 2009


Summary

During the past decades, large firms and especially multinational firms have been developing innovation networks with a true global reach. In these innovation networks, innovation is created in different locations and shared between different partners in order to open, adapt, maintain or exploit new market opportunities. The objective of this research is to investigate what are global innovation networks and what policy implications these trends pose for Europe. These early steps of the INGINEUS project scientific approach has been based on a literature survey and descriptive statistical data.

Global innovation networks are typically created on the top of pre-existing global production chains. Upstream and downstream interactions in these production networks are now complemented with co-creation of knowledge-intensive innovation-related activities.

Key messages for policy-makers, businesses, trade unions and civil society actors

Europe needs to gear its EU-level and national-level policy efforts to make Europe a true global hub in knowledge-intensive activities, becoming a genuine attraction pole. In particular Europe faces three challenges:

• To stimulate the inward and outward mobility of highly skilled workers
• To provide a single and cost-effective patent system in Europe 
• To improve knowledge capabilities within Europe