 Skåne Regional Innovation - A Value Network Perspective describes a value network evaluation performed in the region Skåne of Sweden in the time period April 2009 to June 2009. The goal of the evaluation was to explore the regional innovation system from the perspective of a group of approximately 50 companies providing supporting activities in this system. The specific aims of the evaluation were to:
- Learn more about how the intermediates in regional innovation system (RIS) function
- Provide participants in the RIS with a whole systems view
- Explore potential benchmarking directions
- Identify basic policies and procedures that support the RIS effectively
- Specify how collaboration technology can better support the RIS
The Value Network Strategy Model was used as a lens for structuring the evaluation. An iterative process consisting of a web crawl, a website analysis, and a web survey was completed to identify the basic value network archetype existing to support the regional innovation system and to provide insights into potential governance frameworks and support tools. The insights gained were validated twice in face-to-face systemic meetings with the participating organizations.
Findings
Project lead Carin Daal sumarized the findings from the report in Skanes Innovation Capacity-A Situation Analysis dated December 8, 2009.
One of the main conclusions of the study is that the organisations involved in the innovation system are generally trying to achieve the same goals and objectives and therefore have a common basis on which they can continue to build. The innovation system also adheres to basic underlying forms of cooperation and innovation, as evidenced in previous studies.
One problem that may be adduced from the analysis is that the organisations within the innovation system have no clear picture of their own role in the system. This conclusion is based on the fact that the investigation indicates that the organisations see themselves as playing a wide range of roles within the system. This means that there is a need to clearly specify the various specific roles of the organisations, and to ensure that each role is assigned a given organisation. The investigation also points to the need to heighten the profile of some of the organisations involved. One possibility is that some of the more established participants can act as mentors for the others so that the rate of development of the system can be accelerated as a result.
The analysis also demonstrates that there are shortcomings in the international cooperation aspect of Skåne's innovation system, and that the work of only a small proportion of the participants involves a global focus. This became apparent when the team inspected the websites. They turned out to have very few non-Swedish contacts, and the websites were generally in Swedish. In addition the organisations involved had to answer questions on the kind of focus their work involved – was it local, regional, national, or global?
A major conclusion from the study is therefore that a more open and welcoming culture should be created to entice international organisations to join the system. The study also points out that on their websites the participants have not communicated their own business model to the reader, that there is no transparent innovation process within the system or between the organisations, and that cooperation between the participants within the system often leaves much to be desired. According to the report, therefore, there is a need to set up a clearer cooperation platform within the innovation system in order to build bridges between the participants within the system, as well as to develop a joint website. This latter may also act as a channel for other regional innovation systems to integrate with the Skåne innovation system.
The study also indicates a need to refine and deepen the analysis of the innovation system to give a more precise definition of what represents “best practice,” as well as to produce indicators, since these, according to the analysis, are something that are currently lacking.
Technical Overview
Starting with 48 participating organizations the web crawl of linked URLS identified 154 organizations participating in the regional innovation system. A Value Network Analysis (VNA) of the websites of the 48 organizations identified approximately 1300 transactions, linking over 40 roles and 50 deliverables. Each of these transactions was also allocated to one of the four asset types: business relationships, structure, competence, financial. An additional web survey was completed by 31 organizations and led to an integrated value network with approximately 1300 transactions and 7 Roles and 480 Deliverables. An Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) performed on the basis of the survey responses yielded approximately 600 transactions, with 53 participants. An aggregated value network was created based on all separate analyses performed and consisted of approximately 20,000 transactions and 57 Roles. The generated networks were evaluated using the social network analysis tools Ucinet and Pajek, and the ValueNetworks.com application for Value Network Analysis.
The aggregated value network was then assessed based on a maturity and supportability model and ranked against various comparable regional innovation systems (e,g. the Oulu region in Finland), commercial community based companies (e.g. YouTube), and selected value network case studies (e.g. the Mayo Clinic Procedure Scheduling). This ranking provides the Region Skåne Innovation Forum with a foundation for defining its strategy moving forward.
Read the full Reports: | 
