Ecosystems, parks and innovation centers: are there differences between them?

"Innovation" is considered a key vehicle for the development and growth of society. It emerges as a necessity, not only for private organizations but also for public agencies and universities. Although each of these organizations has its own innovative initiatives, it has been shown that the combined efforts of all three generate better results, in a model known as the triple helix (university, government, business).

While government-university-business collaboration is an initiative that has been in use for many years, the COVID-19 pandemic has given it a new impetus in a way never seen before. For example, the European Community has earmarked NextGenerationEU funds (approximately €750 billion) to help repair the economic and social damage, in pursuit of a greener, more digital, and resilient Europe. At the national level, the Spain Entrepreneurial Nation strategy has been launched, comprising 50 measures aimed at economic and social recovery with a 2030 horizon. The private sector has financed, with more than one billion euros, the creation and promotion of hundreds of startups so far in 2021 in Spain.

To promote innovation and technology transfer, the figure of "science and technology parks" emerged in the mid-20th century, both nationally and globally. For example, Spain currently has a total of approximately 60 parks, distributed mostly between Catalonia (12), Andalusia (10), the Basque Country (6), Valencia (6), and Madrid (5), according to the Association of Science and Technology Parks of Spain (APTE). Since their creation, these parks have been given many names, ranging from "technology park", "technopole", "research park" and "science park", all encompassed under the acronym "STP" (science and technology park) according to the International Association of Science and Technology Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP).

The multiplicity of names, their diversity, and the similarities in their operation have led to confusion both for the founders of the parks and for those who are actively involved in them. In their implementation process, park founders tend to make mistakes in operation, design, or strategy that lead to the parks functioning as something different from how they are presented. In turn, the users who will be part of them, through a name that does not correspond to the services offered by the park, may feel frustrated because they cannot obtain the expected benefits from it. In this sense, it is considered that identifying each type of park with its own characteristics and target audience is a fundamental aspect when designing collaborative innovation spaces.

The Innova Institute of La Salle-URL has taken up this problem and proposes an analysis of the different names that innovation spaces receive, their characteristics, and scope, by way of a "glossary". They are presented as a guide to guide entrepreneurs, institutions, and public organizations, to define what they can find in each of the different spaces, helping to optimize innovation efforts. At the same time, examples are given for each case, focusing on Barcelona, a city recognized as one of the leaders in innovation at a global level for events such as the Smart City Expo World Congress and the Mobile World Congress, or those experienced during the pandemic: the BCN Tech Spirit, the BNEW - Barcelona New Economy Week and the TDD4Future.

FOR ENTREPRENEURS, INVESTORS, UNIVERSITIES AND ESTABLISHED COMPANIES

An entrepreneur faces different stages throughout the development of a venture. The first of these is ideation, i.e., defining the idea to be implemented and the business model needed to make it profitable. Universities have programs that stimulate creative thinking and innovation, which aim to enhance the entrepreneurial capacity of students.

Now, if the entrepreneurs' idea has the potential to scale quickly thanks to its high technological content (i.e., grow exponentially), they can participate in a startup accelerator. These organizations aim to accelerate startup growth through support programs, funding, and agile development models. They are very useful when you need to validate ideas and products, test and develop models, increase market access and resources. Some examples are SeedRocket and Conector. But it is important to know that within incubators and STPs there are also acceleration programs.

When the entrepreneur already has the idea defined and has started operations, he/she can apply to Technology Incubators or Innovation Centers. These provide space in multi-tenant buildings for new and small companies (startups). Their purpose is to help them grow by offering support in business management issues and by renting office space temporarily, without the need to incur capital investments. They usually have between ten and 20 small offices, conference rooms, and common areas, and in turn, have staff to take care of secretarial, administrative, and organizational tasks, under a relatively advantageous contract for tenants. Some examples are 3D Factory  Incubator or Demium.

If the entrepreneur operates as an independent professional (freelancer), he/she can participate in coworking spaces (CWS). These are usually large open offices, where freelancers share resources, facilities and interact with the rest of the community by sharing ideas, knowledge, and experiences. In CWS, interaction is a key factor in developing creativity. Its main value lies in the promotion of innovation processes, through the generation, promotion, and implementation of ideas. Some examples are Utopicus and The office coworking Barcelona.

FOR ENTREPRENEURS, STARTUPS, INSTITUTIONS, UNIVERSITIES, AND PRIVATE COMPANIES.

Science, technology, research, and innovation parks share many similarities and several differences between them. The boundaries between each of these are not clear, so the Innova Institute of La Salle-URL has tried to summarize their main characteristics.

The main activity of the research park is to generate the link between the academic and industrial sectors, focused mainly on cutting-edge technologies. Its operation is related to the creation of knowledge. It is usually an initiative motivated by an academic institution, intending to generate an advance in scientific and technological knowledge, research, and product development, over and above the generation of income for space rental purposes. It involves high quality, low-density physical location, as well as the interaction between academics, researchers, commercial organizations, and entrepreneurs.

The science park is also usually located on or very close to a university campus, with a facility that is suitable for knowledge-based businesses. Here, business development is as important as pure research. It may have prototype production facilities as well as certain types of administrative and clerical activities. Formal research links between the university and tenant firms may, in practice, be relatively slight, although informal relationships engendered by physical proximity may be significant. Professional and technical employees dominate the workforce.

The technology park is designed to bring together a collection of high-tech industrial enterprises engaged in the commercial exploitation of advanced technologies. In turn, it provides administrative functions, offices, and a wide range of ancillary services. Research is less than in the previous cases, but they have light manufacturing processes, sales, and large-scale services. They are located in attractive, well-landscaped environments, within the catchment area of a university or research institute. Technology parks are home to highly skilled administrative and production professionals, scientists, engineers, and technicians.

Fourth, the science and technology park (STP)/innovation park is a tool that brings together industry and academia in an environment where interaction is encouraged and knowledge exchange between companies, universities, and the market is favored. They traditionally focus on the creation and promotion of new businesses, incorporating incubator facilities in their spaces.

Some examples of science, technology, innovation or research parks in Catalonia include La Salle Technova, Barcelona Activa, Parc de recerca UPF, ESADE Creapolis, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Parc Científic i Tecnològic Agroalimentari de Lleida, Parc Tecnològic Tecnoparc Reus, Parque Tecnológico TecnoCampus, Orbital 40 – Parc Científic i Tecnològic de Terrassa, and Parc de Recerca Biomédica de Barcelona (PRBB).

Finally, the Innovation Hub is an independent physical entity with three specific competencies: idea generation, incubation, and acceleration. It is a center for research and development of innovative ideas that act as a catalyst to transform ideas into viable solutions. There, innovative activities are significantly more frequent than in the surrounding geographic area. There is also a strong linkage and knowledge transfer to its geographical vicinity. One example is Barcelona Tech City.

Many of the services offered by innovation parks and hubs are incubators, coworking, acceleration, and internationalization programs, as well as knowledge transfer between universities or research centers and industry.

AT THE REGIONAL OR NATIONAL LEVEL

Ecosystems have become a central element in the economic growth strategies of each region and of a wide variety of sectors and companies that comprise it. The main categories include business, innovation, entrepreneurship, knowledge, and smart city ecosystems.

The business ecosystem is an economic community supported by a base of organizations and individuals that interact with each other, producing goods and services of value for customers, who are usually members of the same community. Suppliers, lead producers, competitors, and other stakeholders participate. Over time, they co-evolve their capabilities and roles and tend to align with the directions set by one or more central companies.

The innovation ecosystem is considered as a set of collaborative arrangements between organizations that combine their complementary resources in pursuit of developing an innovative customer-oriented solution. One of the particularities of these ecosystems is that they are supported by information technologies that allow the flow and integration of each member's knowledge efficiently, improving innovation results and reducing coordination costs. An example is the Massachusetts ecosystem

The entrepreneurship ecosystem is a complex socioeconomic structure that functions through actions and interactions of individuals with each other, in a dynamic process. It is based on the entrepreneurial attitude, capacity, and ambition of the individuals that compose it, who channel resources for the creation and operation of new businesses. It allows the private sector, social actors, public administration, the market, local talent, universities, and investors to act together to create wealth in a region. Examples are the ecosystems of  Singapore and Israel.

The knowledge ecosystem is based on the flow of tacit knowledge between companies and the mobility of people that is achieved thanks to the geographic co-location of these hotspots. Local universities and public research organizations play a central role in their development.

Finally, without being a fully defined concept, smart cities are cities that require quality services for the lives of their residents. They are characterized by the use of ICTs (information and communication technologies) in the implementation and development of their services. They also include social or ecological dimensions that expand the technological scenario, adding social value through innovation, creativity, and the promotion of governance spaces. Here is a ranking of 10 cities considered smart cities.

The social change generated by the COVID-19 pandemic requires the collaborative work of the whole of society (as a whole) to face the challenges of the present and those of the future. Today, more than ever, human organizations with a great capacity for change are required to develop innovative and environmentally sustainable products or services. It is therefore of significant importance to know all the options offered by the market concerning "how and where" to carry out the innovative efforts of each individual or organization. Knowing the characteristics of each type of ecosystem or technology park, with its functionalities and advantages, will allow making better use of its services, which enhances the innovative impulse. It is not that each space is exclusive to one organization or another, the diversity of them contributes to the development of the environment. However, each of the options is intended for certain types of organizations, therefore, it is significantly valuable to have knowledge of each of them and thus decide which is the best way to promote innovation and meet business objectives.

This article was written by Alessandra Giglio Hirtenkauf, John Sanabria, Carina Rapetti, Juan Nihoul and Katalina Soto.