Why knowledge is now the prime commodity

Luis Sanz
Director General at IASP


Post date: Tuesday, 3rd January 2012

Luis Sanz, IASP director general and world coordinator of WAINOVA, discusses how the ‘network of networks’ evolved to keep pace with the growth of the information age.

The industry based economy, stemming from the industrial revolution in the late 18th century, continued to develop over the years, bringing with it new ways of working, introducing advances in technological and agricultural techniques and practices.

When this was reaching its peak in the mid 20th century, a new kind of revolution began to take place. This was comparable to a seismic movement within society, industry and economy, and the most visible element of this revolution was the use and implementation of ICT.

The internet was pivotal in these developments and suddenly allowed for an exchange of information at a much accelerated rate, and as a result the increase of knowledge in many domains moved at a speed unknown to humankind previously.

Another element of this movement was globalisation, enabling people to interact and trade with ease on a global level. These two elements, ICT and globalisation, are very much intertwined; ICT does not necessarily produce globalisation but it certainly enhances and facilitates it.

ICT creates and allows sharing of information and thus multiplies knowledge which can be disseminated on a global level. Globalisation is both a threat and opportunity. Being able to have the whole world at your fingertips instantly multiplied markets enormously, but on the same level, competitors could now enter the market before one even realised that they were there.

Those who were far away and could be ignored previously were suddenly there on the doorstep. Globalisation is not only reflected in the phenomenon of technological developments, but also in a social realm, allowing for human mobility, mass migration, and stimulating global political issues.

All of this resulted in a new form of economy, which is referred to as the Global Knowledge Economy. Although it has its roots in the industrial economy, this is something rather different.

Raw material

It is here where knowledge becomes the main asset to be used, not just used by companies, but also by people and society in general.

Knowledge becomes the raw material with which to work, and is used to produce knowledge-based products. Interestingly, knowledge has a radically different behaviour from other tangible raw materials. Contrary to, say, iron or oil, the more knowledge is consumed, the more knowledge there is!

This new form of global economy changes many things and has its own laws and demands.

It has many key elements for stimulating local and regional development, but it also requires a different sort of outlook. It has new types of companies, management and even workers, who are characterised by having much more education and training than before.

Employees of these knowledge-based companies have high-tech competences and skills and this new profile of worker has clear and inevitable consequences. They know more and thus they have more demands: good work conditions, quality of life, a greater responsibility in jobs and interaction with governmental policies. Putting all of this together creates a distinctive new scenario where ‘things happen’.

This is where truly competitive societies do not merely adapt to the changes around them, but they lead these changes, and channel the developments in a way that best suits them and their environment.

Societies and economies therefore must change and examine ways to move with the times in order to respond to the new demands of a new way of thinking. A rich idea that emerged in order to deal with the needs of the new knowledge economy was the concept of bringing everything together as close as possible. This meant putting the institutions and the people that create knowledge (universities and research organisations) together with those that need to use this knowledge as part of their business (entrepreneurs, companies, businessmen, etc).

This was almost a Copernican revolution – realising that there is an alternative way to view the panorama. In this case, it was the science/technology park (STP) that was designed as a new concept of space for economic activity, linking knowledgecreation and knowledge-use in one area.

The idea was to create appropriate spaces with relevant contents, where certain types of companies and institutions could feel comfortable and at ease; not just close physically but also operationally, all with a strong foundation in technology and knowledge.

The benefits to this system are on a very clear reciprocal basis. The creators of knowledge, such as the universities, realised that they could generate an income by selling this knowledge to clients/companies, who then benefit from implementing this knowledge in their systems and their work strategies, resulting in a win-win situation when it is organised well.

This result is beneficial for society in general and contributes significantly to the improvement of the local and regional economy.

It was instantly recognised as a good idea and the concept of STP spread around the world, although in varying stages and formats depending on the regional economy of where the park was located.

Although it caught on rapidly on an international level, naturally as soon as an idea like this expands and develops, so does its complexity. From the core notion of linking the knowledge producers and users, it was found that there were many other features that could be added.

It is these that ultimately define what a STP is, and differentiates it from the classic industrial estate.

Examples of these features are the presence of sophisticated and value-added services; participation in and access to global networks as a crucial tool to support and enhance internationalisation of companies (mainly SMEs); the existence of high quality infrastructures that can be used by these companies (such as offices, laboratories, etc.) and an overall improved quality of the architectural and urban design of spaces. This latter element was almost a natural consequence of STPs, which are projects with a ‘soft’ rather than ‘hard’ outlook, focusing on knowledge instead of manufacturing. Indeed, this also accounts for another basic feature of STPs – manufacturing is often banned or limited to a very small proportion of activity in the park. Therefore, this new concept of STPs which appeared in the 1950s in the USA has now conquered the world. Having said that, while all these parks have basic common denominators, there has been a great evolution and many different models have appeared where each park chooses to focus on specific elements.

Some concentrate on an ‘upstream’ strategy, targeting universities and research institutions, whereas others focus on working more closely with the companies. In the same way, one park may place looking after start-up companies as a priority, while another may prioritise the more mature companies. Other key areas of a park’s strategy may rely on whether there is a clear emphasis on a domestic dimension and targeting local and national businesses, whereas others prefer to develop interaction with international organisations.

Likewise, where some parks operate in an urban environment, others prefer to locate their park in less urbanised area. Naturally, although parks may choose one extreme or another, there are always a range of options in between, allowing for a balance of elements depending on what suits each park’s development strategy.

All of these choices, and the intersections of these, produce an enormous proliferation of models; rarely two parks will have exactly the same profile, yet all STPs recognise each other as peers, as just one concept responding to the same idea.

STPs discovered that by joining together in a network they can increase their efficiency, which is especially beneficial for their resident companies (effectively, these are their clients). They enjoy added services and support, and this is where IASP plays its role. IASP was created in 1984, around the same time as the sudden expansion of STP projects in Europe.

Although IASP initially started out with a mainly European membership base, members were immediately gained in many parts of the world. In 27 years IASP has become the largest and the only truly global association of Science and Technology parks. Formally IASP is an association, but operationally it is a very agile network. A network is a formidable multiplier of resources and this is what IASP aims to do, gathering an impressive amount of information provided by nearly 400 members in over 70 countries.

Not only that, but this membership represents in turn some 90,000 companies, the companies located in the parks, of which the overwhelming majority can be defined as being knowledge based – knowledge, innovation and technology define the very nature of STPs. IASP works on collecting all these resources and organises them in the most dynamic and appropriate way so that they are there for members to use and learn from. This is why the main guiding strategy of the association is known as the ‘Knowledge Leadership Strategy’.

Knowledge forms the fundamentals of all activities, and just as it is also essential for the companies and parks, knowledge is crucial for progress and development within the association and its members. Information is compiled, and then new information is generated by building on what resources are currently available, contributing to launching and enhancing STP projects.

IASP has intensive knowledge management activity within the association in combination with its other main activity which is managing the network. This means knowing the network inside out, and securing an efficient flow of information. IASP channels this information from its origin to the recipient that may need it, guiding members to help them find the right resources and people from any part of the globe for any particular projects or requests. But of course, the complexities of the knowledge economy demands from its actors as much collaboration as possible and this is why IASP, together with other major national and regional associations of science and technology parks have joined forces in what can be defined as a network of networks – WAINOVA, the World Alliance of Innovation.

WAINOVA comprises 26 associations of science/technology parks and innovationbased incubators from all over the world. By uniting, all these associations can learn from each other, working on better ways to serve their members, and can join efforts in their interlocution with political decision makers to make sure that the mission, role and importance of STPs is well understood in all regions of the world.

Together, these associations can guide the knowledge that is gained in the STP industry to the relevant people to make sure they have accurate and up-to-date information about what the protagonists of the knowledge economy need and demand. WAINOVA really is a great forum from which an incredible amount of information and new knowledge flows and where all members, and their respective memberships, can gain experience, enrichment and new ideas.

This article was first published in Global Trader Guide to Global Markets, Winter 2011/12. To read the entire publication, click the ebook.

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