Adam Holbrook

Concerns over Canada's ability to compete in the global economy persist despite its relatively improved economic performance in recent years. The key to success in this global economy lies in our capacity to innovate - the ability to develop new, or significantly improved, services, products, production techniques, or management methods - and the capacity to sustain those innovations. The challenge of competing in a global, knowledge-based economy accentuates our need to understand how the innovation process operates in the context of Canada's diverse regional economies. Attempts to understand the nature of the innovation process, and to develop policy to support it, which are exclusively at the national level may founder on this problem of diversity. Policy and analysis in Canada, based on an innovation systems approach, must take into account the economic and social differences among the regions. infrastructure, a factor that strongly influences the innovative potential of regions across the country. Finally, case studies focusing on Quebec and British Columbia provide a detailed picture of the strengths and gaps of individual regional innovation systems. Written by members of the Innovation Systems Research Network (ISRN), a cross-national network of regionally oriented researchers, Innovation, Institutions and Territory provides useful insights for scholars and for policymakers at the federal, provincial, and subregional levels. Contributors include Frederic Allaert (Minolta, France), Tomas G. Bas, Robert Dalpe (Montreal), Sophie D'Amours (Laval), Jerome Doutriaux (Ottawa), Adam Holbrook, Lindsay Hughes, Marie-Pierre Ippersiel (CIRST), Rejean Landry (Laval), Candace Morrison, Richard Nimijean (RQSI and PRIME), Jorge Niosi (UQAM), Tim Padmore (UBC), Diane Poulin (Laval), David Rolland (UQAM), Udo Staber (New Brunswick), Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay (UQAM), and David A. Wolfe.

Innovation is increasingly recognized as the key to successful competition in the global knowledge-based economy. In Knowledge, Clusters and Regional Innovation the authors illuminate the highly differentiated nature of the innovation systems found across the country and demonstrate that innovation can occur in a wide range of sectors and clusters, ranging from multimedia and biotechnology in large metropolitan areas to more traditional sectors such as wood products in rural settings. Written by members of the Innovation Systems Research Network (ISRN), a cross-national network of regionally oriented researchers from a wide range of disciplines, Knowledge, Clusters and Regional Innovation provides important insights into the varied nature of innovation in the Canadian economy. The members of the network have recently launched a major study of cluster development across Canada that promises to provide scholars and policymakers with continuing insights into the nature economic development in Canada. Contributors include Neil Bradford (Huron University College), Shauna Brail (Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Ontario), John N.H. Britton (University of Toronto), Michael Gurstein (Technical University of British Columbia), J. Adam Holbrook, Cooper H. Langford (University of Calgary), Lisa Mills (Brown University), Jorge Niosi (Université du Québec à Montréal), Pierre Therrien (Marketplace Innovation Directorate, Industry Canada), Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay (Université du Québec), and David A. Wolfe.