Federal University of Ceara in Brazil, in collaboration with Ben-Gurion University in Israel, will hold a roundtable to discuss the issue of innovation as an instrument for the promotion of non-technological firms and services. The objective of the roundtable is to analyze the experience in this field from the perspective of academic research, government activities, and business experience. The final output will be the elaboration of public policy measures and insights for further research.

Theme

Innovation has been a main driver of economic growth in recent decades. However, it has a strong tendency to concentrate in high-tech activities and major metropolitan centers with higher levels of infrastructure and labor skills, leading to increasing gaps with peripheral regions and with economies based on more traditional activities (such as agriculture, most manufacturing sectors, and unskilled services). The inclusion of innovation as a significant element in the economic development of such regions or economies is vital to prevent such degradation. Peripheral regions are disadvantaged by lower accessibility to most ecosystem factors, but they also offer important advantages such as quality of life, less expensive land costs, and the potential skilled labor force. In addition, the adoption and adaptation of new technologies, production processes, organizational structures, marketing and financing models may significantly increase productivity in more traditional activities and improve the supply of better services in those regions. Research and empirical experience, such as those conducted and published in Ceara and Israel, may provide important inputs for responding to questions such as the types of innovation activities that may be most appropriate for peripheral regions, the relative importance of various ecosystem factors, and the required policy measures for optimal integration of innovation activities.

More information available at https://prointer.ufc.br/