IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v6y2015i2p320-333.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional ICT Innovation in the European Union: Prioritization and Performance (2008–2012)

Author

Listed:
  • Alexander Kleibrink
  • Björn Niehaves
  • Pau Palop
  • Jens Sörvik
  • Basanta Thapa

Abstract

In the current programming period, European Union (EU) regions and member states that want to use European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) are required to develop innovation strategies for smart specialization (RIS3) based on the idea of rational strategic management. In order to explore the relationship between strategic policy design and policy performance, this article maps regional strategies for information and communication technologies (ICT) and their effects in the period 2008–2012. Furthermore, it generates suggestions for relevant case studies. We first conduct a quantitative analysis of the effects of ICT strategies and ERDF expenditure on regional ICT performance in Western European regions. ICT is a relevant priority for many regions, and it reflects EU priorities fostering ICT activities through regional development funds. Second, we propose a framework to categorize EU regions in the context of ICT policy based on the expected distribution of regional ICT performance. Our analysis covers 97 regions in 9 EU member states, out of which 29 have had a dedicated ICT strategy. In line with ideas of rational strategic management, our working hypothesis states that regions with a dedicated strategy should display better performance. However, our findings suggest that having a dedicated ICT strategy has not had a clear effect on performance in terms of Internet and broadband access, while allocating dedicated ERDF and other expenditure to Internet infrastructure has had a positive effect. At first sight, this questions the effectiveness of rational strategic management. Yet, more research is needed to assess the quality of ICT strategies and their fit with broader innovation agendas. It is indeed the degree of embeddedness of ICT in the regional innovation ecosystem that is likely to condition the effect of strategies on performance. To this end, our mapping indicates interesting case studies, and we suggest additional factors to be taken into account in future analyses. New insights into strategy design and performance will also be important to inform the implementation of the new generation of innovation strategies for smart specialization. Copyright The Author(s) 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Kleibrink & Björn Niehaves & Pau Palop & Jens Sörvik & Basanta Thapa, 2015. "Regional ICT Innovation in the European Union: Prioritization and Performance (2008–2012)," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(2), pages 320-333, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:6:y:2015:i:2:p:320-333
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-015-0240-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s13132-015-0240-0
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13132-015-0240-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kitschelt, Herbert, 1991. "Industrial governance structures, innovation strategies, and the case of Japan: sectoral or cross-national comparative analysis?," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 453-493, October.
    2. Henry Mintzberg, 1978. "Patterns in Strategy Formation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(9), pages 934-948, May.
    3. Herbert A. Simon, 1991. "Bounded Rationality and Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 125-134, February.
    4. Gordon Dabinett, 2001. "EU Mainstreaming of the Information Society in Regional Development Policy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 168-173.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2019. "ICT, Financial Sector Development and Financial Access," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(2), pages 465-490, June.
    2. Guido Migliaccio, 2019. "Disabled People in the Stakeholder Theory: a Literature Analysis," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(4), pages 1657-1678, December.
    3. Yang Liu & Yaojun Fan & Yifan Wang & Jiayu Huang & Hu Xun, 2024. "City innovation ability and internet infrastructure development: Evidence from the “Broadband China” policy," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(1), pages 121-146, January.
    4. Evgeniy Popov & Konstantin Semyachkov & Viktoriya Simonova, 2017. "The Influence of Information and Communication Technologies on the Regional Innovative Activity," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 6(1), pages 1-1, February.
    5. Simplice A. Asongu & Ndemaze Asongu, 2019. "The Role of Mobile Phones in Governance-Driven Technology Exports in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(2), pages 849-867, June.
    6. Abdullah Tirgil & Derya Fındık, 2023. "How Does Awareness Toward the Industry 4.0 Applications Affect Firms' Financial and Innovation Performance?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(2), pages 1900-1922, June.
    7. Carla Henriques & Clara Viseu, 2022. "Are ERDFs Devoted to Boosting ICTs in SMEs Inefficient? A Three-Stage SBM Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.
    8. Reggi, Luigi & Gil-Garcia, J. Ramon, 2021. "Addressing territorial digital divides through ICT strategies: Are investment decisions consistent with local needs?," MPRA Paper 105003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Faris Alshubiri, 2020. "Analysis of the Financial Model of the ICT Price Basket on Financial Development Indicators of GCC Countries," The Review of Socionetwork Strategies, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 147-170, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John K. Christiansen & Morten Wellendorf, 2021. "Exploring Opportunities with Experimental Use of Communicative Spaces to Overcome Defensive Routines and Increase Information Systems Utilization," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 34(6), pages 713-750, December.
    2. Xueyan Dong & Jingyu Gao & Sunny Li Sun & Kangtao Ye, 2021. "Doing extreme by doing good," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 291-315, March.
    3. CHEN, Helen S.Y., 2020. "Designing Sustainable Humanitarian Supply Chains," OSF Preprints m82ar, Center for Open Science.
    4. Denise M. Keele & Susan DeHart, 2011. "Partners of USEPA Climate Leaders: an Event Study on Stock Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(8), pages 485-497, December.
    5. Krstic, Bojan & Krstic, Milos, 2015. "Models Of Irrational Behaviour Of Household And Firm," Ekonomika, Journal for Economic Theory and Practice and Social Issues, Society of Economists Ekonomika, Nis, Serbia, vol. 61(4), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Pooja Kushwaha & M. K. Rao, 2017. "Integrating the Linkages between Learning Systems and Knowledge Process: An Exploration of Learning Outcomes," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 5(1), pages 11-23, January.
    7. Lovric, M. & Kaymak, U. & Spronk, J., 2008. "A Conceptual Model of Investor Behavior," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2008-030-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    8. Robert P. Garrett Jr. & Jeffrey G. Covin, 2015. "Internal Corporate Venture Operations Independence and Performance: A Knowledge–Based Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(4), pages 763-790, July.
    9. Li, Mingxiang, 2021. "Exploring novel technologies through board interlocks: Spillover vs. broad exploration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    10. Anil K. Gupta & Paul E. Tesluk & M. Susan Taylor, 2007. "Innovation At and Across Multiple Levels of Analysis," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(6), pages 885-897, December.
    11. Henderson, Dylan & Roche, Neil, 2018. "From consensus to conflict in the regional policy mix for broadband deployment: examining the role of informal coordination," 29th European Regional ITS Conference, Trento 2018 184944, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    12. Ruigrok, Winfried & Tate, John J, 1995. "Public Testing And Research Centers In Japan," UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, Working Paper Series qt3581k5pd, UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, UC Berkeley.
    13. Martina Linnenluecke & Andrew Griffiths & Peter Mumby, 2015. "Executives’ engagement with climate science and perceived need for business adaptation to climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 321-333, July.
    14. Stephen J. Procter & Michael Rowlinson & Louise McArdle, & John Hassard & Paul Forrester, 1994. "Flexibility, Politics & Strategy: In Defence of the Model of the Flexible Firm," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 8(2), pages 221-242, June.
    15. Micheels, Eric T., 2014. "Experience and learning in beef production: Results from a cluster analysis," International Journal of Agricultural Management, Institute of Agricultural Management, vol. 3(3), pages 1-10.
    16. Giuseppe Pernagallo & Benedetto Torrisi, 2020. "A theory of information overload applied to perfectly efficient financial markets," Review of Behavioral Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(2), pages 223-236, October.
    17. Ben Slimane, Faten & Padilla Angulo, Laura, 2019. "Strategic change and corporate governance: Evidence from the stock exchange industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 206-218.
    18. Tammy E. Beck & Donde Ashmos Plowman, 2009. "Experiencing Rare and Unusual Events Richly: The Role of Middle Managers in Animating and Guiding Organizational Interpretation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(5), pages 909-924, October.
    19. Hoe Chin Goi & Jiro Kokuryo, 2016. "Design of a University-Based Venture Gestation Program (UVGP)," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(01), pages 1-35, March.
    20. Beckert, Jens & Ebbinghaus, Bernhard & Hassel, Anke & Manow, Philip (ed.), 2006. "Transformationen des Kapitalismus: Festschrift für Wolfgang Streeck zum sechzigsten Geburtstag," Schriften aus dem Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Köln, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, volume 57, number 57.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:6:y:2015:i:2:p:320-333. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.