Economic and Technological Dimensions of National Innovation Systems

Innovation is without any doubt one of the most important fields of action in Europe's attempt to compete on a global level. Indeed, the establishment and development of support systems of innovation is fundamental in order to achieve the goals of the Lisbon Declaration, in which the EU states that it aims at becoming the world's most knowledgeable and thus the world's most competitive region by 2010. This book, which is the result of a specialist workshop co-organised by TuTech Innovation (Hamburg, Germany) and the Warsaw School of Economics held in Warsaw (Poland) in early 2005, looks at the subject matter of innovation in Europe under a number of perspectives. It is aimed at contributing to the debate on the implementation of innovation policies and actions plans in Europe, by undertaking two main tasks. The first is to take an overall look at the state of the art of innovation in Europe. More specifically, by providing an overview of the implications of national innovation systems and policies in the European Union, linking economics and technology in an innovation context. The second task the book set itself was the description of trends on innovation in various European countries and regions. This book provides helpful insights to all those researching an analysing the means to deliver innovation in European countries. Due to its nature and international scope, this publication is of special interest to educators, scientists and researchers working in the innovation sector. It also provides useful insights to politicians and other academics interested in innovation issues in the new EU member countries. von Leal Filho, Walter