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    <title>UTas ePrints - 'Low-tech' industries: innovativeness and development perspectives - a summary of a European research project</title>
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    <meta content="Hirsch-Kreinsen, Hartmut" name="eprints.creators_name" />
<meta content="Jacobson, David" name="eprints.creators_name" />
<meta content="Robertson, Paul L." name="eprints.creators_name" />
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<meta content="Paul.Robertson@utas.edu.au" name="eprints.creators_id" />
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<meta content="2007-07-23" name="eprints.datestamp" />
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<meta content="'Low-tech' industries: innovativeness and development perspectives - a summary of a European research project" name="eprints.title" />
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<meta content="Low-technology; technology indicators; knowledge society; innovation policy; industrial development" name="eprints.keywords" />
<meta content="This paper introduces the findings of a European research project on the innovativeness of industrial 'low-tech' sectors. This research was carried out in the context of the ongoing discussion about the emerging knowledge society. We argue that innovation depends not only on industries with frontline technological knowledge but also on low-tech industries. Our starting point is an examination of widely held views on the strengths of high-technology, followed by a discussion of the project's objectives and methodology. Thirdly, we present the basic findings of the project. They include: statistical data stressing the importance of the low-tech sector; an elaboration of the main dimensions, resources and practices of low-tech innovativeness; and the interrelationships of low-tech with high-tech sectors. Fourthly, we discuss policy issues derived from the findings. One key policy recommendation is to support activities raising awareness of low-tech industries and their specific needs and conditions. A fundamental precondition for this is the development of a new, broader understanding of innovation that does not equate innovative ability with excellence in R&amp;D alone. Finally, we emphasise that, in spite of globalisation and growing competition, prospects for a substantial range of low-tech and medium low-tech (LMT) sectors and companies are bright in the high-tech countries of the European Union." name="eprints.abstract" />
<meta content="2006-03" name="eprints.date" />
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<meta content="Notes and References 
1. The PILOT project was financed within Framework Programme 5, Key Action ‘Improving the 
Socio-economic Knowledge Base’ (HPSE-CT-2002-00112). The project was coordinated by 
the Chair of Economic and Industrial Sociology of the University of Dortmund (is@wiso.uni- 
dortmund.de). The duration of the project was from December 2002 to January 2006. For D 
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more information see: www.pilot-project.org. The project is also discussed in more detail in 
H. Hirsch-Kreinsen, D. Jacobson, S. Laestadius and K. Smith, ‘Low and medium technology 
industries in the knowledge economy: the analytical issues’, in H. Hirsch-Kreinsen, D. 
Jacobson and S. Laestadius (eds), Low-tech Innovation in the Knowledge Economy, Peter Lang, 
Frankfurt/M., 2005, pp. 11–30. 
2. The members of the PILOT project consortium have included the University of Dortmund, 
the Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, NIFU STEP—Centre for Innovation Research, 
the Technical Research Centre of Finland, the Austrian Institute of Economic Research 
Vienna, the Institute for Labour Foundation Bologna, Dublin City University, the Institute for 
Social Research Munich, the Foundation University of Oviedo, the Jagiellonian University of 
Krakow, and the Catholic University of Lublin. In addition, Keith Smith and Paul L. 
Robertson were associated with the project. 
3. Peter F. Drucker, Post-Capitalist Society, HarperBusiness, New York, 1994; Nico Stehr, Knowledge 
Societies, Sage Publications, London, 1994; Helmut Willke, Systemisches Wissensmanagement, 
Lucius and Lucius, Stuttgart, 1998; P. A. David and D. Foray, ‘Economic fundamentals of the 
knowledge society’, Policy Futures in Education—An e-Journal, 1, 1, Special Issue, January 2003. 
4. Bengt-Åke Lundvall and Susana Borrás, The Globalising Learning Economy, European 
Communities, Luxembourg, 1997. 
5. I. Carson, ‘Meet the global factory’, The Economist, A Survey of Manufacturing, 20 June 1998, 
pp. 1–22. 
6. Folker Fröbel, Jürgen Heinrichs and Otto Kreye, Die neue internationale Arbeitsteilung, Rowohlt, 
Reinbek, 1977. 
7. OECD, Frascati Manual. Proposed Standard for Surveys on Research and Experimental Development, 
6th revision, OECD, Paris, 2002. 
8. P. Maskell, ‘Learning in the village economy of Denmark: the role of institutions and policy 
in sustaining competitiveness’, in H.-J. Braczyk, P. Cooke and M. Heidenreich (eds), Regional 
Innovation Systems, London, 1998, pp. 190–213; Christopher Palmberg, Sectoral Patterns of 
Innovation and Competence Requirements—A Closer Look at Low-tech Industries, Sitra Report Series 
No. 8, Helsinki, 2001; N. v. Tunzelmann and V. Acha, ‘Innovation in “low-tech” industries’, in 
J. Fagerberg, D. C. Mowery and R. R. Nelson (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford, 
2005, pp. 407–32. 
9. ‘The strange life of low-tech America’, The Economist, 17 October 1998, pp. 85–6. 
10. Sandro Mendonça and Nick von Tunzelmann, ‘Brave old world: accounting for “high-tech” 
knowledge in “low-tech” industries’, paper presented at the DRUID’s Summer Conference 
Industrial Dynamics, Innovation and Development, Copenhagen, Denmark, 14–16 June 2004, p. 15. 
11. Hirsch-Kreinsen et al., op. cit. 
12. For more details see A. Kouladis, T. Sandven and K. Smith, ‘Structural change, growth and 
innovation: the roles of medium and low-tech industries 1980–2000’, in G. Bender, D. 
Jacobson and P. Robertson (eds), Non-research-intensive Industries in the Knowledge Economy, 
Perspectives on Economic Political and Social Integration, Special Issue I, Catholic University, 
Lublin/PL, 2006. 
13. The figure is based on the OECD’s STAN database, which comprises data at two and three 
ISIC digit levels for the manufacturing sectors of OECD economies. Data are shown only for 
those OECD countries for which sufficient data are available: Austria, Denmark, Finland, 
France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the USA. The two most important 
countries which are excluded during this first period 1980–91, on account of insufficient 
data, Germany and the UK, are included in the second period covering the years 1991–2002 
(Kouladis et al., op. cit.). 
14. S. Laestadius, T. E. Pedersen and T. Sandven, ‘Towards a new understanding of innovative- 
ness—and of innovation based indicators’, in Bender et al. (eds), op. cit. 
15. Palmberg, op. cit. 
16. Edith Penrose, The Theory of the Growth of the Firm, 3rd edition, Oxford, 1959; Nicolai I. Foss, 
Resources, Firms and Strategies—A Reader in the Resource-based Perspective, Oxford University Press, 
Oxford, 1997.
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17. D. J. Teece and G. Pisano, ‘The dynamic capabilities of firms: an introduction’, Industrial and 
Corporate Change, 3, 3, 1994, pp. 537–56; D. J. Teece, G. Pisano and A. Shuen, ‘Dynamic capa- 
bilities and strategic management’, Strategic Management Journal, 18, 7, 1997, pp. 509–33. 
18. M. Zollo and S. Winter, ‘Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities’, 
Organization Science, 13, 3, 2002, pp. 339–51. 
19. G. Bender and S. Laestadius, ‘Non-science based innovativeness: on capabilities relevant to 
generate profitable novelty’, in Bender et al. (eds), op. cit. 
20. R. M. Henderson and K. B. Clark, ‘Architectural innovation: the reconfiguration of existing 
product technologies and the failure of established firm’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 1, 
1990, pp. 9–30. 
21. K. Schmierl and H.-D. Köhler, ‘Organisational learning: knowledge management and train- 
ing in low-tech and medium low-tech companies’, in Bender et al. (eds), op. cit. 
22. Ibid. 
23. F. Garibaldo and D. Jacobson, ‘The role of company and social networks in low-tech indus- 
tries’, in Bender et al. (eds), op. cit. 
24. Andrea Bardi, Francesco Garibaldo, Matt Hancock and Daniele Freddi, PILOT—WP 4 Final 
Report, mimeo, IpL Bologna, 2005. 
25. P. Robertson and P. Patel, ‘New wine in old bottles: technological diffusion and growth in 
developed economies’, in Bender et al. (eds), op. cit. 
26. Ibid. 
27. Ragnar Nurkse, Problems of Capital Formation in Underdeveloped Countries, Clarendon Express, 
Oxford, 1953. 
28. D. Jacobson and K. Heanue, ‘Policy conclusions and recommendations’, in Bender et al. 
(eds), op. cit. 
29. Robertson and Patel, op. cit. 
30. Maskell, op. cit. 
31. S. J. Kline and N. Rosenberg, ‘An overview of innovation’, in R. Landau and N. Rosenberg 
(eds), The Positive Sum Strategy—Harnessing Technology for Economic Growth, National Academy 
Express, Washington, 1986, pp. 275–305. 
32. Robertson and Patel, op. cit." name="eprints.referencetext" />
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<meta content="This paper introduces the findings of a European research project on the innovativeness of industrial 'low-tech' sectors. This research was carried out in the context of the ongoing discussion about the emerging knowledge society. We argue that innovation depends not only on industries with frontline technological knowledge but also on low-tech industries. Our starting point is an examination of widely held views on the strengths of high-technology, followed by a discussion of the project's objectives and methodology. Thirdly, we present the basic findings of the project. They include: statistical data stressing the importance of the low-tech sector; an elaboration of the main dimensions, resources and practices of low-tech innovativeness; and the interrelationships of low-tech with high-tech sectors. Fourthly, we discuss policy issues derived from the findings. One key policy recommendation is to support activities raising awareness of low-tech industries and their specific needs and conditions. A fundamental precondition for this is the development of a new, broader understanding of innovation that does not equate innovative ability with excellence in R&amp;D alone. Finally, we emphasise that, in spite of globalisation and growing competition, prospects for a substantial range of low-tech and medium low-tech (LMT) sectors and companies are bright in the high-tech countries of the European Union." name="DC.description" />
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    <h1 class="ep_tm_pagetitle">'Low-tech' industries: innovativeness and development perspectives - a summary of a European research project</h1>
    <p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"><span class="person_name">Hirsch-Kreinsen, Hartmut</span> and <span class="person_name">Jacobson, David</span> and <span class="person_name">Robertson, Paul L.</span> (2006) <xhtml:em>'Low-tech' industries: innovativeness and development perspectives - a summary of a European research project.</xhtml:em> Prometheus, 24 (1). pp. 3-21.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"></p><table style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"><tr><td valign="top" style="text-align:center"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1436/1/PR5.pdf"><img alt="[img]" src="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png" class="ep_doc_icon" border="0" /></a></td><td valign="top"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1436/1/PR5.pdf"><span class="ep_document_citation">PDF</span></a> - Full text restricted - Requires a PDF viewer<br />263Kb</td></tr></table><p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block">Official URL: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08109020600563762">http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08109020600563762</a></p><div class="not_ep_block"><h2>Abstract</h2><p style="padding-bottom: 16px; text-align: left; margin: 1em auto 0em auto">This paper introduces the findings of a European research project on the innovativeness of industrial 'low-tech' sectors. This research was carried out in the context of the ongoing discussion about the emerging knowledge society. We argue that innovation depends not only on industries with frontline technological knowledge but also on low-tech industries. Our starting point is an examination of widely held views on the strengths of high-technology, followed by a discussion of the project's objectives and methodology. Thirdly, we present the basic findings of the project. They include: statistical data stressing the importance of the low-tech sector; an elaboration of the main dimensions, resources and practices of low-tech innovativeness; and the interrelationships of low-tech with high-tech sectors. Fourthly, we discuss policy issues derived from the findings. One key policy recommendation is to support activities raising awareness of low-tech industries and their specific needs and conditions. A fundamental precondition for this is the development of a new, broader understanding of innovation that does not equate innovative ability with excellence in R&amp;D alone. Finally, we emphasise that, in spite of globalisation and growing competition, prospects for a substantial range of low-tech and medium low-tech (LMT) sectors and companies are bright in the high-tech countries of the European Union.</p></div><table style="margin-bottom: 1em" cellpadding="3" class="not_ep_block" border="0"><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Item Type:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">Article</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Keywords:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">Low-technology; technology indicators; knowledge society; innovation policy; industrial development</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Subjects:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/350211.html">350000 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services &gt; 350200 Business and Management &gt; 350211 Innovation and Technology Management</a><br /><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/340205.html">340000 Economics &gt; 340200 Applied Economics &gt; 340205 Industry Economics and Industrial Organisation</a></td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">ID Code:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">1436</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Deposited By:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><span class="ep_name_citation"><span class="person_name">Ms Sophie Jerrim</span></span></td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Deposited On:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">23 Jul 2007</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Last Modified:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">09 Jan 2008 02:30</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">ePrint Statistics:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><a target="ePrintStats" href="/es/index.php?action=show_detail_eprint;id=1436;">View statistics for this ePrint</a></td></tr></table><p align="right">Repository Staff Only: <a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/users/home?screen=EPrint::View&amp;eprintid=1436">item control page</a></p>
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