Intelligent cities: towards interactive and global innovation environments

Abstract

Intelligent cities (communities, clusters, districts, multi-cluster territories) outline a new planning paradigm pertinent for urban-regional development and innovation management. This paper attributes the rise of intelligent cities in the globalisation of innovation networks, which appears in multiple forms in global technology markets, innovation and R&D offshoring, global technology transfer, new product co-development and the subsequent needs for online environments of global collaboration. By developing sector-focused, cluster-based or more complex intelligent city strategies, territories can set in motion innovation mechanisms of global dimensions and enhance substantially their innovation systems. Within these environments, new knowledge functions and business models appear relying on collective intelligence, technology transfer and collaborative innovation outspread globally. However, in developing augmented innovation environments, organisational issues of innovation management prevail over the technological ones of virtual communication. ICT is just the facilitator for creating this new type of innovation environment, which requires the balanced development of human creative skills, innovation institutions, broadband networks and virtual collaborative spaces to succeed.