Economic Complexity and Innovation

The scientific community surrounding the economic complexity gathered together in early September in Utrecht

The project OceanTrans attended the 2nd Annual Conference on Innovation and Complexity Geography, which took place in the Dutch city of Utrecht, between 2-4 September. The participants could attend lectures of respected researchers in the area, such as Cesar Hidalgo, Maryann Feldmann, Pierre Alexandre Balland and Jon Boschma, as well as discuss the work presented by researchers from the five continents.

The presentations were diversified, addressing subjects that ranged from the importance of economic diversity in public policy to territorial product-relatedness in smart specialization strategies.

The OceanTrans project was represented by Juliana Barbosa, who had the opportunity to discuss with other researchers the possibility of applying the conceptual framework of economic complexity in the investigation being conducted in the project.

Event Link: https://complexity.world/

Complexidade económica e inovação

A comunidade científica em torno da complexidade económica encontrou-se no início de Setembro em Utrecht

Entre os dias 2 e 4 de setembro o projeto OceanTrans esteve presente na 2ª conferência anual de geografia da inovação e complexidade (em inglês: 2nd Annual Conference on the Geography of Innovation and Complexity) que teve lugar na cidade holandesa de Utrecht. No evento estiveram presentes investigadores respeitados da área. Além de assistir às palestras com Cesar Hidalgo, Maryann Feldmann, Pierre Alexandre Balland e Jon Boschma, os participantes puderam ainda discutir os diversos trabalhos de investigadores vindos dos cinco continentes.

As apresentações foram diversificadas e abordaram desde a importância da maior comunicação da diversidade económica no aconselhamento de políticas públicas, à avaliação de processos de desenvolvimento regional baseados na inovação até às estratégias de especialização inteligente (smart specialization) (não) relacionadas a produtos já existentes no território.

O projeto OceanTrans foi representado pela Juliana Barbosa que teve a oportunidade de discutir com os investigadores presentes sobre as possibilidades de aplicação do quadro conceptual da complexidade económica no âmbito desta investigação.

Link do evento: https://complexity.world/

Emergence of floating offshore wind energy: Technology and industry

ABSTRACT

The paper investigates the construction of strategies aiming to up-scale low-carbon innovations from pilot to full commercial scale. This requires a systemic understanding of the evolution of the technology along with the organizations and infrastructures supporting its development. Technological innovation systems concepts operationalize system building processes, including the establishment of constituent elements and the performance of key innovation activities. The study surveys the national roadmaps published between 2009 and 2014 for offshore wind energy in deepwaters (more than 50 m deep) which inform on how actors expect the system to grow, including the innovation activities crucial to achieve it. The roadmaps point to the role of guidance and legitimacy as triggers of changes in other innovation processes (knowledge creation, experimentation and so on) needed for take-off. The analysis reveals that the growth plans conveyed in the roadmaps are overly optimistic when compared with the time taken to develop offshore wind energy in fixed structures for shallow waters. Several countries have adopted supporting policies following the publication of the roadmaps, but weaknesses in crucial innovation processes (e.g. specialized skills) and external factors (e.g. crisis, regulatory approval) resulted in a delay of the first large investments. Policy should be based on realistic expectations and adequate to the phase of innovation, such as the promotion of technology-specific institutions (standards, codes, regulations and so on) in technology up-scaling. New directions for research are also provided.

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​​HIGHLIGHTS

• Up-scaling involves changes at technological and institutional levels.

• 10 proposals for the development of floating offshore wind energy are surveyed.

• Visions and strategies converge for accelerating diffusion take-up.

• Larger scale projects but also regulation and codes required for system up-scaling

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(Bento, N., Fontes, M., 2019) “Emergence of floating offshore wind energy: Technology and industry”. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 99, Pages 66-82, ISSN 1364-0321.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.09.035