ABSTRACT
Theoretical discussion on regional technological development gives no satisfactory answer to the question of the technologies that should be prioritized at the regional level. There are many references to ‘new technologies’, but this is not an adequate definition of the best thematic areas for regional technological development. The same applies to the technology-driven regional development strategy of the European Commission, the ‘Innovating Regions Strategy’ designed to promote technology and innovation in the less favoured regions of the Union. Regional authorities are not adequately informed which technologies they should promote through regional incentives, which technologies accelerate more regional development, and which are the critical technologies for the coming years. This is the question on which we focus. We discuss technology-based regional development, and the procedures which allow the creation of technology intelligence guiding the decisions of the regions in technology investments, technology attraction, technology training, and learning. We start with a review of the technological priorities found in the European R&D programmes. Then we examine some major technology foresight studies, their conclusions concerning emerging technologies, and the technology priorities suitable for the less favoured regions. In the last two sections we describe some tools for regional technology intelligence, and the institutional procedures needed in order to develop the capacity to manage complex innovation environments.
