ABSTRACT
Profound changes are taking place in the world economy and in the innovation systems of countries. The main influencing trends could be summarized by the terms globalization, liberalization, dematerialization, and technological revolution. Their joint effects have been the enhanced uncertainty and turbulence felt in the world economic system since the 1973 crisis and the gradual emergence of a different rationale for production and innovation. The techno-economic mass production paradigm of the past is gradually giving way in an increasing number of sectors to a new paradigm characterized by flexible manufacturing and the pervasive effects of the cluster of the so-called information technologies (IT) (Freeman and Perez, 1988; Piore and Sabel, 1984; Womak et al., 1990), based on the convergence of microelectronics, computers and telecommunications.
