ABSTRACT
New vanguard industries, including electronics, telecommunications, industrial materials, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, fibre optics and robotics, have spearheaded the majority of current process and product innovations. Studies in different European regions have shown that type of know-how can be successfully adapted to new technologies. The territorial systems of these regions harbour resources rife with realisable economic potential. The concepts of technological change and innovation must be precisely defined before an analysis can be made of the production systems of traditional industrial regions and of the characteristics of firms capable of technological change. Large establishments and large companies cease to grow and expand in periods of technological change, and numerous observations point to the fact that small and medium enterprises, owing to their greater flexibility, are in a better position to face uncertainty. The concept proposed here for analysing the capacity of regional markets to retain their labour forces is that of a "mobility channel".
