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Abstract
Intermediaries play an important role in national as well as in regional innovation systems, especially in innovation policy. In linking organizations within an innovation system, intermediaries are focusing on technology transfer, commercialization of ideas and funding. This research focuses on the role of intermediaries in high-technology product development in northern Finland. Based on a survey of 168 high-technology enterprises, funding services are regarded as the most important activity of intermediaries. Our results show that finance matters: a key actor within the Finnish innovation system in terms of direct funding and indirect collaborative resourcing, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES), is considered the most important public sector organization in private sector product development. The survey also reveals that growth-driven companies with emphases on product innovation and high levels of investment in research and development for increasing their annual turnover benefit the most from intermediaries.
Acknowledgements
We appreciate the help of the students of geography in the course “the Methods and Applications of Regional Geography” as well as Katariina Ala-Rämi, Johanna Hautala and Helka Moilanen in acquisition of study material. We are grateful for the funding from the Geography Graduate School in Finland. We also much appreciate the constructive comments of the two anonymous referees.