Mediating Innovation Policy Delivery
The Regional Innovation Centres of Ontario
Published on 18. June 2025
Book
Hardback
344 pages
978-1-4875-3998-6 (ISBN)
Description
Report cards and academic scholarship have been critical of innovation policy in Canada. But what if these reports have done a profound injustice to the story of knowledge-driven economic reinvention and the actual transformation taking place in the country?
Spotlighting what is happening in cities and regions across Ontario, Mediating Innovation Policy Delivery argues that it is far more nuanced and exciting than what has been captured in scorecards and report cards. The book explores the intermediary institutions, the organizational brokers at the frontline of Canada's innovation race, that are shepherding the process of economic reinvention in regions large and small.
The book draws on case studies to explore three central themes. The first is about innovation, innovation policy, and their delivery systems. The second is that of regions as the frontlines of technological and socioeconomic change in the Canadian federation. The third covers the role of intermediary institutions as innovation platforms, highlighting their triumphs and tribulations as they strategically navigate through the shifting currents of change. The book's main lessons apply not just to Ontario and Canada but also to other industrialized democracies worldwide. Ultimately, the book advances our knowledge of organizational instruments of innovation policy delivery that operate at the strategic interface between the state, market, and society.
Spotlighting what is happening in cities and regions across Ontario, Mediating Innovation Policy Delivery argues that it is far more nuanced and exciting than what has been captured in scorecards and report cards. The book explores the intermediary institutions, the organizational brokers at the frontline of Canada's innovation race, that are shepherding the process of economic reinvention in regions large and small.
The book draws on case studies to explore three central themes. The first is about innovation, innovation policy, and their delivery systems. The second is that of regions as the frontlines of technological and socioeconomic change in the Canadian federation. The third covers the role of intermediary institutions as innovation platforms, highlighting their triumphs and tribulations as they strategically navigate through the shifting currents of change. The book's main lessons apply not just to Ontario and Canada but also to other industrialized democracies worldwide. Ultimately, the book advances our knowledge of organizational instruments of innovation policy delivery that operate at the strategic interface between the state, market, and society.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
617 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4875-3998-6 (9781487539986)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Charles Conteh is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Brock University.
Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Acronyms
1. Introduction
Purpose of the Book
What Is New or Different about This Book?
Notes on Research Method
How Is the Book Structured?
Part I: Historical Overview and Conceptual Framework of Innovation Policy
2. Innovation Policy in the Digital Age
Introduction
Innovation: Defining a Nebulous Concept
Innovation Policy
Dissecting Ideologies, Myths, and Sophistries
3. Mapping the Historical Contours of Research on Innovation Systems and Intermediary Institutions
Introduction
From Regional to National Innovation Systems - and Back Again
Institutional Intermediaries and Innovation Ecosystems
Conclusion
4. Innovation Policy and the Ontario Experience
Introduction
A Snapshot of Ontario's Innovation Report Card
Ontario's Innovation Policy in Historical Perspective
From Basic R&D to a Commercialization and Regionally Embedded Focus
The Regional Focus and the Emergence of Innovation "Systems"
The Rise of Institutional Intermediaries
Conclusion
5. Intermediary Platforms as Conduits of Innovation Commercialization and Tech Entrepreneurship Support in Ontario: The Regional Innovation Centres
Introduction
The Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE)
The Enduring Debate and Lingering Questions
Conclusion
6. A Framework of Intermediary Institutions as Strategic Modular Network Platforms of Policy Delivery in Complex Systems
Introduction
Intermediary Platforms as Modular Network Structures
Strategic Management and Innovation Platforms as Adaptive Entities
Organization Theory and Innovation Platforms as Governance Entities
An Integrated Analytical Framework
Part II: Five Cases of Regional Innovation Centres (RICs) as Spatially Embedded Platforms of Innovation Policy Delivery in Ontario
7. Innovation Factory: Thriving in the Belly of a Whale
8. TechAlliance: Carving a Niche in London's Innovation Ecosystem
9. Innovate Niagara: Navigating the Jurisdictional Fissures of a Two-Tier Region
10. The Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT): A Tech Gateway to Ontario's North?
11. WEtech Alliance: In Search of Coherence in a Splintered Ecosystem
12. Comparing the RICs in Five Midsized Regions of Ontario: Triumphs, Tribulations, Conundrums, and Gaps
Part III: Where Do We Go from Here?
13. Policy Recommendations
14. Theoretical Implications for Public Policy and Administration: Intermediary Platforms as Instruments of Policy Delivery
15. Conclusion: A Synopsis of Key Themes and Takeaways
Appendices
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
List of Acronyms
1. Introduction
Purpose of the Book
What Is New or Different about This Book?
Notes on Research Method
How Is the Book Structured?
Part I: Historical Overview and Conceptual Framework of Innovation Policy
2. Innovation Policy in the Digital Age
Introduction
Innovation: Defining a Nebulous Concept
Innovation Policy
Dissecting Ideologies, Myths, and Sophistries
3. Mapping the Historical Contours of Research on Innovation Systems and Intermediary Institutions
Introduction
From Regional to National Innovation Systems - and Back Again
Institutional Intermediaries and Innovation Ecosystems
Conclusion
4. Innovation Policy and the Ontario Experience
Introduction
A Snapshot of Ontario's Innovation Report Card
Ontario's Innovation Policy in Historical Perspective
From Basic R&D to a Commercialization and Regionally Embedded Focus
The Regional Focus and the Emergence of Innovation "Systems"
The Rise of Institutional Intermediaries
Conclusion
5. Intermediary Platforms as Conduits of Innovation Commercialization and Tech Entrepreneurship Support in Ontario: The Regional Innovation Centres
Introduction
The Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE)
The Enduring Debate and Lingering Questions
Conclusion
6. A Framework of Intermediary Institutions as Strategic Modular Network Platforms of Policy Delivery in Complex Systems
Introduction
Intermediary Platforms as Modular Network Structures
Strategic Management and Innovation Platforms as Adaptive Entities
Organization Theory and Innovation Platforms as Governance Entities
An Integrated Analytical Framework
Part II: Five Cases of Regional Innovation Centres (RICs) as Spatially Embedded Platforms of Innovation Policy Delivery in Ontario
7. Innovation Factory: Thriving in the Belly of a Whale
8. TechAlliance: Carving a Niche in London's Innovation Ecosystem
9. Innovate Niagara: Navigating the Jurisdictional Fissures of a Two-Tier Region
10. The Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT): A Tech Gateway to Ontario's North?
11. WEtech Alliance: In Search of Coherence in a Splintered Ecosystem
12. Comparing the RICs in Five Midsized Regions of Ontario: Triumphs, Tribulations, Conundrums, and Gaps
Part III: Where Do We Go from Here?
13. Policy Recommendations
14. Theoretical Implications for Public Policy and Administration: Intermediary Platforms as Instruments of Policy Delivery
15. Conclusion: A Synopsis of Key Themes and Takeaways
Appendices
Bibliography