1 - Carina Pasqualotto UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL (UFRGS) - CEPAN
2 - Daniela Callegaro de Menezes UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL (UFRGS) - Escola de Administração
Reumo
It is important to focus on the regional ecosystems to develop innovation in a specific region. According to Santos, Zen and Bittencourt (2021), the regional ecosystems promotion is essential to make innovation possible, since these ecosystems concentrate the agents and resources required for the development of the innovation process.
There are differences in the behavior of the innovation between the agrifood and manufacturing firms (Triguero, Córcoles, & Cuerva, 2013).
This study aims to analyze the actions developed by the regional ecosystem from South Africa that can contribute to innovation in agribusiness.
One of the literature approaches for the innovation ecosystems is the territorial dimension, where actors, elements, institutions and organizations interact in a regional and industrial context, consolidating innovation ecosystems that can be local, regional and national (Spinosa, Schlemm & Reis, 2015) or a specific sector. Can be related to a sector concentrated in a specific region (Cohen, Almirall & Chesbrough, 2016).
A qualitative approach was used and data was collected through direct observation, document analysis, and interviews in the Western Cape region in South Africa.
It was possible to identify actions from different kinds of actors in the Western Cape region that can contribute to innovation in agribusiness. It was considered different actors in this process (Bittencourt & Figueiró, 2019). Following the classification from the quadruple helix model (Carayannis & Campbell, 2009; Santos, Zen & Bittencourt, 2021), twelve actions were identified in the analyzed region as follows: 3 actions from the government, 6 actions from academia, 2 actions from company and one action from civil society.
The results preset twelve actions identified in the South Africa regional ecosystem and their respective actors. In a general way, the actions identified in the Western Cape region in South Africa can contribute to innovation in agribusiness in two ways. First, doing researches and developing innovation projects to the agricultural sector. Second, offering services to support and develop the agricultural sector, and also offering short courses, incubation to entrepreneurship and development to Agritechs.
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Santos, D. A. G., Zen, A., & Bittencourt, B. A. (2021). From governance to choreography: coordination of innovation ecosystems. Innovation & Management Review, 19(1), 26- 38.
Triguero, Á., Córcoles, D., & Cuerva, M. C. (2013). Differences in innovation between food and manufacturing firms: An analysis of persistence. Agribusiness, 29(3), 273–292.