The Globalisation of Innovation: Challenges and Opportunities for Europe

The recent economic crisis has brought to light the importance of opportunities that lie in the newly emerging markets (South). Today, we observe southern multinational corporations acquiring access to key resources of knowledge and technologies through global networks of innovation. Should Europe fear the rise of the South or see this global trend as an occasion to turn the threats into opportunities? Mapping the new geography of innovative activities and understanding barriers to international innovation collaborations has been the main objective of the EU 7th Framework Program project INGINEUS. The article introduces the notion of global innovation networks and presents the main results and policy options for both Europe and its southern partners to gain from challenges faced from the internationalisation of innovation activities.