All Australian Regions Are Not Born Equal: Understanding the Regional Innovation Management Sandpit

Abstract

In this article, we highlight and challenge an overly simplisticassessment of regions and regional innovation systems in Australia.Treating each region and place as equal and prescribing blanket policyis anathema to the reality. Having argued that places are notequivalent, we then move on to highlight that commonalities at a deeperinstitutional level are possible. We draw on fieldwork and ongoingaction research from the Australian regions of Hunter and Central Coast(New South Wales) and Northern Tasmania. Results of the theory and casework have been instrumental in the development of 11 structuralattributes of a regional innovation management (RIM) sandpit framework.The framework provides attributes but also important process insightsrelated to regional programs, enterprise development, and projectinnovations. Although developing from the Australian context, we expectthat the RIM Sandpit and its place-based insights can be generalized toother regions around the world.