Science parks are organisations managed by specialised professionals, whose main aim is to increase the wealth of their community by promoting the culture of innovation and the competitiveness of their associated businesses and knowledge-based institutions.
To reach these goals, science parks stimulate and manage the flow of knowledge and technology amongst universities, R&D institutions, companies and markets; facilitate the creation and growth of innovation-based companies through incubation and spin-off programmes; and provide other value-added services as well as high quality space and facilities.
A “Taxonomy of Organised Innovation Spaces (OISs)”, a study from the Joint Research Centre (JRC), explores the need for common terminology around innovation entities and ecosystems, as well as intermediary actors.
This new term, OISs, serves as an umbrella name for science parks, areas of innovation, innovation districts, incubators, and other such innovation ecosystems.
This taxonomy was published in October 2023 and is authored by former IASP Director General Luis Sanz along with IASP Think Tank experts Magnus Klofsten and Paul Jensen, and IASP member Jacques van Dinteren.