BREEDING INNOVATION CLUSTERS THROUGH COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH NETWORKS

Collaborative research programs have a significant impact on,he struct ure of national innovation systems by creating and strengthening netwo rks which are essential for breeding. innovation clusters. These netwo rks involve both technology and market stakeholders and are extended t o include industry, research and technology producers. Network activit ies have resulted in setting priority in research and linking research fields that have high potential to coalesce into distinct technologic al clusters. This paper examines the processes by which innovation clu sters are formed in research collaborations by analysing the work prog rams of 51 Australian Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs). The paper a lso provides an analytical framework to determine the direction of nat ional research setting through cluster analysis. The author employs a methodology called 'co-occurrence of words' in cluster construction. I t is argued that the iterative process of innovation cluster formation is an effective form of organizing a national system of innovation. T hese clusters enable public policy makers to identify complementaritie s between generation, acquisition and diffusion of knowledge across a range of innovations rather than a single innovation.