Moving Niagara towards a knowledge economy /

The degree of uniqueness depends on the edge economy – that is, placing specific knowledge base of the various existing industries; therefore, the knowledge a premium on the creation of base must be assessed – and in some cases, expanded upon – in order to develop new knowledge and innova- strategies to move towards a local knowledge-based economy, and to fully partici- tion as drivers of economic [...] This environment is influenced by the presence and quality of higher-education, research and technological facilities, the economic strategies in place, and the social, cultural, and political environment. [...] The development of clusters to spur innovation and economic growth requires a certain level of organizing capacity such as political and societal supports, a shared strategy and vision, and cooperation between public and private sectors with lead- ership to make it happen (Cinti, 2008: 72). [...] The local university was found to play a central role in the development of a local Research reveals that the most innovative places have talent pool; in addition, the founders of many firms in the both a strong local collaboration between firms and ICT cluster are graduates of the local university (Bramwell institutions and strong linkages to global knowledge and et al, 2008). [...] Translated to the business realm, social capital corporations as the engine of economic growth, there is includes inter-firm knowledge-exchange and technolog- now mounting evidence that the key to economic growth ical learning, and understanding each other’s competen- and productivity improvements lies in the entrepreneur- cies and developing trust that partners can be relied upon ial capacity of