Industrial Districts and Innovation: the Limits of the Local Technological Systems

A new approach of the innovation policies at the local level is concerning the creation of regional innovation systems. In Italy however the district level seems to be more adequate for the public intervention to capture the specific sectorial and local nature of the innovation process. In the Piedmont case the strong innovative potential is not sufficient in order to transform the technical systems of the two district, analysed in the paper, Biella and Cusio-Valsesia, into more modern technological systems.