Policy to support digitalisation of industries in various regional settings. A conceptual discussion

The purpose of the article is to analyse regions’ varying preconditions for digitalisation of industry and, on that basis, discuss regionally tailored policy strategies to stimulate digitalisation. Building on both regional innovation system and asset modification approaches, the authors suggest a theoretical framework that identifies regions’ potential for digitalisation from their stock of relevant assets at the firm and innovation system level. The analysis identifies four types of regions with different preconditions for supporting digitalisation of industries. This in turn provides the foundation for a discussion of the role of actor-based and system-based policy strategies to support …