The science-innovation nexus in a regional context-introduction to the special issue, policy and future research directions

This Editorial introduces a Special Issue that aims to develop a more insightful understanding of the processes and mechanisms that initiate and drive local interactions between science and innovation activities in the economy. The contributions primarily extend this line of inquiry, which is highly relevant in the context of regional Science, Technology & Innovation (STI) policy initiatives in two directions: 1) by taking advantage of increasingly available and previously understudied data on scientific and technical knowledge production, and the intrinsic connections thereof; and 2) by examining intra-regional collaboration patters, a topic that recently has gained prominence in regional innovation studies, via a more inclusive perspective that includes the different actors who are involved in these processes into the investigative framework. The Editorial also provides an outlook towards future policy opportunities and possible research directions in this field of study.