Technology Districts' Performance Indicators: a Review of the Literature and the Proposal for a List of Indicators for Policy Makers

Purpose - During the past few years, both in European and extra-European countries, the state intervention towards high-tech industries is taking place through the development of technology districts. Several programs have been adopted at local level to favour the interaction among firms, universities, research institutions, and government. This cooperation, key to foster technological innovation, is essential to aim at a competitive growth in a knowledge-based economy. However, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs, it is fundamental to assess the performances of technology districts. The aim of this paper is, thus, to identify relevant performance indicators of technology districts. Design/methodology/approach - A review of the relevant literature will be carried out to identify performance indicators of technology districts and highlight their distinctive features compared to performance indicators of industrial districts and science parks. The identified indicators will be compared with dimensions used to evaluate Italian districts' achievements by the Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research. Originality/value - This study will highlight the several dimensions on which technology districts' performances can be evaluated and will propose a list of performance indicators. Practical implications - The outcomes of this paper could be particularly useful for policy makers to evaluate the performance of technology districts and, thus, to understand the effectiveness of their programs on the development of these districts.