The North East Technology Park: A Case Study for Embracing Innovation to Enable Technologies, Industries, Communities

If technologies are points and industries are lines, then communities are planes, and even multi-dimensional structures. This quote, from Xiadong Zeng, sums up the function of the North East Technology Park (NETPark), which has embraced innovation to become the nexus of interconnected economic development strategies for technologies, industries and communities. The objectives of NETPark have not changed, but its technology focus and its role have recently evolved substantially, because of two reasons. Firstly a decision, strongly influenced by the activities of companies on site, to focus on a technological core competence rather than one based on a technology sector or market application, and secondly, a conscious effort to broaden NETParks role to join up a range of economic strategies currently being developed. This paper aims to illustrate the journey from NETParks early days as buildings in a field to its current role as node and flagship for a much broader interpretation of innovation.