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<p>This paper investigates the role of research and technology organizations (RTOs)—specifically Belgium’s collective research centers (CRCs)—as systemic intermediaries within sectoral innovation systems. Focusing on traditional ‘low-tech’ manufacturing sectors, we explore why firms engage with these RTOs and how such engagements affect their innovation performance. Our findings suggest that firms primarily resort to CRCs due to internal capability limitations, particularly a shortage of qualified personnel. CRCs help address these limitations by providing technological, informational, operational, and regulatory support that enhances both market-related and efficiency-related performance. The results show that technological support is associated with improvements in both market and efficiency outcomes, while information and operational support have more targeted effects. By acting as embedded innovation system actors that bridge capability and interaction failures, CRCs enable low-tech firms to access external knowledge, build absorptive capacity, and sustain incremental innovation. These findings reinforce the relevance of understanding RTOs not merely as service providers, but as key institutional actors in the governance and functioning of innovation systems.</p>

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Beyond internal capacity: Research and technology organizations as embedded system actors in low-tech manufacturing

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月26日

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  • André Spithoven,
  • Kristof Van Criekingen

摘要

This paper investigates the role of research and technology organizations (RTOs)—specifically Belgium’s collective research centers (CRCs)—as systemic intermediaries within sectoral innovation systems. Focusing on traditional ‘low-tech’ manufacturing sectors, we explore why firms engage with these RTOs and how such engagements affect their innovation performance. Our findings suggest that firms primarily resort to CRCs due to internal capability limitations, particularly a shortage of qualified personnel. CRCs help address these limitations by providing technological, informational, operational, and regulatory support that enhances both market-related and efficiency-related performance. The results show that technological support is associated with improvements in both market and efficiency outcomes, while information and operational support have more targeted effects. By acting as embedded innovation system actors that bridge capability and interaction failures, CRCs enable low-tech firms to access external knowledge, build absorptive capacity, and sustain incremental innovation. These findings reinforce the relevance of understanding RTOs not merely as service providers, but as key institutional actors in the governance and functioning of innovation systems.