The roles and tools of intermediaries in innovation communities

The concept of innovation communities has emerged in recent years. It has connections to theolder concepts of knowledge management and communities of practice. The aim of this paper isto explore the conceptual links between the three concepts and from there on the possible rolesand tools of innovation intermediaries in developing the operational links between knowledge,practice and innovation. The paper presents a literature review on knowledge management,communities of practice, innovation communities and innovation intermediaries. Connecting tothis review it uses systemic theory to explore the links between the four concepts, with aparticular emphasis on how intermediaries can boost innovation communities through betterknowledge management and through better connections to communities of practice Systemictheory and systemic meetings have proven useful for the development of intermediary clusterroles and tools. Systemic meetings have provided practical insights of the functioning of thecommunity, insights that can be reflected against using systemic theory as an umbrella theoryfor the explored conceptual theories. Innovation intermediaries of different sorts have anincreasing role in the strengthening of innovation and entrepreneurship in clusters and regions.Systemic theory can be used to clarify the roles of intermediaries and systemic meetings can beused as tools for intermediary and community development