Computer services as innovation agents for local production areas

In order to schieve a better understanding of computer services as a catalyst of innovation for local economies, some issues have to be addressed, as follows: a) the links between the processes of innovation, and the cognitive exchanges underpinning such processes; b) the peculiar operational methods and activities performed bu computer services; and c) the constraints and problems that can hinder the use of such services in a specific local context. The paper assumes a perspective that considers the spread of an innovation as a process of knowledge transfer and dissemination, and applies it to a case-study investigatzion about the tole of innovation agents played by some computer servcies companies in the North-east of Italy