Turning Co-location into Value: A Firm-Level Case Study of GoCo Health Innovation City

Abstract

Innovation in Life Science and MedTech often depends on collaboration between firms, research actors, clinical environments, and other supporting organisations. As a result, designed innovation environments have become increasingly relevant as a way to support knowledge transfer, firm development, and regional competitiveness. In the case of Sweden, Life Science and MedTech have been identified as key strategically important sectors, and GoCo Health Innovation City has been developed to bridge firms and other actors in this area. Nevertheless, whereas value creation in innovation environments is generally assumed to be the result of proximity and collaboration, its firm level value remains unclear. Hence this thesis aims to answer the research question: How do firms located in GoCo Health Innovation City value their participation in a designed Life Science innovation environment? A qualitative case study research design has been chosen to investigate this issue in GoCo Health Innovation City in Mölndal, Sweden. Based on interviews with representatives from GoCo and participating companies, empirical data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic coding. Results indicate that firms benefit from GoCo in terms of activated interactions, strategic positioning, visibility, legitimacy and access to relevant actors. Being located in GoCo, firms gain benefits related to positioning in terms of Life Science/MedTech context, professional reputation and employer branding, as well as access to relevant actors such as customers, partners, researchers, clinical contacts, etc. Still, the analysis indicates that value creation is not an automatic consequence of co-location but is driven by various facilitative mechanisms such as informal meeting places, events, introductions, community building, and facilitation. The conclusions made are that GoCo is an innovation-enabling environment that creates value based on interactions between spatial proximity, relational access, legitimacy and facilitation.