Abstract
Knowledge determines the relationship between regional development and innovation in a knowledge-based economy. The Mersin Regional Innovation Strategy (RIS) Plus Project is based on the European Union's new regional innovation strategy referred to as ‘smart specialization' that is related with industrialization and economic development. This approach is an indicator of the change and transformation in the regional development paradigm in terms of knowledge generation and innovation processes. These developments also reflect the impact of complexity in the philosophy and understanding of the 21st century. Complexity Science and Complexity Economics have increasingly become determinants in the formation of institutional structures and policies within the global economic system. This chapter aims to evaluate the basic characteristics of Mersin RIS Plus Project within the framework of complexity science. This study discusses the development potentials of Mersin and TR62 regions in accordance with the scientific and theoretical basis of the project, and policy proposals are suggested.
TopComplexity Science And Evolution Of Systems Theory
Complexity science refers to a new multidisciplinary scientific approach based on developments in nature and the social sciences that serves to facilitate the examination of complex systems in explaining universal reality and change. The term, complexity science, started to be used at the end of the 20th century; however, the origins of complexity and system concepts, which are the sources of complexity science, date back to ancient times, in terms of the philosophy of science. From the 17th century onwards, which covers the period of the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, technological developments in the natural sciences resulted in the emergence of the Cartesian thought system and the Newtonian mechanistic universe in Europe, both of which gave rise to the understanding that the perceived world was a simple, stable, static and closed system (Hester & Adams, 2014, p. 42; Hammond, 2005, p. 21). In this hypothetical deductive structure, the idea of reductionism was dominant in terms of the relationship between the part and the whole. Reductionism represents methodological individualism in the social sciences (Hodgson, 2000, p. 72). Accordingly, when examined analytically, the behavior of the part explains the behavior of the whole system, meaning that it is possible to have knowledge about the structure and operation of the part and system, or in other words, the structure of the whole to which the part belongs; but the system itself (the behavior of the whole) cannot be understood (Ackoff, 1979, p. 96). This understanding is related to the fact that there is no interaction between the parts. Therefore, the cause-effect relationship can be demonstrated linearly in the analysis, and the reality obtained has universal validity independent of time and space. The world order of that period was shaped according to this idea.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Knowledge-Based Economy: An economy that depending on greatly knowledge input in which knowledge is created with systemic processes that become increasingly complex.
Systems Theory: Transdisciplinary field of science integrating and unifying principles in systems with isomorphism and wholeness.
Innovation System: An institutional and organizational network for better innovating processes and creating new knowledge.
Complexity Science: A new scientific and philosophical paradigm based on complex systems with a perspective of systemism prevailing in the 21st century.