Introduction or preface

- In this paper we analyse the innovative capacity of the most productive and most industrialised Italian regions by comparing them with a set of European regions that in the past two decades followed an industrial restructuring path towards knowledgebased sectors, doing so via the formation of a Regional Innovation System. Even though the European benchmarking regions now specialise in high-tech sectors and are characterised by high innovative activity, they share an industrial past based on heavy and traditional industries. In this respect, the two groups of regions are not so different in nature, and comparing them yields strategic insights for the Italian regional transformation process and suggests interesting local policy implications.Keywords: Knowledge economies, regional development, regional innovation systems.Parole chiave: economie della conoscenza, sviluppo regionale, sistemi regionali d'innovazioneJEL classification: R11, R58.