Regional Clusters in a Global Industry: ICT Clusters in Canada

This paper reports the results of a 5-year study of eight information and communication technology clusters across Canada. It summarizes the key findings from the individual cases and poses several questions: What are the critical factors that contributed to the emergence and development of the individual clusters in their specific locations? What is the relative importance of local versus non-local factors in supporting the overall dynamism of the clusters? And what are the most important factors that contribute to the ongoing competitiveness of the clusters? In conclusion, it summarizes the import of our findings for the cluster literature in general and sets out the main policy implications.