The Internet Revolution and the Geography of Innovation

How will the Internet and related digital technology affect the tendency for innovation activity to cluster geographically? This article argues that innovation has characteristics that make it unique from other types of economic activities. At a fundamental level, innovation is a non-routine social process that involves the creative deployment of knowledge. By examining the individual, the social and the geographic dimensions of innovation, the article concludes that while the Internet, while offering advantages in access to information, will not disrupt the geographic advantages associated with concentrations of resources, face-to-face interactions and serendipity or chance occurrences.