Facing the small growth of knowledge-based companies in some provinces; A case study of East Azerbaijan, South Khorasan and Hormozgan

Knowledge-based companies are a representative for innovative activities in the region, and its uneven distribution is considered one of the factors of the innovation gap between regions. This research examines the uneven development of knowledge-based companies in the provinces of the country,. In this regard, the functions that are necessary for the formation and growth of knowledge-based activities in the region, were focused on, and the background factors affecting the growth of knowledge-based companies that represent the identified functions was investigated with a quantitative approach. Some of these factors include the share of the province in the number of academic staff, the number of articles, the number of research and development workshops, etc. In the next stage, focusing on the concept of smart specialization, the specialization of the activities of knowledge-based companies was pursued, and based on the conceptual framework of the regional innovation system, the alignment of the actions of the actors of the two sub-systems of knowledge creation and knowledge utilization, as well as the government, was investigated. The data was collected through the library study of official statistics and documents and referring to the website of knowledge-based companies. Finally, based on the findings, suggestions such as defining the human resource exchange mechanism, creating inter-provincial networks, facilitating commercialization, etc. have been presented. For the specialization of knowledge-based activities based on the conditions of the region, targeted and directed support of knowledge-based companies and adjustment in the evaluation method of knowledge-based companies have been emphasized.