Document: Rapid Appraisal of Local Innovation Systems (RALIS): Assessing and Enhancing Innovation Networks

Rapid Appraisal of Local Innovation Systems (RALIS) is a methodology to conduct a rapid diagnosis of a locality, a value chain or a cluster with a special focus at technology and innovation. The starting point is an observation which is consistently coming out of the analysis of successful localities: innovation is not only based on intra-firm efforts but also, and in particular, on dense networks of interaction between a variety of actors – companies, training institutions, research and technology extension organisations, and others. Thus, RALIS is designed in a way which permits the identification of such networks, or their absence, and a rough assessment of their density and effectiveness.