Rethinking Innovation Ecosystems in Small Island Developing States in Small Island Developing States

This book presents the Agile Helix as a new framework for innovation ecosystem development in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Peter Rudge argues that the dominant innovation systems frameworks — the Triple Helix and its Quadruple and Quintuple variants — were designed for the conditions of large, research-intensive Northern economies and have systematically failed to deliver in SIDS contexts.Instead, Rudge develops the Agile Helix concept as the working alternative. This framework is non-hierarchical, project-defined and deliberately permeable, integrated with finance as a structural participant rather than a downstream consumer. Across ten chapters, the book moves from diagnosis to theory to implementation, addressing the role of universities, industry, government, capital, infrastructure and the international system in turn, and closing with concrete adoption pathways. The Innovation Capital Stack — a five-layer model for blended innovation finance — is introduced in Chapter Seven as the analytical centrepiece. The book draws extensively on the most recent international policy material and anchors the framework within the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS decade to 2034. It is supported by five standalone appendices designed for use in strategic planning, partnership negotiation and institutional review.Rethinking Innovation Ecosystems in Small Island Developing States in Small Island Developing States will be of great interest to students and scholars of innovation studies, development studies, economic geography, creative industries scholarship, and small states political economy. It will also be useful for practitioners and policymakers working across SIDS regions.