{"id":4902,"date":"2026-04-27T13:46:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/?p=4902"},"modified":"2026-04-27T13:46:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:46:32","slug":"hidden-champions-breaking-the-urban-bias-in-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/hidden-champions-breaking-the-urban-bias-in-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Champions: Breaking the Urban Bias in Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Are cities really the engines of innovation? Together with Thilo Lang, we explore how \u201chidden champions\u201d &#8211; global leaders in niche markets &#8211; are distributed across regions and operate with similar innovation dynamics regardless of location. The conversation challenges urban bias and rethinks how we understand peripherality and regional development.<\/p>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\">Find Thilo Lang on <a title=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thilo-lang-72814218\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thilo-lang-72814218\/\">LinkedIn<\/a>, <a id=\"OWA65fdc9bc-7280-9dae-6538-816012349715\" class=\"OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=u2leh8gAAAAJ&amp;hl=de\" href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=u2leh8gAAAAJ&amp;hl=de\">Google Scholar<\/a>\u00a0and the website of the <a id=\"OWA7634fcda-ea61-dd1c-cbe7-d4dfc3416689\" class=\"OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/www.uni-leipzig.de\/en\/profile\/mitarbeiter\/dr-thilo-lang\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uni-leipzig.de\/en\/profile\/mitarbeiter\/dr-thilo-lang\">Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography<\/a>, where he is also the Head of the Department.<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\">Please follow the <a title=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/centre-for-innovation-research\/\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/centre-for-innovation-research\/\">Centre for Innovation Research<\/a>\u00a0and the <a title=\"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/category\/reginno\/\" href=\"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/category\/reginno\/\">RegInno Podcast<\/a>\u00a0for other episodes.<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementToProof\">#RegInno_Podcast<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/podcast.uis.no\/media\/SIF\/2026_0312_1619.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Episode transcription<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_4566\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-4902-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/erasmus_enfermera_espaola\/dts.podtrac.com\/redirect.mp3\/podcast.uis.no\/media\/SIF\/2026_0312_1619_MASTER.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/erasmus_enfermera_espaola\/dts.podtrac.com\/redirect.mp3\/podcast.uis.no\/media\/SIF\/2026_0312_1619_MASTER.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/erasmus_enfermera_espaola\/dts.podtrac.com\/redirect.mp3\/podcast.uis.no\/media\/SIF\/2026_0312_1619_MASTER.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/erasmus_enfermera_espaola\/dts.podtrac.com\/redirect.mp3\/podcast.uis.no\/media\/SIF\/2026_0312_1619_MASTER.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/?powerpress_pinw=4902-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/erasmus_enfermera_espaola\/dts.podtrac.com\/redirect.mp3\/podcast.uis.no\/media\/SIF\/2026_0312_1619_MASTER.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"2026_0312_1619_MASTER.mp3\">Download<\/a> (Duration: 21:00 &#8212; 28.8MB) | <a href=\"#\" class=\"powerpress_link_e\" title=\"Embed\" onclick=\"return powerpress_show_embed('4902-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Embed<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_embed_box\" id=\"powerpress_embed_4902-podcast\" style=\"display: none;\"><input id=\"powerpress_embed_4902-podcast_t\" type=\"text\" value=\"&lt;iframe width=&quot;320&quot; height=&quot;30&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/?powerpress_embed=4902-podcast&amp;amp;powerpress_player=mediaelement-audio&quot; title=&quot;Blubrry Podcast Player&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;\" onclick=\"javascript: this.select();\" onfocus=\"javascript: this.select();\" style=\"width: 70%;\" readOnly><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribebyemail.com\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe by Email\" rel=\"nofollow\">Email<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_more\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"More\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a><\/p><!--powerpress_player-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are cities really the engines of innovation? Together with Thilo Lang, we explore how \u201chidden champions\u201d &#8211; global leaders in niche markets &#8211; are distributed across regions and operate with similar innovation dynamics regardless of location. The conversation challenges urban <span class=\"readmore\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/hidden-champions-breaking-the-urban-bias-in-innovation\/\">Les mer &#8230;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2549],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reginno"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/UiS_logo_Podcast_The_RegInno_440x300-e1776086360552.png?fit=440%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7OAJ5-1h4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5011,"url":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/scaling-urban-innovation-from-local-experiments-to-smart-city-systems\/","url_meta":{"origin":4902,"position":0},"title":"Scaling Urban Innovation: From Local Experiments to Smart City Systems","author":"NettOp UiS","date":"28\/07\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In this University of Stavanger podcast, experts from Nordic Edge and Stavanger Municipality discuss how local urban experiments can evolve into broader smart city systems. The conversation explores living labs, co-creation, governance, innovation ecosystems, citizen participation, digital tools, and lessons from projects such as NEBSTAR and Pedersgata. This episode is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ULALABS \u2013 A European Lab of Labs for Transformative Societal Transformation&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ULALABS \u2013 A European Lab of Labs for Transformative Societal Transformation","link":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/category\/ulalabs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ULALABS-300.png?fit=440%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3397,"url":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/the-role-of-universities-in-regional-innovation-policies-and-practices\/","url_meta":{"origin":4902,"position":1},"title":"The Role of Universities in Regional Innovation Policies and Practices","author":"NettOp UiS","date":"23\/12\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This episode discusses the processes through which universities contribute to the policymaking in terms of regional development and innovation. Drawing on a comparative case study involving University of Aveiro (Portugal), University of Twente (Netherlands) and Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain), Liliana Fonseca analyzes how universities interact with regional government authorities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Universities, innovation and regions&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Universities, innovation and regions","link":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/category\/universities-innovation-and-regions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Runin440x300px.png?fit=440%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5014,"url":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/5014-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":4902,"position":2},"title":"Tech for All: Emerging Technologies for Inclusive Urban Transformation","author":"NettOp UiS","date":"04\/08\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Explore the experiences and reflections shared by Maria Rod\u00f3-Z\u00e1rate (Pompeu Fabra University), Javier Mart\u00ednez (University of Twente), Vangelis Angelakis (Link\u00f6ping University), and Jens Kaae Fisker (University of Stavanger) in this roundtable discussion from the webinar Tech for All: Emerging Technologies for Inclusive Urban Transformation. Exploring experiences from research and practice,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ULALABS \u2013 A European Lab of Labs for Transformative Societal Transformation&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ULALABS \u2013 A European Lab of Labs for Transformative Societal Transformation","link":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/category\/ulalabs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ULALABS-300.png?fit=440%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4952,"url":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/from-tax-incentives-to-innovation-spillovers-rethinking-rd-policy\/","url_meta":{"origin":4902,"position":3},"title":"From Tax Incentives to Innovation Spillovers: Rethinking R&amp;D Policy","author":"NettOp UiS","date":"18\/05\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In this episode, innovation economist Mat\u011bj Bajgar discusses how R&D tax incentives shape innovation, why smaller firms often benefit the most, and how policy design can better support regional development. The conversation explores innovation economics, startup financing, regional disparities, and emerging research on innovation spillovers through firm networks. \u00a0 Find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;RegInno&quot;","block_context":{"text":"RegInno","link":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/category\/reginno\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/UiS_logo_Podcast_The_RegInno_440x300-e1776086360552.png?fit=440%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3406,"url":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/towards-an-engaged-university-in-the-periphery-innovation-regional-development-and-institutional-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":4902,"position":4},"title":"Towards an engaged university in the periphery: Innovation, regional development and institutional change","author":"NettOp UiS","date":"04\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This episode discusses the transformation of entrepreneurial universities into engaged universities in peripheral, less-developed regions. Focusing on the cases of two universities from RUNIN network, the University of Aveiro in Portugal and the University of Twente in the Netherlands, Ridvan Cinar examines the hurdles that universities face in this transformation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Universities, innovation and regions&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Universities, innovation and regions","link":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/category\/universities-innovation-and-regions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Runin440x300px.png?fit=440%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4978,"url":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/web-ai-and-innovation-research-how-text-analysis-is-transforming-economic-geography\/","url_meta":{"origin":4902,"position":5},"title":"Web AI and Innovation Research: How Text Analysis is Transforming Economic Geography","author":"NettOp UiS","date":"09\/06\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In this episode, Milad Abbasiharofteh discusses the evolution of innovation research, from patents and trademarks to web-based text analysis and generative AI. He shares how researchers can uncover hidden innovation activities, track technology diffusion, and leverage AI responsibly while emphasizing validation, sustainability, and emerging opportunities in economic geography. Find Milad\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;RegInno&quot;","block_context":{"text":"RegInno","link":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/category\/reginno\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/UiS_logo_Podcast_The_RegInno_440x300-e1776086360552.png?fit=440%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4903,"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4902\/revisions\/4903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettop.guru\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}