Innovation in industrial SMEs: a vision from interactive learning model

This paper looks at innovation processes in industrial SMEs from the point of view of so-called << interactive learning >> or Lundvall's Aalborg model. The paper is based on both qualitative (47 semi-structured interviews) and quantitative (phone survey of 147 firms) empirical fieldwork carried out in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa (Northern Spain). The empirical evidence shows that industrial SMEs from that region innovate in accordance with the << DUI mode >> (doing, using, interacting), and that they are far from the << STI mode >> (science, technology, innovation).