Regional Sustainable Innovation via Trust and Preparedness

Abstract

European Union’s Regional Innovation Valleys (RIVs) initiative provides a policy framework for challenge-driven, place-based innovation. At the same time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a strategic enabler of regional governance, climate action, and ecosystem coordination. However, the effective use of AI in regional innovation ecosystems depends not only on technical capacity but also on institutional preparedness and trust-based collaboration. This paper examines how hybrid trust, combining social and institutional trust, supports sustainable regional innovation and ethical AI integration. The study applies a qualitative case study approach drawing on regional development initiatives in Kanta-Häme, Finland, including eco-industrial parks, Evo research forests, the DEFINE defence and dual-use innovation network and startup ecosystem activities. The findings identify four interdependent pillars of regional preparedness: institutionalized political commitment, data standardization and governance, strategic finance and human capacity, and ecosystem-based implementation. The analysis shows that AI can strengthen regional sustainability and innovation performance when embedded in human-centric governance structures supported by participatory co-creation and credible institutions. Hybrid trust functions as a strategic lever by enabling cooperation across public, private, academic, and civic actors under conditions of uncertainty and transformation. The paper contributes to research on regional innovation ecosystems and Human Systems Integration by arguing that sustainable digital transformation is fundamentally socio-technical, relational, and place-based rather than purely technological.

Keywords: Regional Innovation Valleys, Hybrid Trust, Preparedness, Artificial Intelligence, Smart Specialisation, Human Systems Integration

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007615