They lack the financial and information resources and the skills and the time needed to obtain, sift and analyse information. But to compete effectively, they will have to be knowledge-intensive. Many such companies depend on the intellectual assets locked up in the owners' or managers' heads. Business information services Specialist information services, allied to the strategic development of the region or to the region's industrial and commercial base, can create a comprehensive information-rich environment within which fiercely competing firms can also benefit from a shared, collectively financed information resource. Working together, public, academic and specialist libraries extend the range of available resources and expertise and can develop new regional information services that would not be viable for any single library acting alone.
Technology is the key.
The convergence of computing and telecommunications means that many of the geographical obstacles to information use can now be overcome and it is more and more possible to develop specialist services designed to meet the needs of a regional audience. The Corporation of London has created the City Business Library to meet the information needs of the capital's commercial centre. In Aberdeen the information needs of the oil industry are met through a range of services provided through collaboration between public and academic libraries. Support for networks or business clusters Networks and clusters of businesses provide a stimulus to innovation and growth. Over time, the clusters create and sustain a pool of skilled labour and collective expertise.