In 2004, SPRIE launched the three-year Greater China Networks (GCN) research program. Its goal is two-fold. First, the GCN seeks to advance understanding of the systems of innovation and entrepreneurship that drive Greater China's ascendance in high technology. Second, it will study the nature and impacts of the region's integration into the global knowledge economy. The research agenda includes a focus on activities or institutions that underpin systems of innovation and entrepreneurship, especially for the new generation of ascending high tech regions in Greater China. These include university-industry linkages, globalization of R&D, venture capital, new firm formation and development, and flows of technology and business leaders.