The knowledge economy, learning and innovation have moved to the foreground both in regional and industrial policies in the recent decade. Concrete policies were shaped in the past by the linear innovation model (focus on R&D and technology diffusion), and more recently, by “best practice models” of interactive innovation derived from high-tech areas and well performing regions. These were often applied in a similar way across many types of regions. In this paper an attempt was made to show that there is no “ideal model” for innovation policy. Empirical investigations demonstrate that preconditions for innovation, innovation activities and processes, as well networks differ strongly between central, peripheral and old industrial regions.