Swanson, A., Leitner, K-H. (2014): How do prevailing National and Regional Innovation Systems affect university contribution, and transformation towards building an Entrepreneurial University? Insights from a study of the Life Sciences area in Stockholm and Vienna, Helice, Vol. 3, Iss. 11. (original) (raw)
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Innovation Ecosystems and Universities
2018
During the last decades the number of universities extending their initial education and teaching missions towards the triple helix and knowledge triangle paradigms, e.g. knowledge and technology transfer and innovation has increased substantially. In line with this evolution the term ‘entrepreneurial university’ became increasingly popular however until recently there is hardly a common understanding of ‘entrepreneurial universities’. The main perception of ‘entrepreneurial universities’ rests with a visible and measurable contribution of universities to innovation and entrepreneurship in a broader sense. Although this perception is plausible and convincing it raises many open questions which mainly point to university governance models. The innovation and entrepreneurial university paradigm requires a holistic view on university governance approaches which include the full set of universities missions and respective management routines. In this respect it’s of utmost importance th...
Research Policy, 2003
Since the beginning of the 1990s, Sweden has been transforming its national research policy into policy for innovation. One of the bottom up responses to this top d initiative has been an attempt on the part of some Swedish universities to transform themselves into entrepreneurial institutions. This paper uses a case study of one particular Swedish University; Chalmers University of Technology's transformation process to reflect on the new research policy. Chalmers' journey is examined against the backdrop of the changing national climate for universities as well as local factors within the university itself. The case confirms existing knowledge in that it shows that creating an entrepreneurial university takes several years as both infrastructural and cultural changes are necessary to achieve success. The case also shows that despite the long history of public-private in Sweden, the new emphasis on commercialisation and commodification of knowledge creates some degree of role uncertainty for universities. The paper concludes that one of the elements required for Swedish innovation policy is macro (policy vision and implementation) and micro (university organisation) level flexibility and diversity.
2013
No part of the paper can be quoted without the consent of the authors. This paper is aimed at investigating various opportunities as well as challenges facing universities from developing countries in their role of creation and exchange of knowledge as a basis of innovation. It intends to do so by investigating the links of these universities with regional and/or national systems of innovation and their position within the three stage evolutionary process (statist, laissez-faire and hybrid) of the Triple Helix system. These links will be highlighted and discussed in terms of proximity and impact on knowledge creation and exchange as well as on innovation. The paper argues that a healthy balance of diverse types of higher education institutions in a country might be necessary for better national innovation performance.
Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Innovation
RUNIN Project & UK Book Publishing, 2021
This book is the result of a European Union funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Network on the Role of Universities in Innovation and Regional Development (RUNIN). The network received funding from 2016 to 2020 and supported 14 early-career researchers who undertook their doctoral training in the network. It builds on the collaboration between the universities in the European Consortium for Innovative Universities (ECIU), of which six of the participant teams are members. The universities in the ECIU share an ambition to promote innovation and to work closely with their regions. The RUNIN programme brings together scholars working on higher education, innovation and regions in order to study how the universities realise this ambition. The project aims to provide new knowledge for other universities and policy-makers on how universities can contribute to innovation in their regions. The programme includes a university and a regional development agency in each region as partners in order to examine the relationship between universities and their regions from both perspectives. The programme involved international mobility both before and during the programme. All early-career researchers moved from abroad to the university and region in which they were employed. The 14 researchers in the programme came from 12 different countries on four continents. They could thus bring an outsider’s perspective on the universities and the regions. This book presents those perspectives. It includes seven case studies authored by the early-career researchers working at each university, in which they analyse the relationship between the university and its surrounding region. The case studies show the wide array of roles which universities can take in their regions. Even though the universities share the same ambition and, as members of the ECIU, have similar profiles, the regional and national contexts in which they find themselves have implications for the types of activities which they do, the effects of these activities, and the way in which they are received both at the university and in the surrounding region. Work on this book started during the first training week of the project, hosted by the University of Lincoln in March 2017, when the researchers had started their PhDs only weeks or even days before. It ends as the programme draws to a conclusion, following an extensive programme of training weeks in all seven regions, several conference special sessions, joint publications, exchanges and successful PhD defences. It has been an honour to work with such a great group of promising researchers and inspiring supervisors through the process. The scholars in the RUNIN programme share an interest in studying universities and regions, but also in actively engaging with stakeholders, in communicating their research in new ways, and in contributing to the betterment of society. During the course of the programme, the network has evolved into deep collaboration and close friendships, where all participants have contributed to a supportive atmosphere. We hope this book will reflect that collaboration and will be of use to university managers, policymakers, academics and students who want to know how universities can contribute to their regions. The universities and regions presented here are all, in their unique ways, interesting examples of the multi-faceted nature of this relationship.
Entrepreneurial Universities and Regional Innovation
Advances in higher education and professional development book series, 2020
Universities are expected to play a leading role in the smart specialisation strategy process. However, a gap between discourse and practice is marking the RIS3related regional development programmes, which can be extended to the involvement of universities in the process. A mismatch can be speculated between the expectations towards universities' roles in RIS3 implementation and actual practice, and its repercussions on a regional innovation ecosystem. This chapter addresses the extent to which the role played by universities in a region's innovation and entrepreneurial practice aligns with the smart specialisation strategic outline. As an in-depth case-study of the University of Aveiro (Portugal), it draws on both quantitative and qualitative data, with an analysis of RIS3 approved projects in the Portuguese NUTS II Centro region, and interviews with key actors within the university and the regional administration. Through this, it weighs the contribution of entrepreneurial universities to the RIS3 goals, drawing lessons for public policy and discussing the future of RIS3.
Changes in Responsibilities and Tasks of Universities in Regional Innovation Ecosystems
Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy, 2017
Innovation process research is changing. In addition to the former territorial approach (examining countries or regions), the description of innovation cooperation in local areas is becoming more and more accepted. Instead of the innovation ability of the traditional large enterprises, research has begun to study the role of small and medium-sized enterprises, non-governmental organizations, local governments, and educational institutions (especially universities), which foreshadows the development of a new innovation system. In 2015, we conducted a study focusing on the civil and corporate relations of a major university. We tried to determine the new directions based on the economic and social cooperation as well as to search for the practical implementation of the theoretical helixes in these interactions. We came to the conclusion that universities not only are determinative according to the triple helix model but also have a prominent role in the creation of new innovation ecos...
Entrepreneurial Universities' Strategic Role in Accelerated Innovation for Regional Growth
Examining the Role of Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Development, 2020
This chapter provides a conceptual framework of entrepreneurial universities' strategic role which has been viewed as an operational approach of promoting innovation–driven regional growth. Nowadays, entrepreneurial universities' strategic role and research institutions' innovative capabilities are distinguished as significant knowledge facilitators for regional economic development, due to their spin-off that adds value through knowledge creation and entrepreneurial discovery process. This chapter exemplifies entrepreneurial universities' strategic perspectives and their impact on a regional innovation system that enables a region to be more creative and innovative, especially new EU member states' territories in order to create their pioneering business opportunity with worldwide competency.
Research Policy, 2009
Examining parallels in the long-term evolution of the German and US university systems, this paper formulates hypotheses about the rise and decline of university entrepreneurialism at the national level. Three macro-level antecedents of university entrepreneurialism are identified: (1) decentralized competition; (2) latitude in mission and revenue mix; (3) a nationwide, diversified bidding system for the funding of large-scale university-based research. Of these, the third is real lynchpin of university entrepreneurialism. Arguing for a multidimensional understanding of such entrepreneurialism (i.e. beyond just the commercialization of scientific discoveries), the paper identifies three developments within universities emanating from a favorable national environment: (1) organizational innovations for achieving economies of scope; (2) an institutionalized capacity for strategic selection of research foci; and (3) a capacity to contribute to the development of new industries. The analysis suggests that as national university systems grow and run into cost containment problems, political pressures for reform increase, leading to system homogenization; system homogenization weakens the contextual sources of entrepreneurialism and triggers a process of decline.
Special Introduction: The Entrepreneurial University Wave
Technology Financing and Commercialization, 2015
An entrepreneurial wave is spreading across the academic universe. If not a tsunami, it is certainly more than a ripple as evidenced by the increasing attention to the model by policy makers, universities, and researchers since I initially set it in motion 30 years ago (Etzkowitz, 1983). As awareness and interest grow, a university wants to play a more strategic role in encouraging regional innovation, renewal, and growth. This occurs through local actors from academia, industry and government, coming together, at the invitation of a respected person with convening power, to formulate and implement a strategy to promote regional development via a 'High-tech Council' or 'Knowledge Circle' (Jonker, 2013). The assumption that positions will be available in existing organizations for graduates is being replaced by a more realistic attitude, on the part of both students and teachers, that new jobs and fields of activity need to be invented. The paradox of high research productivity and low economic return is of concern, not only to policy makers, but also to graduating students seeking careers who are of a mind to take action. Thus, some students claim that 'The European University Is Broken' and have set up a school in Ljubljana with a branch in San Francisco to train start-ups, in a reprise of the medieval Bolognese tradition of the student-founded university (Frelih, 2013). A recently established PhD training program in the biological sciences at the University of California Irvine includes training in intellectual property and business development, provided by the university's business and law faculties. The emergence of the entrepreneurial university is larger than the issue of economic and social development, although it includes it. It is