Universityindustry relations in Bolivia: implications for university transformations in Latin America (original) (raw)
Related papers
2012
This paper investigates the academic side of the university-industry linkages, reporting results from a survey applied to research groups from universities and public institutes in Brazil. Answers from 1,005 research groups are analyzed and the principal results of this survey are described. Our hypothesis is that even identifying that the incentive regime for research is misaligned in Brazil, there are some particularities, especially regarding the Brazilian universalities" role: they act somehow differently from "conventional Latin American wisdom". Brazilian universities do more than consulting activities and routine services (that is technical evaluations, project management, testing and engineering services), however, Brazilian universities play a minor role vis-à-vis mature economies" universities and are not "entrepreneurial universities" yet, being somewhere in between the "consultant university" and the "entrepreneurial university". We find arguments that prove our hypothesis that Brazilian universities do more than consulting activities and also that interactions with firms tend to reinforce knowledge creation and diffusion, strengthening the academic mission.
INDEPENDENT JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT & PRODUCTION , 2015
The university-industry interactions have been perceived by academics and governments as one of the key drivers for social and economic development of nations. In Brazil, these interactions are still a recent phenomenon, with no conclusive results on its effectiveness and with no clear guidelines on how to tackle the main problems faced by the professionals, researchers and institutions involved on such interactions. In order to provide an accurate diagnosis of the characteristics, challenges and peculiarities of these phenomena, the present study investigates the university-industry relations in the School of Engineering of Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), located in the municipality of Niterói/RJ. In order to contribute to the analysis of the problem, interviews were conducted with professors and researchers affiliated with the School. The results shows, from the perspective of the respondents, the main motivations of the parties involved in these relationships, as well as the main limitations and difficulties in its establishment.
The Silent Run: New Issues and Outcomes for University-Industry Relations in Brazil
Journal of technology management & innovation, 2011
Selected data about major industrial countries denotes that more than a half of the recent economic growth and development is explained by technological innovation. And, in order to deliver high tech products, companies are getting closer to scientific research performed inside universities and research centers, combining their particular assets. This approach is commonly named University-Industry Relations (U-I), and it was explained in different theories, like Sabato's triangle and the Triple Helix, where the knowledge is transferred between institutions through specific channels. But maybe this traditional view it is not possible to describe what happens in development countries. As an example, U-I performed in Brazil seem to evolve in a different way. While government agencies are creating a legal structure to boost U-I, and there is a significant growth of articles published in international journals, patent deposits are not following the same track. Regular channels of knowledge transfer, as joint research, joint publications and patents, are not enough to explain U-I. However, despite the mature technological base, Brazilian companies seems to be changing its regular pattern, where technologically stable industry are surprisingly incorporating some high-tech outcomes from universities, boosting sectors that once were apparently inert. The increase of Brazilian academic papers makes evident that there is a new research boom. And, as an output, new partnerships with companies and academic spin-off firms are carrying scientific research outcomes to the market, even without patenting. Considering this scenario, it is necessary to look forward different ways to explain how U-I can drive technological innovation. Instead of only focusing on the institutions and channels which knowledge is transferred, it is necessary to determine what kind of knowledge is being transferred as well as who are the actors driving the establishment of the interaction. This article proposes a different approach on University-Industry relations, focusing on the content and the direction of the knowledge flow between involved institutions. Considering the different levels of knowledge contained in universities and companies, technological innovation cannot be -measured‖ only based on the way knowledge is transferred. Considering what seems to be happening in Brazil, new indicators of content and flow of knowledge between both institutions should be used to better explain U-I. The flow may be started by the company (through the chief researcher or the entrepreneur) or by the university (through the academic researcher or the technology transfer office). The knowledge content may be Raw Scientific Knowledge, Scientific Knowledge Spillover, Technological Spillover, Advanced Technological Solutions and Standard Technological Solutions. While the regular approach may erroneously point that university is downgrading its scientific knowledge to firms R&D projects, both firms and universities seem to be improving knowledge applications. The Silent Run shows that companies which appears to be formerly technologically stable, are now upgrading new products and processes trough U-I. Universities are not only being used to develop new products as consultants, but also to co-research new technologies. As a consequence, Brazilian companies are now diversifying products in stable industry, opening new possibilities as strategic world players.
Changing knowledge production and Latin American universities
Research Policy, 2001
This article examines some of the main issues affecting knowledge production in Latin America. The focus is on universities, because they are the principal regional producers of knowledge up to now. The paper compares changes and continuities concerning academic values and attitudes, governmental policies, university-industry relations and endogenous knowledge generation, analysing also the connection between the 'structurally unachieved' National Systems of Innovation (NSI) in Latin America and the social 'loneliness' of universities. The article finishes by sketching alternative scenarios for the future interaction between knowledge generation and university transformation.
Emerging industry-university trends, challenges, and interventions for Latin America
2011 Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy, 2011
Ever since the dawn of the last decade, Latin America has witnessed both an existing, entrenched, consensus on the need for changing the role of universities, as well as the incremental demand for knowledgeable-high-tech skilled labor in emerging industries. Such a role has arrived in addition to the standard roles of advanced education and research, to one more where extension, engagement, and entrepreneurship contributes to regional economic development. Hence, these institutions are compelled to increase, develop, and raise their potential in terms of training qualified, "knowledge workers" thus creating imminent direct innovation and scientific capacity building. Since from a technological standpoint, sustainability and abundance will never occur in a profit system, for it simply goes against the very nature of its structure, designed to maintain and promote innovative scarcity, this dyadic relationship of industry university relations must seek new alternative resources, where the end result is a competitive indigenous technology that supports a resourcebased economy. To accomplish it requires access to technological and financial resources, diverse capabilities, and markets. However, since rarely are all these available in one place or embodied in one person or organization, the role of networks in disseminating information and ideas and allowing access to such resources, has, consequently, become of critical importance. So much so, it could be argued, that the viability of network connections has become a critical determinant of economic competitiveness. In developing regions, the sphere of competencies is likely to be supplementary from the knowledge frontier, and as a result the collection of considered options is narrow. Both in developed and developing countries, industries have only inadequate knowledge of relevant technological options, and research demonstrates that they generally look for new solutions around their existing competencies (Fagerberg and Godinho 2005). In order to steer clear of being encapsulated on a second-rate development path, technologically lagging countries are in particular need of institutional strengthening that enhances access to cutting-edge technologies, supply needed skills and strengthen local innovation networks. For the most part, Latin American universities are well positioned to meet this challenge to the extent they are at the knowledge frontier and may be trained to be responsive to the needs of firms, but compose a major portion of all national innovation systems acting as primary employers of researchers, and receiving the bulk of public subsidies for research. There is an unprecedented potential for putting this research capacity to uses never before witnessed by their industrial counterparts, who remain suspicious of their academic counterparts. Technology-based industries could benefit prominently from the university education and research interaction. Specifically, the disparity between the long-term horizon of institution, infrastructure, and capacity building, and the short term and quickly shifting challenges of new technological paradigms, does provide the perfect setting. This paper considers trends, challenges, and a possible intervention for Latin American universities and their relations with industry, as well as policy options available for fostering their contributions to overall development.
Revista de Administração, 2016
The evolution of universities' relations with the business sector in Brazil: What national publications between 1980 and 2012 reveal This paper addresses the changes in university-industry relations in Brazil regarding innovation activities. It is based on a survey of articles published in major national journals or presented at the most relevant Brazilian and regional conferences, between 1980 and 2012. The year 1980 was chosen due to the creation of the Technological Innovation Offices (NITs), which was the first government initiative to encourage knowledge transfer from universities to companies; the second was the Innovation Act of 2004. Our assumption was that after the Act the number of academic papers on this subject would increase, bringing new ideas and propositions of models to enhance this relationship. The methodology employed a qualitative, exploratory approach, using bibliographical research and a bibliometric analysis of 247 papers. Literature review of international studies shows the discussion of problems and suggestions for improvements, while in Brazil there is still a debate on whether this collaboration should occur, and if this is a legitimate role for the university. Despite the numerical growth, the content analysis showed few papers on new configurations and procedures for partnership management. We conclude that university-industry relations are not a regular and totally accepted process in Brazilian public universities, which reflect an ideological bias against cooperation with firms.
Motivations and obstacles to university industry cooperation (UIC): a Mexican case
R&D Management, 1994
Within the context of linkage between universities and the productive sector in Mexico, this article seeks t o answer the following questions: i) which are the principal motivations for researchers at universities t o carry out technological research and t o seek ties t o industry? ii) which are the main motivations for industrial entrepreneurs t o establish cooperation with universities to develop technology? and iii) which are the main barriers t o a healthy relationship between both institutions? Our answers are based on data from t w o sources: (a) an exploratory survey of 31 researchers at the National University of Mexico and of 28 Mexican entrepreneurs, half of whom had previous experience in collaborative projects; and, (b) a subsequent panel discussion among questionnaire respondents designed t o elicit in-depth qualitative data concerning motivations and obstacles t o university-industry cooperation.
We propose in this paper to analyze the factors that hinder the university-industry interactions in Brazil. The hypothesis presented is that a major obstacle to university-industry interaction is the lack of qualified personnel (both from academia and from firms) to establish dialogue between the parties. Such a factor, in our view is rarely addressed in the literature and has received little attention from Brazilian policymakers. Recently Brazilian government has applied policies aimed at the expansion and decentralization of production of scientific knowledge however they are not congruent with the industrial policies. Brazilian immature innovation system seems to face a lack of synchronization between the incentive regimes of science and technology policies that on the one hand define areas that are important for playing technological and economical catch-up and on the other hand do not have a well-defined policy to allocate human resources to those areas nor does it have an alig...
Ukendt publiceringskanal, 2006
A special thanks to Camilo Diaz, Alvaro Turriago and Patrizia Arenas, who set up my interview schedule while in Bogotá. I should like to thank also the World Bank team in Washington-Al Watkins, Andreas Blom, Daniel Hummel, Kristian Thorn, Lauritz Holm-Nielsen, and Natalia Agapitova-for supplying relevant World Bank reports and data, and for inspiring discussions on a debriefing session in the Bank. Last but not least, I should like to thank Roberto Pizarro who, in addition to being an excellent translator, was an important source of information and insight on Colombia.
The Dynamics of University-Industry Interactions in Peripheral Contexts: Evidence from Brazil
Foresight and STI Governance
This research aims at addressing the factors that constrain the flow of knowledge between universities and industry when these players are embedded in peripheral contexts. A multiple-case study was carried out in order to describe and understand the limitations of universities as agents of innovation in peripheral ecosystems. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with the coordinators of five Technological Innovation Centers (entities equivalent to TTO) of all Federal Institutes (five) located in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The findings show that there are constraining elements associated with the socioeconomic environment (the lack of economic dynamism and low absorptive capacity at firms), with universities (a lack of infrastructure, resources, and available researchers) and intermediary agents (the lack of staff and institutional legitimacy). The observed conditions lead to challenges in fostering dense knowledge flows, thus perpetuating regional economic as...