KNOWLEDGE, INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP:THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES

Andrea-Rosalinde Hofer, OECD Trento Centre andrea-rosalinde.hofer@oecd.org

Outline

1. Innovation activity of firms

2. U-B links

3. HEInnovate

Innovation activity of firms

• Non-linear and continous process• Firms couple innovation activity, e.g.,

product & process; market & organisational, etc. “internal networks”, multiple links

• Firms do not innovate in isolation; selectively involve external sources of knowledge (absorptive capacitity)

• Opportunity recognition & realisation: org. structure gatekeeper/s, firm age, network position, “boredom effect”

University-Business Links (1/2)

• 3-fold role: education, creation of scientific knowledge, sharing of knowledge

• Complex & interactive chain-link model; cognitive and geographical proximity

• Rationale for collaborate vary for sector, size, age, location, “people dimension”, innovation activity, university characteristics

University-Business Links (2/2)

• Contract research • Informal contacts with academics • Co-patenting and lincense utilisation • Use of laboratories• Supervision of theses • Internships, graduate employment, staff

mobility • Involvement of businesses on HEI boards

and vice versa• Business people teach in HEI• Participation in HE and FE offer

Organising U-B links

• Different org set-ups: ‘individual’ vs. ‘centralised’ approach

• No one-size fits all, but individual approach makes spill-over effects (contacts, add resources, workplacements) difficult

Strategy & capacity building and incentives

Source: DCU Strategic Plan 2012-2017, Dublin

Organising U-B links

Mobility between public research organisations and the private sector (1/2)

Example approaches: • Work placements and internships

of doctoral students • Fellowships and exchange

programmes of experienced researchers

Mobility between public research organisations and the private sector (2/2)

Public policy initiatives: • Ireland: Science Foundation Ireland

Industry Fellowship Programme to support bi-directional mobility

• Denmark: Mobilex: support interest-driven, researcher-initiated research projects

• Scotland: Scottish Enterprise Industrial Fellowships Pilot: upporting high-technology start-ups from within the Scottish industrial base (evaluation report)

7 Dimensions in HEInnovate www.heinnovate.eu

5. The higher education institution specifically supports staff and student mobility between academia and the external environment

Staff and student mobility are key mechanisms for knowledge exchange (also admin. & doctoral students)

Mobility needs incentives and facilitation; feedback mechanisms for HEI-wide knowledge exchange

Organising for mobility can be resource intensive: centralised support services & faculty-focus-points can help.

Knowledge exchange links (6 statements)

What do we expect from HEInnovate?

• Capacity upgrading in HEIs

– Capture signals of opportunities & barriers – Learning materials (case studies & guidance

notes) – International networking opportunities

• Public policy inputs from trends and gaps

– Survey data – Country reviews – National and international capacity building

events

Additional slides

Universities as external knowledge partners of innovative firms (2010-2012, in %)

EU (28)

Finland

Slovenia

Austria

United Kingdom

Hungary

Sweden

Czech

Republic

German

y

Norway

France

Netherl

ands

Poland

Spain Italy

13

26 2522

20 18 1815 14 13 12 11 11 10

64

6 6 57

2 3 2 3 42

Universities_col Universities_rel**

Source: European Commission, 2015, CIS 2012;