Universities are by definition producers of knowledge. How this academic knowledge is transferred to industry is becoming critically important to three stake-holders: universities, firms, and regional and national governments. The forms of this transfer are varied, including investment by high-tech firms in academic research and programs, university granting firms rights to use patented knowledge through royalty and licence payments, and the creation of high-tech spin-off firms clustered around universities. Little is understood at present of what policies undertaken by universities, regions, and national governments are successful in promoting this transfer and which are not. What is known, however, is that some countries, some regions, and some universities are much better than others in this process. This is why it was decided to solicit contributions from scholars dealing with these issues from a wide variety of universities and countries (including USA, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain, Finland, and China). Contributions have been selected if they deal with the above described broad scenario or if they cover single related topics such as case studies of: university-firm collaborations; national and regional government policies; university ‘best practices’; clusters of companies, universities and hospitals; networks of laboratories, academic institutions and entrepreneurial partners. Our inquiry is about academic production and transfer in general but it focuses primarily on the health industry, not only because of its size in most countries, but because it is, in many ways, central to the broader high-technology sector that is of particular interest to so many industrialised and emerging economies. The experiences reported in this journal underline that there is no single ‘best practice’ to promote academic knowledge transfer. Rather, the experiences from many universities and countries illustrate how successful programs adapt to their environment.
Special Issue on Academic Knowledge and Industrial Development: International Experiences and Implications for the Health Industry (Part I)
DI TOMMASO, Marco Rodolfo;
2010
Abstract
Universities are by definition producers of knowledge. How this academic knowledge is transferred to industry is becoming critically important to three stake-holders: universities, firms, and regional and national governments. The forms of this transfer are varied, including investment by high-tech firms in academic research and programs, university granting firms rights to use patented knowledge through royalty and licence payments, and the creation of high-tech spin-off firms clustered around universities. Little is understood at present of what policies undertaken by universities, regions, and national governments are successful in promoting this transfer and which are not. What is known, however, is that some countries, some regions, and some universities are much better than others in this process. This is why it was decided to solicit contributions from scholars dealing with these issues from a wide variety of universities and countries (including USA, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain, Finland, and China). Contributions have been selected if they deal with the above described broad scenario or if they cover single related topics such as case studies of: university-firm collaborations; national and regional government policies; university ‘best practices’; clusters of companies, universities and hospitals; networks of laboratories, academic institutions and entrepreneurial partners. Our inquiry is about academic production and transfer in general but it focuses primarily on the health industry, not only because of its size in most countries, but because it is, in many ways, central to the broader high-technology sector that is of particular interest to so many industrialised and emerging economies. The experiences reported in this journal underline that there is no single ‘best practice’ to promote academic knowledge transfer. Rather, the experiences from many universities and countries illustrate how successful programs adapt to their environment.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
