University Technology Transfer and the System of Innovation

Knowledge is recognized as a driving force in the study of innovation, and universities figure prominently as major actors in any discussion of the production, diffusion, and deployment of knowledge. While universities have long served as a source of technical advance for industry, university-industry collaboration has intensified in recent years due to four interrelated factors: the development of new, high-opportunity technology platforms such as computer science, molecular biology and material science; the more general growing scientific and technical content of all types of industrial production; the need for new sources of funding created by budgetary stringency; and the prominence of government policies aimed at raising the economic returns of publicly funded research by stimulating universitytechnology transfer (Geuna 1998: 5 – 6). Increased interaction between universities and industry is noted globally and Clark (1998) has coined the phrase entrepreneurial universitiesto describe the series of changes that reflect new missions and a more active role in promoting technology transfer within national systems. I