THE CURRENT ROLE OF INNOVATION POLICY FOR THE COMPETITIVENESS OF CHILEAN ENTERPRISES WITH FOCUS ON UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY COLLABORATION

The concept of the national innovation system has evolved over time and is defined as “the relationships within and between organizations (…), which determine the rate and direction of innovation and competence building (…) (Lundvall, 2009, S. 6). Therefore it is widely acknowledged as a tool for defining the adequate innovation policy framework. Universities as a knowledge supplier fulfil within this context a crucial role and have to redefine their self-understanding since collaboration with business gains importance. Therefore this article aims to highlight this new demanding and conflicting role of universities within the Open Innovation approach (Chesbrough, 2008) and discusses theoretically the impacts for innovation policy: Based on scientific work the network versus hierarchy approach within the realm of Governance topics is presented and exemplified at the case of Chile.

Within this empirical part the institutional setting accompanying companies in Chile as well as two cases of university-industry collaboration are revealed and discussed.

Finally some policy implications derived from this study are drawn, which focus on the role of intermediary agents enhancing trust relationships between the different stakeholders.

References:
[1] Chesbrough, H. W. (2008). Open innovation. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
[2] Lundvall, B.-Å. (Hrsg ). (2009). Handbook on innovation systems and developing countries. Building domestic capabilities in a global setting. Cheltenham u.a.: Elgar.