THE ROLE OF A TECHNOLOGY INCUBATION CENTER FOR KNOWLEDGE GROWTH AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER VIA UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY COLLABORATION

The word "University" means the community of teachers and scholars in its Latin origin. The knowledge and the wisdom are passed by teachers and scholars at University to people studying there. Quoted from Confucius," The way of ultimate wisdom is the comprehension of absolute integrity, genial development of the common people and endless pursuit of the perfection of humanities". However, it is often argued that studies and lectures offered at University are too theoretical and abstract, which might not be applicable to the daily life of ordinary people in a short timeframe. Therefore, industry-university collaboration can complement the lack of practical aspects in the research-focused curriculum; meanwhile, such collaboration can benefit both scholars and students, making these intangible assets profitable in a shorter timeframe.

Under such circumstance, the technology incubation center thus plays a fundamental role of bridging the link between academia and industry. This paper would like to discuss about knowledge growth and technology transfer incubated at the university incubation center. First, the historical incentives of the formation of Silicon Valley in California, Silicon Fen in Cambridge, Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, and HsinChu Science based park in Taiwan are presented in the paper. Second, comparison studies are performed to demonstrate the individual features of each incubation center at these sites regarding knowledge growing and transferring process. Last, advantages and disadvantages of these sites are speculated from the value chain flow and the intellectual judgment. In conclusion, a supportive and credible system with good feedbacks between university and industry is a key factor for the successful knowledge growth at the incubation center. Furthermore, sounded intellectual property protection along with sufficient resources in the geographical area can maximize the industrial commercial value of these intangible assets brought by scholars and students in the University community.