Abstract:

In 2009, the European Commission approved the project VERTEBRALCUE under the ALFA III program, comprising 32 institutions of higher education (HEI) representing 18 countries in Latin America, Caribbean and European Union (ALCUE space). The VERTEBRALCUE project aims to design in each institution of local units (ALCUE Units) that articulate and dynamize the common area of higher education inside the three regions, allow strengthening their institutional projects, and assuring at national, regional and bi-regional integration and harmonization inside the space ALCUE.

As a part of the project, the thematic networks have acquired a special and significant importance, because they act as driving elements of ALCUE Units and functional elements aimed at strengthening academic cooperation between HEIs of the ALCUE space.

ALCUE University-Enterprise Network (RED-UE) is the result of collaboration and cooperation between HEIs and other public and private institutions that make up the VERTEBRALCUE project. The RED-UE arises as result of the verification of the existence in the space ALCUE of a weak relation between the IES as generating of investigation, development and innovation (R+D+i) and the companies that propitiate that this R+D+i turns into a source of competitiveness and employment. Likewise, there is an absence of national, regional or local policies that stimulate the University - company linkage in the majority of countries that shape the ALCUE space, and reduced cooperation between public and private institutions for sharing and learning initiatives on this issue.

All these aspects have led to the IES in an unsatisfactory attention of their commitments by the community as part of the knowledge society; for students and teachers in under-utilization of their capacities; for companies in the lack of access to knowledge and services that would enhance their development, and for countries that are part of a ALCUE space in a well-known loss of opportunities to stimulate the innovative companies.

Hence the idea of a large number of institutions those are part of the VERTEBRALCUE to create a thematic network which becomes a powerful tool to help promote the transfer of research results and technology between the university and the enterprise through the exchange experiences and activities. The RED-UE seeks to encourage and foster relationships between the University and the Enterprise, and definitively, to boost ALCUE space, creating favorable conditions in combating poverty, youth unemployment and social inequality.

Keywords:

Higher Education, University enterprise networks.