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Towards a BRICS Agenda on University-Industry Linkages: Reflections from Recent Research in South Africa

This research paper reflects on the university-industry linkages (UILs) in South Africa over the past five years and suggests a research agenda for UILs across BRICS countries. It explores working partnerships in higher education, industry, and innovation, focusing on the sociological and historical approach in the South African context. The paper also examines the forms, structures, and dynamics of UILs within universities that promote or hinder their success.

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Towards a BRICS Agenda on University-Industry Linkages: Reflections from Recent Research in South Africa

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  1. Towards a BRICS agenda on university-industry linkages: reflections from recent research in South Africa Glenda Kruss Gkruss@hsrc.ac.za 2nd BRICS workshop, Rio De Janeiro, 25-27 April 2007

  2. Overview • Meta-reflection of research on UILs in SA context over 5 years • Conceptual approaches, focus, empirical sites (HSRC work) • As basis for suggesting research agenda on UILs across BRICS countries • In iteration with current state of research in Brazil, Russia, India and China

  3. Working partnerships in higher education, industry and innovation • Entry point = Higher Education Studies, approach sociological and historical • We knew that: • National policy framework favoured ‘partnership’ • Shifts in sources of university research funding indicated emergence of ‘partnership’ • BUT little SA research • International literature appropriated with caution, given specificity of SA context • How to understand and map out trends across the higher education system in an emerging economy undergoing political transition? • => Descriptive typology of South African forms of partnership in high technology fields • Empirical focus = biotech, ICT, NMD

  4. 3 components of study • Audit of partnerships emerging from government incentives (THRIP/IF): Group of universities and set of firms engaging in UILS, mutual benefits (publications, PG students, artefacts) • Mapping scale and form of partnership across higher education system (35 institutions)

  5. Dominant new forms of partnership Entreprenuerial forms of partnership Consultancies Commercialisation Contracts Higher education Incentives Sponsorships Donations Collaboration Primarily financial Networks 'Networked' forms of partnership Traditional forms of partnership Primarily financial Primarily intellectual Industry Industry Primarily intellectual Higher education

  6. Emergent research capacity Emerging entrepreneurial Laissez faire aspirational Structured Unstructured Laissez Faire traditional Harness Innovation Potential Sound research capacity

  7. 3. Case studies of networks • Firm and university perspective: drivers, structure and dynamics, interests – variation between fields? • Dynamics of competition drive cooperation, intersecting with levels of experience in HE (specialism, tacit knowledge to manage networks, HE institutional support) and involvement of (public sector) intermediary partners

  8. Complexity, contingency, contexts • UILs emerging in SA, insight into forms they take, structures, practices and dynamics within universities that promote or hinder their formation, operation and successful performance • Large scale research on UILs from perspective of firms in context of specific sectoral dynamics required • Scale and form of UILs in context of regional system of innovation, and of wider range of sectors • International comparative work • Lorentzen – learning in firms • UILs for Development: Western Cape study

  9. UILs and development in sub-Saharan Africa • How and why do relationships between universities and firms differ across countries and regions at different stages of economic development, and across sectors? • How do these differences influence the contribution universities make to local and national development goals? • Entry point = innovation studies, approach = sociological , historical and economic • Sectoral (bio-sectors), national, regional, cross-regional (Africa, Asia, Latin America) • National system of innovation, catch-up

  10. Towards a BRICS agenda • NSI approach – focus on firms => value of opening up ‘black box’ of university sector to show drivers for academics and institutional conditions that promote UILs, across BRICS countries • Drivers of UILs from firm perspective in relation to biosectors, extended to other BRICS sectors • Comparative BRICS study that links analysis of UILs to dynamics and organisational forms of national system of innovation in each country (state, firms and universities) • Starting point: comparison with state of research on UILs in Brazil, Russia, India, China?

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