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This article addresses issues relating to the policy shift in developing countries aimed at making universities increasingly relevant to the socio-economic milieu by promoting the 'triple helix culture' as a sustainable basis for innovation and technological progress. The role of universities in creating, disseminating and sharing knowledge is highlighted. Using the experiences of Malaysia and Algeria, the article explores evidence to show the extent to which the triple helix system of relationships between university, industry and government could be expected to enhance the relevance of universities to developing countries as active agents of innovation and sustainable development.

Innovation plays a crucial role in the evolution of high-tech clusters which are invoked as a strategy for sustainable industrialisation and economic growth. Over the last five decades, the Silicon Valley in California has emerged as the most successful high-tech cluster in the world. Not surprisingly, policymakers, regional planners and real-estate developers elsewhere in the world have sought to emulate its success. Malaysia’s answer to the Silicon Valley is the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), which was launched in 1995 with the aim to create a knowledge-based economy through technological leapfrogging. Is the MSC a mere ‘top-down’ planning exercise that is out of sync with the needs of the Malaysian economy, or does it represent a strategic way forward for Malaysia to catch up on technologically advanced countries? This paper examines the rationale, implementation and progress of the MSC, the issues arising from the MSC experience and the implications for other developing countries.