Co-Evolution of the University Technology Transfer: Towards a Sustainability-Oriented Industry: Evidence from Italy

Abstract

Industry is continuously evolving, reflecting changes in society. An important aspect of this evolution concerns how new digital technologies are used and their effects on innovation and sustainability. Thus, the relationship between university, industry, and government grows stronger, shifting the focus on technology transfer processes from university to industry, at local and national levels. To increase our understanding of how these processes take place, more theoretical and empirical research is required. This paper aims to respond to this call by examining the university technology transfer through a co-evolutionary approach. The study analyses the dynamics of the relationships at different organisational levels within universities able to create sustainability-oriented innovative university spin-offs and start-ups, through the Italian National Innovation Award case. The findings show that the creation of these spin-offs and start-ups are the result of effective multi-level co-evolutionary adaptations within universities, and among university, industry and government. The article contributes to the further understanding of the management of technology transfer by combining some elements from the literature about the co-evolution of social organisations and their environment with some elements from the Triple Helix model of innovation. Moreover, both theoretical and managerial implications emerge, together with suggestions for future research.

Prioritizing Short-Termism in Behavioural Strategy: Lessons from Enron – 20 Years On

“…This trust must be acquired, implemented and properly consolidated over time (e.g. Delbufalo, 2012), thus determining a co-evolutionary relationship with the firm (Breslin, 2016;Cafferata, 2016;Paniccia & Baiocco, 2018;Uli, 2018).…”

Building Sustainable Development through Technology Transfer Offices: An Approach Based on Levels of Maturity

“…For years, developed countries like the United States (USA) and the United Kingdom have had laws of incentive to science and technology, which enable social and economic development through university research. In the USA, the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 helped to accelerate the pace of diffusion of new technologies, from universities and federal laboratories to companies [4]. Through this legislation, numerous universities established technology transfer offices to manage and protect their intellectual property.…”

“…Therefore, innovating has become a matter of survival in the business world and, linked to that, the university-industry-government interaction fosters technology transfer for sustainable development [2]. In practice, university starts to perform a role that reinforces the innovation process in a knowledge-based society [3,4].…”

The Role of Social and Institutional Contexts in Social Innovations of Spanish Academic Spinoffs

“…Recent studies within the literature on academic entrepreneurship highlight that academic spinoffs (ASOs) should constitute a focal point for academics and policy-makers, not only because they contribute towards economic renewal, industrial and regional change, and the economic development of emerging markets [1,2], but also due to the social impact that the commercialization of their knowledge bases may provide [3,4]. In this respect, several studies emphasize the role of ASOs in the development of social innovations from a sustainable perspective, and also the influence that universities may have in promoting mechanisms that support the creation and development of said innovations [3][4][5][6][7][8]. Scholten and van der Duin [3] argue that ASOs often develop radical innovations that translate into new business models, alternative products, and approaches of a more sustainable nature that respond to social problems and demands.…”

“…On the other hand, within the academic entrepreneurship literature, social innovation has barely been studied, and research linking social innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem is even scarcer. However, several authors theoretically argue the importance of universities and governments for the development of sustainable social innovations of ASOs [4][5][6][7][8][9] and claim that more research is required into the effectiveness of the entrepreneurial ecosystem on the entrepreneurial outcomes of ASOs from a social perspective.…”