The Role of Universities in Shaping the Evolution of Silicon Valley’s Ecosystem of Innovation

Abstract

Universities play a unique role in ecosystems of innovation. They interact with the other agents of the Triple Helix model, developing their functions in relation to each other and together with industry and government. Grounded in key conceptual frameworks—Triple Helix, Regional Innovation Systems and Entrepreneurial University—we analyze how the leading universities in Silicon Valley (UC Berkeley, Stanford and UC San Francisco) have evolved, adapting to new demands and, in turn, shaping the evolution of Silicon Valley. To do so we use quantitative and qualitative data and examine the changes occurring between 2007 and 2018. A close examination of the data from this period reveals an increased attention to entrepreneurship education and an intensified activity of technology transfer offices. Equally relevant are the increased interactions between universities and investors (business angels, Venture Capital funds and corporate investors), and the improvement of specific infrastructures to incubate and accelerate business ideas.

Proceedings of the 17th International Research Symposium on Service Excellence in Management - QUIS17

“…Going back to the theoretical background is necessary to interpret the results. The HEI's entrepreneurial ecosystem described the need for education, infrastructure, policies that promote entrepreneurship, and knowledge transfer offices (Piqué, Berbegal-Mirabent, and Etzkowitz, 2020). The model indicates that more important is promoting sustainable education and strategic direction tied to either entrepreneurship or sustainability or both (intermediate solution ~A*B*C).…”

“…An ecosystem consists of a collection of individuals, organizations, industry, and environmental elements who join forces in complex ways (Guerrero, Urbano, and Gajón, 2020). Piqué, Berbegal-Mirabent, and Etzkowitz (2020) make an approximation mentioning that entrepreneurship education, interactions between universities and investors, the improvement of specific infrastructures to incubate and accelerate business ideas, and an intensified activity of technology transfer offices could shape an entrepreneurial university ecosystem. In this sense, Polbitsyn et al (2020) question the educational programs as they are crucial within an entrepreneurial ecosystem (Pugh et al, 2021) by identifying strengths and weaknesses to develop entrepreneurial competencies as they do not fully meet the requirements of students (Pugh et al, 2021).…”

The Triple Helix Model and the Future of Innovation: A Reflection on the Triple Helix Research Agenda

“…First, both the notions of an entrepreneurial university and second/third academic revolutions address the transformations in universities. In this regard, the Triple Helix model can serve as a useful tool to analyse the process of capitalisation of knowledge (Etzkowitz, 2011b;Etzkowitz & Goktepe-Hulten, 2010) as well as mechanisms underlying and infrastructures supporting the process (Etzkowitz, 2011a;Etzkowitz & Zhou, 2017;Piqué, Berbegal-Mirabent, & Etzkowitz, 2020). The characteristics of the entrepreneurial university model can be grasped by the five norms (Etzkowitz & Zhou, 2017), updated from the five propositions of an entrepreneurial university (Etzkowitz, 2004), as mentioned above.…”

3. Examining university models in regional development

“…For example, companies with strong research or alumni ties to Stanford University (including tenants on its Stanford Research Park) were integral to the post-war emergence and subsequent growth of high-technology industry in Silicon Valley 12 . This institution (along with the University of California Berkeley in the San Francisco Bay area) continues to nurture the innovation ecosystem that has formed in this region, through its support for academic and graduate enterprise and attraction of researchers and students from around the world 13 .…”