International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology IJEDICT), 2008, Vol. 4, Issue 2, pp. 144-158
Makerere University, Uganda ABSTRACT The role that Information Communication Technologies (ICT) plays in improving the efficiency
health education which plays a major role in the prevention of many diseases Enhancing healthcare delivery through ICTS 145
As far as improving education in health is concerned, ICTS are being used for sharing documents, simulations of health scenario planning, training
interactive environments and self managed e-learning Healthnet one of the most widely implemented computer-based telecommunications systems
remuneration, workload, provision of quality training which includes number of trainers frequency of refresher courses, level of clinical practice and use of materials relevant to
4. Mobilization and health education-There is need to have continuous mobilization and health education to educate the communities on the importance of immunization
immunisable diseases, vaccines, side effects etc. Effective mobilization and education can be attained through well-planned campaigns, multiple channels of communication
community participation, media and through the delivery of content that is relevant to the community From the causal loop diagram, a broad integrated view of the system is provided for the
delivery of vaccines to avoid stock outs, training of community workers. The majority of health
support supervision, surveillance, management of outbreaks, development of training materials, social mobilization and advocacy. The health sub-districts are responsible for
thus facilitating training and health education in the community Enhancing healthcare delivery through ICTS 155 Figure 5:
support and monitoring of immunization activities, planning. decision making, education and disease surveillance 156 IJEDICT Potential benefits provided by ICT in healthcare
Masters Thesis Omona and Ikoja-Odongo (2006. Application of information and communication technology ICT) in health...
Country Office for Uganda, Immunization Dropout in Uganda. IDS/Health Information bulletin. 2001 Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication
recruitment of university graduates and skilled personnel; awareness of new ideas and technologies; and incentives and institutional frameworks for improving collaborations within networks and clusters, including
local technical centres or technical colleges â This background paper was provided based on material by David Audretsch (Indiana University), Bart Clarysse
and Vincent Duchã ne (Kwanticonsult) and Vlerick Leuven (Gent Management School at the University of
Gent), with contribution from Gian Maria Gros Pietro, Andrea Bonaccorsi, Anna Buzzonetti, and Mario Cerchia
many scholars have predicted the demise of SMES. But in fact, the share of economic activity accounted for by SMES has risen in most OECD countries.
â'They employ some higher educated people (with a university degree or the equivalent â'They have introduced at least one new product on average
universities and research labs R&d ACTIVITIES Invest significantly in research 75%invest more than 20%of
or research institutions, such as universities. Economic knowledge spills-over from other firms conducting the R&d or from university research laboratories.
But why should knowledge spill over from the source of origin? At least two major spillover channels are
a knowledge worker may choose to exit the firm or university where the knowledge was created initially.
good at customer training. As the complexity of products increases, the customer requires more instruction
order to provide services, such as training, to customers. While such services could be contracted out, the
transfer new economic knowledge from universities to firms 60. The relative importance of proximity, and therefore the tendency of firms to spatially cluster, is
of new economic knowledge, such as university research tend to elevate the propensity for innovative activity to cluster during the introduction stage of the life cycle,
and to contract a third party (a research centre, university or company) to carry out R&d on their behalf.
important actors which are mentioned not in this table (Ministry of Education and Research, Ministry of Industry);
budget of Ministry of Education and Research, Ministry of Industry 23 Firms that applied for support
â'They need help recruiting university graduates and other skilled personnel â'They need to be made aware of new ideas and technologies
â'They need better incentives for collaboration with local technical centres or technical colleges 95.
experimentation and learning before they succeed. Also there are no recipes for success that will be valid
†University research Links and Spin-offs in the evolution of regional clusters of high-tech SMES in Europeâ€, 1997
between SMES€, working paper University of Gent, under review at Small Business Economics Cohen, W. and Levinthal, D.,1989, â€oeinnovation and Learning:
The Two Faces of R&dâ€, Economic Journal, 99 (3), 569-596 Cooke, P.,Boekholt, P. and F. Tà dtling, 1999, â€oeregional Innovation Systems:
†University research Links and Spin-offs in the evolution of regional clusters of high-tech SMES in Europeâ€, 1997
1 Maastricht School of management and Technical University of Eindhoven, The netherlands 2 United Nation University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU MERIT), The netherlands
3 Tilburg University, The netherlands 2 The Maastricht School of management is a leading provider of management education with worldwide presence.
Our mission is to enhance the management capacity of professionals and organizations in and for emerging economies and
developing countries with the objective to substantially contribute to the development of these societies www. msm. nl
and Technical University of Eindhoven, The netherlands b United Nation University-Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology
UNU MERIT), The netherlands c Tilburg University, The netherlands Preliminary Draft ABSTRACT This study investigates the role of intra-cluster ties, extra-cluster ties, and
entrepreneurial orientation in shaping firms†innovative performance. We conduct our analysis on a primary data set of 120 SMES in the Cibaduyut footwear-manufacturing
trust, collective learning, and smooth exchange of knowledge. Clusters play a particularly important role in compensating for the resource constraints SMES face and
ECTS), are important gateways of critical knowledge and information (Giuliani & Bell, 2005 Thus while ICTS may generate critical location-driven synergies,
ECTS complement them by bringing in diverse, novel knowledge inputs 4 From a resource based view (RBV) the network encompassing ICTS and ECTS of a firm can
be seen as its resource pool, contributing to the firm†s technical know-how, trade contacts, and
and university on sales growth, and Stam and Elring (2008) worked on the impact of EO and
This is particularly true for ECTS because assimilating knowledge elements from non-local partners requires distinct capabilities to those
and maintain ECTS, to take chances with these ties, and to proactively uncover new opportunities (Covin & Miles, 1999).
examine their specific roles in generating innovative gains through ICTS and ECTS Proactiveness represents a â€oefirst mover†orientation of the firm,
an indirect effect on innovation through ICTS and ECTS, while risk taking affects innovation directly, as well as by reinforcing the positive innovation effect of a firm†s ties
Such ties (ECTS) not only bring new insights to a firm, but also enable it to think out of the box such that the firm is able to adopt new
firm that makes little investments in its ECTS. While both ICTS and ECTS carry risks, the risks
associated with the latter are likely to be higher due to the relatively higher differences in business practices, norms and such like between the partners.
risk taking may also be higher in respect to ECTS, given the potentially novel and non-redundant
provide an effective platform for learning and innovation (Feldman, 1993; Gilbert, Mcdougall & Audretsch, 2008;
universities (Porter, 2000. They benefit from the economies of agglomeration and joint action giving them collective efficiency
Scholars have emphasized increasingly that being part of a geographically concentrated cluster enables a firm easy access to new ideas partly due
ties (ECTS. We argue that ICTS and ECTS can be the sources of distinct knowledge.
Therefore we see that ICT and ECT development should be treated as an investment that enhances
scholars have increasingly recognized that knowledge trapped within a cluster can decay and become obsolete (Boschma
ECTS are looked upon for advice and up to date knowledge by fellow firms who do not maintain
their knowledge comes from learning from others (Tsui-Auch, 2003. The above arguments suggest that while proximity
with its ICTS with ECTS that bring in information and knowledge that is locally not available Bathelt, 2004;
Interplay of ICTS and ECTS with Entrepreneurial Orientation To be successful, a firm must possess a certain ability to continually build
that emphasize the importance of ICTS and ECTS (Giuliani & Bell, 2005) and the literature on
of proactiveness and risk taking in relation to a firm†s ICTS and ECTS. However, prior literature
influences of proactiveness and risk taking on a firm†s network ties (ICTS and ECTS) in the
The Mediating Roles of ICTS and ECTS We argue that proactiveness contributes to a firm†s innovative performance indirectly through
the firm†s ICTS and ECTS because firms with high levels of proactiveness find opportunities
The resulting ICTS and ECTS therefore represent an important resource for the firm (Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1996), with more such ties providing access to potentially
through its effect on ICTS and ECTS H1a. The effect of a firm†s proactiveness on innovative performance is mediated by its intra
How Does Risk Taking Moderate the Effect ICTS and ECTS on Innovative performance Establishing network ties do not necessarily mean that a firm is fully tapping into the
effective use of firms†ICTS and ECTS. When ICTS and ECTS are supported by an adequate
degree of risk taking though investment of time, money, and effort, the rate of innovation will
The interplay between risk taking on the one hand and ICTS and ECTS on the other can contribute to innovation, right from the discovery of an opportunity or the conception of an idea
and ECTS. Within a cluster there is certain degree of mutual interdependence, implying that 11 firms need to honor their commitments
taking less salient for ICTS compared to for ECTS. We therefore propose the following two
ties (both ICTS and ECTS) on innovative performance H2b. A firm†s risk-taking orientation has a greater moderating effect on the impact of its
ECTS, compared to its ICTS, on innovative performance Hypothesized Research Model Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework that explains the relationships proposed in our
hypotheses, depicting how the interplay between ICTS, ECTS, proactiveness and risk taking affects innovation Figure 1 Innovative performance and the interplay between ICTS, ECTS, Proactiveness and Risk-Taking
METHODS Proactiveness Intra-cluster ties Extra-cluster ties Innovation Risk taking H1a H1b H1a H1b
so ICTS and ECTS constitute key resources for the firms Biggs & Messerschmidt, 2005 Research Design and Data Collection
and ECTS by determining the number of partners with which the producers interact (Giuliani & Bell, 2005.
We constructed ICTS and ECTS variables as the number of a firm†s diverse set of partners, such as suppliers, distributors
competitors, research centres and universities, within and outside its cluster respectively. Both variables are expressed in logarithms (Leiponen & Helfat, 2011
We also included the education level of owner/manager to control 14 for differences in the ability to absorb
while that of ECTS is much smaller at about 5. Correlation coefficients are all within acceptable limits, further
7. Education of owner/manager 2. 85 0. 53 Ju Hi scho ol Bache -lor
while ECTS may be mediating the effect of proactiveness on innovative performance, ICTS may not be playing such a role.
n s.).This confirms that ECTS fully mediates the effect of proactiveness on innovative performance, in support of our hypothesis 1b.
Education of owner/manager 0. 22**-0. 08 0. 01 0. 21*0. 18 *Firm Size-0. 78 0. 35***0. 21**-0. 14-0. 17
whether risk taking moderates the effect of ICTS and ECTS on innovative performance, we added to the variables in model 4, the interaction terms ICT x Risk taking and
firm†s ECTS, compared to its ICTS, on innovative performance. Coming to the results on control
variables, we find that education of the manager has a positive impact on performance, while
Figure 2 The Moderating Effect of Risk-Taking on the Relationship between ECTS and Innovative
effect of ECTS on innovative performance. It shows the predicted innovative performance across a range (from low to high) of ECTS for high-and low-risk taking firms.
The horizontal axis measures the number of ECTS, and the dotted and solid lines respectively represent firms with
high and low risk taking. Both lines have a positive slope indicating the positive effect of ECTS
on innovative performance. However, the slope of the dotted line is much more steep than that of
the other line, underscoring that risk taking substantially moderates the impact of ECTS on innovative performance.
from increasing the number of their ECTS Robustness checks In addition to the tests described earlier, we conducted further tests to conclude that the
importantly, ECTS (Giuliani & Bell, 2005. We argued that the EO traits of risk taking and
proactiveness interact differently with a firm†s ICTS and ECTS. On the one hand, proactiveness is likely to influence innovative performance indirectly through the creation of a firm†s ICTS and
ECTS. Risk taking on the other hand positively moderates the impact of ICTS and ECTS We empirically tested our conjectures on a sample of 120 SMES in a creative-industry
manufacturing cluster in an emerging economy, Indonesia. Our analysis, based on primary data collected through interviews
found that ECTS mediate the proactive orientation of firms. A proactive-oriented firm is particularly adept at seeking resources from outside its cluster, increasing the diversity and
though ECTS We found that risk taking strengthens the relationship between ECTS and innovative performance.
For SMES in particular, external knowledge is a key source of innovation (Jacob & Szirmai, 2007;
their ECTS such that they are able to draw potentially valuable external resources. We however found that risk taking negatively moderates the effect of ICT on innovative performance.
network of ICTS and ECTS, encompassing suppliers, distributors, government agencies, research centers, financial institutions, and universities. In future research we hope to explore the
consequences of partner heterogeneity in the context of emerging-economy SMES 21 References Aiken, L. S,
Statistics for economics, accounting and business studies (Fifth ed.).United Kingdom: Prentice hall Bathelt, H. 2004. Toward a multidimensional conception of clusters:
learning versus collective learning processes. Regional Studies, 33 (4), 353-365 Chen, C.-J, . & Huang, J.-W. 2009).
Strategic human resource practices and innovation performance †The mediating role of knowledge management capacity. doi
Harvard Business school Press, Boston, Massachusetts Cohen, W, . & Levinthal, D. 1990). Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and
innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35 (1), 128-152 Covin, J, . & Miles, M. 1999). Corporate Entrepreneurship and the Pursuit of Competitive
The micro-determinants of meso-level learning and innovation evidence from a Chilean wine cluster. doi:
Education Gulati, R. 1999. Network location and learning: the influence of network resources and firm
capabilities on alliance formation. Strategic Management Journal, 20 (5), 397-420 Gulati, R, . & Gargiulo, M. 1999).
University of Macedonia Hitt, M. A.,Hoskisson, R. E, . & Ireland, R. D. 1990). Mergers and Acquisitions and Managerial
Entrepreneurial Orientation and Organizational Learning: The Impact of Network Range and Network Closure. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35,1025
University Press Simmie, J. 2004. Innovation and Clustering in the Globalised International Economy. Urban Studies, 41 (5/6), 1095-1112
Pearson Education. Inc TÃ dtling, F.,Lehner, P, . & Kaufmann, A. 2009). Do different types of innovation rely on
A Comparative Study of Two Suppliers in Singapore Management Learning, 34 (2 201-220 Uzzi, B. 1997.
orientation on university spin-off performance. Journal of Business Venturing, 21 (4 541-567 27 Ward, J. L. 1997.
*alucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic sciences, 17 Dumbrä vii Avenue, Sibiu 550324, Romania
connections between entrepreneurship, innovation and small firms has been studied over time by various scholars and some even defined entrepreneurship as follows â€oeinnovation by newly formed independent firms (Kirchhoff
HR training 2010 2011 2012 515 Nelu Eugen Popescu/Procedia Economics and Finance 16 (2014) 512 †520
Over the last decades scholars attention shifted from larges companies to small entrepreneurial firms which tare considered to play an important role in innovation activity and technological change
the Technology Transfer Office of the University of Malaga; the Technology Transfer Office of the University of Seville;
the Centre for Technological Investigation and Innovation (CITIUS) of the University of Seville; the General Secretariat for †Innovation†of the
regional Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science (MEIS; the General Secretariat for †Telecommunications and Information Society†of the MEIS;
the General Secretariat for †University, Investigation and Technology†of the MEIS; the office FEDER (EU funds management) of the MEIS;
Jaime del Castillo, University of the Basque Country and INFYDE, Spain; Prof. Karen Chapple, University of California at Berkeley, USA;
Prof. Andrew Cumbers, University of Glasgow, UK; Prof. Jay Mitra, University of Essex, UK; Dr. Ricardo Pinto
Pinto-Consulting, Hamburg, Germany; Prof. David Wolfe, University of Toronto, Canada The review team was informed initially about the main features of Andalusia†s economy and
entrepreneurship support system by a diagnostic report prepared by Prof. Vicente Granados-Cabezas of the University of Malaga
CONTRIBUTORS TO THE CHAPTERS ï Introduction, by Jay Mitra ï Chapter I: Economic and Institutional Overview of Andalusia, by Vicente Granados
-Cabezas, Jaime del Castillo, and Marco Marchese ï Chapter II: Human capital and the labour market, by Karen Chapple and Sergio Montero
Learning models...46 CHAPTER III: THE CONTRIBUTION OF RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS...55 Introduction...55 Policy issues...
Learning models...74 CHAPTER IV: ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND START-UPS...83 Introduction...83 Policy issues...83 Assessment of the region...
Learning models...98 CHAPTER V: SME DEVELOPMENT IN ANDALUSIA...106 Introduction...106 Policy issues...106
Learning models...115 CONCLUSIONS...127 Human capital and labour market...128 Contribution of research organisations...128
experienced a reduction in post-compulsory school and university attendance, the latter declining from 14.7%in 1997/8 to 12.2%in 2007/8.
The quality of universities needs to be enhanced The university system †10 public universities with a total of approximately 230 000 students â€
depends on the Regional Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science, and this has created greater pressure for industry-university collaboration.
In general terms, however, Spanish universities do not rank well in international quality rankings. The only two listed among the top 500 universities are the
University of Granada and the University of Seville, while Malaga and all other local universities do
not make it in any of the major world rankings. One attempt to compensate for the weakness of
Spanish universities is the Talentia program, which offers young college graduates financial support for their graduate work at top international universities, on the condition that they return to the region
to work for at least four years. By 2009 the program had funded about 500 young Andalusians and
was considered largely successful in generating skilled workforce for local companies Attendance of vocational training is on the rise
In Andalusia a total of nearly 95 000 students attend vocational training, less than half the number that attend public universities.
The II Andalusia Plan for Vocational training, currently being prepared by the Ministry of Education, seeks to adapt vocational training to the new economy and new
demand of jobs and occupations. This will involve expanding online training; cooperating more closely with businesses, unions and others through advisory councils;
teaching more foreign languages; and creating at least one vocational centre of excellence in each of the eight Andalusia
provinces to improve connections with businesses. Vocational training has been very successful in the last decade in placing students in a job.
That has resulted in an increased number of students during the 1990s and 2000s just as the number of university students in Spain has been decreasing and the
number of dropouts increasing There is a schism between economic development and workforce development Andalusia experiences a chronic schism between economic and workforce development
programmes that makes it difficult for businesses to obtain appropriately trained labour and, most pertinent for innovation, develop the pipeline of highly skilled workers that help transmit knowledge
in regional clusters. This schism manifests itself in three ways: a poor connection between the regional
innovation system and the Andalusian vocational system; a separation between ministries concerned with entrepreneurship, education, and employment;
and the lack of a workforce strategy tied to business cluster strategies Contribution of research organisations
Universities play a key role in the design and implementation of the regional innovation strategy
of spin-off companies from publicly financed research in the university. Universities occupy a key position in this strategy
and are, as a result, the chief beneficiary of funding under the Innovation and Modernisation Plan for Andalusia (PIMA.
Public universities have thus been the primary source of R&d spending in the region as well as the principal beneficiaries of the increase in public funds for
and especially of the research universities, is strongly reinforced by the priority afforded to them in the region†s strategic plans
There is some disconnection between university research and industry needs A strong coordination between the research priorities of universities and those of regional
strategic plans is indicated missing, as for instance by the relative absence of prioritizing of research in
biotechnology, ICTS or tourism in regional universities. This is the result of universities not having their own research strategies;
the latter are derived indeed often directly from the research groups which are the main organisational unit and recipient of R&d funding in universities
OTRIS are the main link between universities and firms, but they lack sufficient and adequate staff
Support for university research is provided through a range of institutions, including the industrial liaison offices (OTRIS.
The OTRIS are responsible for channelling external research demands to the appropriate research groups within their own institutions
support university students, faculty and researchers who want to create their own companies especially in the case of spin-offs derived from university research
However, the function of OTRIS is hampered by limited staff to keep sufficient contact with local
These offices are asked to serve the needs of their universities as a whole, while the requirements of individual departments can be very different.
relationships of universities with SMES in the region National legislation hinders university commercialisation and researcher mobility
The challenge of promoting the commercialization of intellectual property is made more difficult by the conditions established by the Spanish Patent Act.
made by university professors during their period of contract with the university, and which constitute
part of their university duties, belong to the university. Professors have the right to share in the benefits that flow to the university from the use of the intellectual property rights derived from their
inventions, but the precise share that they receive is governed by the statutes of the individual
universities. Regional universities are critical of this legal framework as it provides little guidance for
determining how benefits should be shared in the course of contractual work National regulations have imposed also restrictions on the mobility of university researchers
between the public sector and private spin-off companies. University staff are prevented from holding more than a 10 per cent interest in private companies,
from being a member of a board of directors, or taking a temporary leave from the university to form a private company.
The act governing universities was amended in 2001 to allow university researchers a five year leave of absence without
giving up their university position to participate in technology-based spinoffs. However, the universities are still critical of the current law as they feel that the guidelines for implementing the
regulations are insufficient to allow the integration of university researchers into technology-based spinoffs Andalusia needs to recognise the role of less R&d intensive forms of industry-university cooperation
R&d-related activities do not play a major role in most of the firms considered as †innovativeâ€
within the Andalusian economy. It is important for universities and regional coordinating bodies to recognize that R&d activities, especially the commercialization and exploitation of intellectual
property derived from university research are just a portion of the firm†s overall interactions with the
higher education system. In fact, an interest in this aspect only emerges when firms have an absorptive capacity that has been built up through a wide range of previous interactions with universities.
The policy implication is that there needs to be greater public support for less R&d-intensive forms of
interaction between the universities and private firms. This would require the universities providing greater support in the form of technical advice and problem solving.
It could also be facilitated by more focused forms of cooperative education programs ensuring that the students being trained in the
universities are familiar with the kinds of technical problems that local firms must overcome. It is
through these lower orders of industry-university interaction that the absorptive capacity of firms, a
prerequisite for R&d engagement and IPR exploitation, will be developed Some regional programmes are being successful in promoting technology-based start-ups
The regional government has established two separate programmes to promote the creation of technology-intensive start-ups.
The Atlantis Programme is geared toward identifying newly formed enterprises from across Spain and attracting them to establish themselves in Andalusia.
The Campus Programme supports spinoffs from Andalusian universities by providing them with loans of up to
EUR 100 000. These combined efforts have brought about some success, as the rate of formation of
New programmes hold the promise to strengthen industry-university collaboration The national government of Spain has launched recently a new programme called †Campus of
which wants to reinforce the collaboration of universities with the local surrounding environment †firms, technology parks, technology centres, foundations, etc. †with a
Two projects from Andalusia †one jointly presented by the University of Seville and the
University of Malaga and one from the University of Granada †have been restricted in the group of
University and the Health Sciences Technology Park. Both envisage attracting both talent (students researchers, skilled workers, etc.
and investment (national and foreign Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial culture is improving in the region There is a low but growing level of entrepreneurial culture in the region.
all levels of the education system: primary, secondary, vocational and tertiary Immigration is an entrepreneurial resource that should be exploited better
whether their †clustering†has fostered a more collaborative culture of learning and knowledge exchange. While in technology parks there is a relatively high level of collaboration with universities
and government research centres, the degree of collaboration with other SMES is much lower, with a
companies and universities should be encouraged and extended Cluster development strategies need to be refocused The regional focus on cluster is appropriate,
system, including technology parks, technology centres and universities, and ensured that their support is coherent,
ii) the work of ICT literacy of SMES; iii) the survey of the innovative needs of local small firms.
expertise in local universities and thereby serve as the basis for more effective industry-university
ï Link training programmes more effectively with sectors in order to improve firm productivity and innovation, especially in the traditional sectors that are Andalusia†s strengths
ï Refocus entrepreneurship education along the models of the best business schools, trying to attract immigrants and to exploit the advantage of Andalusia†s geographical location
ï Build (RETA and OTRI) an integrated database of faculty research and consulting skills to match the
ï Establish cooperative education programmes engaging university students in alternating work terms with study terms throughout their undergraduate degrees
ï Stay abreast of recent developments in technology parks and consider moving the Andalusian model towards a format in which research occurs in †clouds†that virtually link together distributed and light
ï Think of promoting corporate spin-offs as an alternative to university spinoffs with stronger industry and market knowledge
universities ï Focus work on firms with innovation potential, exploiting RETA€ s privileged relationships with local
innovative SMES and entrepreneurs and with technology parks and universities. Target these firms and entrepreneurs through both long-term R&d and short-term problem-solving activities in innovation
This will include involvement in future cooperative education programmes and retention of talented foreign students from local universities in technology parks
INTRODUCTION Regional economic development is regarded increasingly as critical to the growth of national economies in a globally connected environment.
to good practice learning models implemented in other OECD countries ï The current and future role of RETA in the local development framework
or grow absorptive learning capacities to make best use of the factors individually and collectively in networks,
The importance attached to education provision and educational attainment acquires a premium in relation to the economy.
The overall premium to higher education has increased sharply as the main drivers of these economies, the knowledge-based industries, demand
this context is a function of both formal skills development and experiential forms of learning by
forces (education and experience) might be more appropriate for encouraging adaptiveness to entrepreneurship. Experience also generates other intangible assets,
1) higher education;(2 extensive work experience;(3) interaction with a variety of actors in the regional innovation system
Research organisations include universities and private and public research institutes. The role of universities in producing cutting edge research
and prospects of new technology development is now well recognised. The traditional notion of universities carrying out research activity first, with the
private sector then commercialising the outcomes of the research as part of a linear process of
Universities now engage in industrial innovation through a variety of channels, including learning by researching, learning by
interacting and learning by doing, and not always at beginning in terms of early stage, blue-sky research activities
universities and related institutions. Policies to attract the †creative class (Florida, 2002) is another
Granados, University of Malaga) to provide an initial analysis of the key facts about the Andalusia economic system and the
international'learning model'programmes addressing the policy recommendations A final chapter summarises main conclusions and policy messages on entrepreneurship promotion and
University R&d as a%of GDP (2007) 0. 3 0. 4 Secondary education as%of labour force (2008) 20.7 16.8
Tertiary education as%of labour force (2008) 29.8 24.9 High-tech manufacturing as a%of employment (2008) 4. 8 2
Knowledge-intensive services as%of employment (2008) 28.9 26.9 Active population (thousands)( 2008) 31 143 5 562
performance in R&d and innovation, education, and employment. Nevertheless, thanks also to generous support from the EU Structural Funds, the performance of Andalusia in most of these
The level of education of Andalusia†s population has converged towards the national average in the long term but differences still exist,
people with post-compulsory education out of the total population. This is in part the result of the
In particular, the share of university graduates has shrunk significantly by 3 percentage points, from 14.7%in 1998 to 11.7%in 2009, whereas vocational
training has followed an opposite trend (from 4. 1%in 1998 to 5%in 2009. The percentage of
students leaving education with the lowest compulsory degree is also among the highest in the country
formal tertiary education (see Table 1). Low labour productivity has also a dent on regional GDP per
At the university level there are 270 research groups that specialise in biomedicine, 170 in life sciences and 120 in agro
The regional government supports biotech-oriented activities at both the university and industry levels, with a view to nurturing the emergence of a strong and internationally competitive
additionally points out how universities and higher education institutions (HEIS) have traditionally been the main sources of R&d spending,
whilst the private sector lags behind despite experiencing an upsurge since 2002 thanks to policy efforts to increase business enterprise R&d (BERD.
Private sector Public Administration Universities and HEIS Source: National Institute of Statistics (INE On the whole, the Andalusia R&d system has made strides in the last twenty years,
Industry-university relationships With its nine public universities, 17 000 teaching and research staff and 250 000 students, higher
education institutions (HEIS) take the lion†s share in the R&d system (Fig. 5). Universities account for 45%of R&d expenditure,
and 61%of researchers in the region are employed by the HEI system Hence, universities have the key role of trickling down the R&d benefits to the private sector in the
development strategy of the region A recent research project by the Institute for Advanced Social Studies (IESA) of the Spanish
Council of Scientific research (CSIC) has taken to investigate the existing relationships between the regional university systems and local firms.
As part of this project, a survey of over 700 Andalusian firms that had received some form of innovation support concluded that more than half of the sample
did not engage in any type of collaboration with universities, while slightly above 40%entertained
Among these, the most common was the training of university personnel inside the firm (27.5),
%which was also the outcome of a regional policy boosting the training of postgraduates in businesses.
Consultancies, joint research projects and university training programmes for employees were also relatively common, involving between 15%-25%of the surveyed enterprises
Between 5%-15%of the firms contracted R&d projects, use university facilities or exchanged staff
whilst only less than 5%licensed patents or undertook joint start-ups with university staff (Fernandez -Esquinas et al.
firms able to interact with universities Other investigations show that Andalusia firms are oriented largely towards process rather than
Business services include training, business plan assessment, incubation, and sourcing funding. The Foundation keeps quite a targeted approach, unfolding
entrepreneurship programmes aimed at specific social groups (e g. women, youth, university graduates disadvantaged people, etc. emerging and strategic industries (e g. technology-based firms, creative industries
with the aim to boost collaboration between R&d-intensive companies and the university research groups.
provides resources and advice for the identification and generation of industry-university cooperation projects Projects backed by CTA are integrated into the PAIDI (see below
access for small firms), EVA (i e. online business management training), and small-scale innovation vouchers Technology parks, technology centres,
friendly, and in the case of firms in traditional sectors are willing to collaborate with universities for at
and innovation agenda and encourages universities to cooperate more intensively with the private sector. The objectives of stronger industry-university knowledge transfer and of more
research-based spinoffs are made explicit, especially in sectors considered strategic for the region. The overall budget for the implementation of PIMA is approximately EUR
-based industries and universities ï The Andalusian Plan for Research, Development and Innovation (PAIDI. Adopted in 2007
industry-university collaboration as one of the key elements for the development of the region.
universities, research centres, private R&d labs, etc.;iii) knowledge transfer institutions i e. technology centres; iv) coordinating and managing organisations (e g.
2008), Unfolding the Complexity of Interactions between Industry and University, CSIC-IESA paper, Madrid ESECA (2009), Informe Econã mico Financiero de Andalucã a, Granada
a coherent set of policies and programmes that link a region†s complex educational and training
outlines the complex landscape of education and training, and entrepreneurship training specifically, in Andalusia. Though the system is hampered by many redundancies in training programmes,
it also is experiencing gaps among different types of institutions, and most importantly, between these institutions and Andalusia†s strategic sectors.
international learning models Policy issues A rich literature debates the role of human capital formation and labour market dynamics in
particular focus on the role of education and labour policy in regional innovation. We first examine debates about human capital generally, then turning to the debates about labour market preparation for
higher education has increased sharply (Carnoy, 1994. Knowledge-intensive industries are now the key drivers of international competitiveness,
expertise, resulting in rising demand for college-educated workers relative to their supply (Katz &
One path to competing in the global knowledge economy is through using local universities to
that Andalusia has emphasized the role of universities rather than local quality of life Role of human capital in entrepreneurship and innovation
capital as not just education and training, but also skills developed through experience and understanding that comes with age,
Higher education is of course critical for R&d and technological creativity, and may also contribute to the longevity of start-up firms, especially those outside of skilled service sectors (Bates
Human capital that combines education and experience gives employees the adaptiveness so key to entrepreneurship (Wright, Hmieleski, Siegel and Ensley, 2007.
Such interaction turns out to be far more important than collaboration with universities particularly for regions dominated by low-tech businesses.
than with universities (Chapple and Hutson, 2010. Where university relationships matter, it is more for their human resource development than for R&d (Ramos-Vielba, Fernã¡
ndez-Esquinas, and Espinosa-de-los-Monteros, 2009. This supports the idea that knowledge creation and application is a
global agents, including universities (but not only for R&d purposes), might be the key (Saxenian 1994
1) higher education; 2) extensive work experience; 3) interaction with a variety of actors in the
instead mostly the first, the role of higher education and university-industry linkages, rather than the latter three
Spain in the global context Spain and the rest of EU countries are immersed currently in a major higher education reform
aimed at harmonizing and standardizing their systems. Two main frameworks are guiding this ongoing restructuration:
the Bologna process and the Lisbon Strategy. The Bologna process seeks to harmonize the different European higher education systems and to promote collaboration and technology transfer
between universities and the private sector. The Bologna process will introduce a new structure for university degrees in Spain, similar to that of the US and the UK, based on a three level system:
Grado 4 year undergraduate degree), Master (1 or 2 year graduate education) and Doctorado (3-4 year post
-master graduate education. The idea is to adopt a system of easily comparable university degrees that
would allow overcoming the current bureaucratic obstacles to the recognition of degrees and movement of students, researchers, faculty and staff within European universities.
The Bologna Process is linked to the broader Lisbon Strategy, agreed in 2000, that seeks to make Europe the most
competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. Accordingly, INTERREG IV, the EU regional development programme for 2007-2013, was redesigned to bring the Lisbon Strategy onto the
stage of interregional cooperation. The new INTERREG regional development programs are currently based on two main priorities:
innovation and the knowledge economy, on the one hand, and the environment and risk prevention on the other
The Spanish labour market differs somewhat from that of most European countries. Immigration to Spain from Latin american and EU15 countries has increased rapidly in the last decade.
However a 1985 immigration law restricts the ability of immigrants to work, forcing them to obtain a job offer
%and among those with just a high school diploma, the unemployment rate stood at 56 %Instituto Estadã stico de Andalucã a, 2010.
last decade has seen students increasingly selecting traditional vocational training rather than university education (Junta de Andalucã a, 2009.
In a decade (1999-2009), Andalusian universities lost 46 852 students. Still, there are returns to higher education:
college graduates constitute 29%of the employed population in Andalusia, but just 15%of the unemployed (Laurent, Periã¡
à ez and Petit de Gabriel, 2010. During the recent economic crisis, Andalusian universities have seen enrolment
increase by over two percent In addition, the changing demographic structure in the region has affected labour market
dynamics. The regional workforce is aging, while birth rates remain relatively low. Overall, college -age population has declined,
while locals who do obtain a college education often emigrate to Madrid Barcelona, or other EU destinations
In the context of these demographic shifts, and the dominance of the construction and tourism
sectors in the regional economy, it is not surprising that Andalusia has in recent decades switched
The immigrant population includes a substantial increase in the number of foreign university students coming to Andalusian universities for undergraduate studies (EU/Erasmus and Moroccan
students) and for graduate studies (from Latin america, EU and North africa. Despite the fact that Andalusian universities might be lagging behind in international rankings, the quality of life of
Andalusia seems to be attracting foreign students. In fact, the share of immigrants from the EU-15
that hold a college degree (42%)is more than double that among Andalusian residents (20%)(Instituto
Estadã stico de Andalucã a, 2010. Some immigrants are disproportionately likely to be self-employed relative to native Andalusians:
32%of EU-15 and 28%of Asian immigrants are self-employed compared to just 16%of Andalusians (Centro de Estudios Andaluces, 2010.
Andalusian universities, coupled with the attraction of immigrant entrepreneurs, may constitute key opportunities for RETA and the region
The local landscape of education and training related to entrepreneurship and SMES The educational system in Andalusia is currently experiencing a restructuring that will affect not
only the future of education and human capital in the region but also the entire Andalusian system of
innovation. Three important processes will be framing the landscape of training and education in Andalusia in the next decade:
a) the restructuration of the European higher education system due to the Bologna process; b) a renewed focus in innovation, technology transfer, public-private partnerships
and knowledge-based activities due to the Lisbon strategy; c) the decentralization and restructuration of education, training and innovation policies at the regional level in an attempt to shift the Andalusian
economic base to a new knowledge-based productive system. The next sections will review the current
landscape of training and education in Andalusia and how these processes might change it Restructuring of the education/training system
The arrival of democracy in Spain in 1975, as well as the political decentralization processes that followed in the 1980s
and 1990s, transferred significant power and resources from the national government to the 17 regional governments.
responsibility for innovation, economic development and education policies. There are three Regional Ministries involved in human capital development in Andalusia:
The Ministry of Education; the Ministry of Employment; and the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science
In the mid 1980s, after education policies were transferred to Andalusia, the Regional Ministry of Education and Science was created to manage the education and training system in the region, both at
the university and non-university levels. The Ministry expanded access to education by creating new public universities and vocational schools in each of the 8 provinces and increasing the number of
degrees and availability of seats. Since the mid 1990s, however, a new set of issues has transformed
the education agenda in the region. On the one hand, the decrease in the population under the age of
25, due to the declining birth rate in post-Franco Spain, has shifted the focus in education from
quantity to quality. Furthermore, after Spain signed the Bologna process and the Lisbon Strategy in 1999 and 2000 respectively, concerns of globalization, innovation and competitiveness have started to
increasingly shape education and regional economic development policies. The 2003 Plan for the Second Modernization of Andalusia revealed the regional government†s focus on promoting scientific
research, technology transfer and entrepreneurship culture as engines of growth and economic development. This new economic development paradigm is reflected also in the 2007 Andalusia Plan
for Research, Development and Innovation (PAIDI in Spanish), which maps out the potential for R&d
universities (dependent on the regional government) and companies. In this context, the agency RETA is assigned the responsibility of serving as the network manager of the Andalusia system of
universities, university research and technology transfer in Andalusia 2 For the first time, university and non-university education were separated in the Andalusia government, with vocational training
and non-university education remaining in the Ministry of Education. The idea was to use universities
as innovation and economic development tools and facilitate a shift towards an economy based on knowledge
3 On March 22, 2010, the Regional Ministry of Economy merged with the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Enterprise
4 The newly created Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science confirmed the commitment of the regional government to make technology transfer between the 10
Andalusia public universities and Andalusia companies the key regional economic development strategy. Accordingly, the regional government put Andalusia public universities at the centre of the
Andalusia system of innovation Finally, the Regional Ministry of Employment has a less visible role in the Andalusia system of
despite having responsibility for employment policies, skills training for unemployed and employed workers (Formacã on Profesional por el Empleo †FPL), entrepreneurship
education (partly), and integration of immigrant workers Figure 8. Regional Agencies involved in human capital development
The university system There are currently 10 public universities in Andalusia with a total of approximately 230 000
students. The Universities of Seville and Granada dominate enrolment, with 57 000 and 56 000
students, respectively; the University of Malaga is a distant third, with 33 000 students, and the others
are substantially smaller 2 Decreto del Presidente 11/2004, de 24 de abril, sobre reestructuraciã n de Consejerã as, available at www. juntadeandalucia. es/boja
/boletines/2004/996/d/updf/d1. pdf 3 Professor Manuel Castells†s work on the network society was
and still is utilized widely as theoretical framework for the new regional development agenda in Andalusia
See Castells (1996) and Castells & Hall (1992 4 Decreto del Presidente 14/2010 del 22 de marzo de 2010, available at www. juntadeandalucia. es/boja/boletines/2010/57/d
Interuniversity cooperation is fluid but sometimes sensitive because these regional universities are competitors: they are not specialised but rather generalist universities.
The availability of competitive EU and national research projects that favour interuniversity cooperation is improving
this issue by enabling collaboration among Andalusia universities and between Andalusian and other European universities.
All Andalusia public universities are part of the so-called Unified Andalusia University District (Distrito Universitario à nico Andaluz),
which is now dependent on the Regional Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science. This has created greater pressure for industry
-university collaboration Traditionally, student mobility was very weak in Spain and geographic proximity rather than reputation was the criteria by
which students chose their university. However, the Bologna process and the new plans of the regional government to increase the specialization of universities is expected
to bring more competition for student recruiting and make Andalusia universities more specialized than generalist.
This is also trying to stop the †brain drain†of Andalusia students going to private university institutions and business schools in Madrid and Barcelona to get their graduate degrees
In general terms, Spanish universities do not rank well in international quality rankings, which are skewed reputedly towards larger and English-speaking universities.
The 2009 Academic ranking of World Universities, elaborated by the Institute of Higher education of Shanghai, China, places the
first Spanish centre, the University of Barcelona, in the 151-202 band. The first Andalusia institution
mentioned is the University of Granada, followed by the University of Seville (both in the 402-501
band). ) Another popular international ranking, The Times QS, placed Barcelona in the 171 st position
Granada in the 401-500 band and Seville in the 501-600 band. Neither ranking mentioned Malaga or
other Andalusia universities. While university rankings have been present in the U s. for a long time over the past decade they have become increasingly important in countries in Europe and around the
world, despite the critiques that they do not recognize university quality and dynamism An important and effective regional programme to upgrade local talent is Talentia, by which the
regional government offers young college graduates financial support for their graduate work at top international universities, on the condition that they return to the region to work for four years.
By 2009, the program had funded about five hundred young Andalusians (Laurent, Periã¡Ã ez and Petit de
Gabriel, 2010 At the same time, despite the lagging position of Spanish universities in quality rankings, they are
the favourite destination for Erasmus exchange students: 8 out of the top 10 exchange institutions in
Europe are Spanish, with the University of Granada being number one, the University of Seville number 6 and the University of Malaga number 34
5 Graduate programs also attract an increasing number of foreign students to Andalusia universities: 20%are of foreign origin, with 8%coming from
Latin america, 4%from the EU, 3%from North america, and about 2%from North africa (Instituto Estadã stico de Andalucã a, 2010.
The universities of Granada, Seville and Malaga have become a magnet for attracting international students
and yet few efforts are made by the regional government to retain this talent from going back to their countries once they graduate
Vocational training and apprenticeship programs The different systems of vocational training in Andalusia are as follows 5 Erasmus is the EU flagship higher education program enabling 200 000 European students to study in
a university from another member country each year ï Vocational training (Formaciã n Profesional or FP) serves young people as a professional
alternative to the Baccalaureate and university education. Managed by the Regional Ministry of Education, it includes skills training of one-two years for youth unable to graduate high
school, high school graduates, or older students with some college education or a degree ï Vocational training for employment (Formaciã n Profesional para el Empleo or FPE) serves
either dislocated or incumbent workers. Initially conceived as an employment policy, it is now managed by the Regional Ministry of Employment in coordination with the Ministry of
Education. Unions also collaborate in the training of workers with the Ministry of Employment 6
Recently, the government has created a new institution to regulate vocational training in the region: the Andalusia Institute for Occupational Qualifications (Instituto Andaluz de Cualificaciones
Profesionales). ) The Institute will be in charge of integrating the different vocational training systems FP and FPE) based on a common system of occupational qualifications in collaboration with the
national government and unions In Andalusia, a total of 94 710 students attend vocational training †less than half the number that
attend the public universities. The II Andalusia Plan for Vocational training, currently being prepared by the Ministry of Education, seeks to adapt vocational training to the new economy and new demand
of jobs and occupations. This will involve expanding online training; cooperating more closely with businesses, unions and others through advisory councils;
teaching more foreign languages; and creating at least one vocational centre of excellence in each of the eight Andalusia provinces to
improve public support and connections with businesses Vocational training has been very successful in the last decade in placing students in a job.
That has resulted in an increased number of students during the 1990s and 2000s just as the number of
university students in Spain has been decreasing and number of dropouts increasing (Laurent, Periã¡Ã ez and Petit de Gabriel, 2010.
For the 2009-10 course, the number of students at technical and vocational schools in Spain increased 9. 3%compared to 3. 2%of Baccalaureate students
7 Opportunities in the landscape This overview of the landscape of education and training in Andalusia suggests several
opportunities to build upon. First, the reorganization of the system into three ministries presents an opportunity particularly for high-tech innovation.
However, the risk in this restructuring is that it does not address the innovation needs of traditional sectors.
The region might find a role in countering this by helping a variety of businesses access resources, such as information technology,
that will increase their innovativeness 6. The two biggest unions in Andalusia (UGT and CCCO) offer vocational training and apprenticeships
both autonomously and in coordination with the Regional Ministry of Employment. They conduct sector-based training in sectors they identify as in need for training or with growth expectations (such
as the aeronautics sector) †with a focus on industrial sectors. For instance, in 2009 they took part in
an initiative of the Regional Ministry of Employment to train more than 1 000 students, workers and
redundant workers of the aeronautic sector 7 Spanish Minister of Education discourse in the Congress on February 2010, available at
http://www. educacion. es/horizontales/prensa/discursos/2010/02/comparecencia-discurso. html Changes in the university system present another opportunity.
Increasing specialization particularly in the flagship universities of Granada and Seville, should help attract even more foreign
exchange students for the region. RETA and other regional stakeholders might work to encourage potential entrepreneurs among them to stay in the region,
perhaps by facilitating a relationship with technology parks Finally, the region might support the local residents who are increasingly choosing vocational
over university training to obtain skills that will improve entrepreneurship. The II Andalusia Plan for
Vocational training will address several gaps in the system that can help link vocational training better to innovation and entrepreneurship †for instance, offering expanded on-line and foreign
language training Entrepreneurship education The EU generally lags in entrepreneurship education, and Andalusia is no exception
Twaalfhoven and Wilson, 2004. Different public and private actors in Andalusia from across the regional innovation system promote entrepreneurship education in the region (see Annex 1). While
the university offerings focus mostly on connecting high-tech workers and start-ups to entrepreneurship skills, a variety of other programs help traditional businesses and low-skilled workers
gain the capabilities they need to innovate more effectively. Below is a description of what some main
regional actors do in the field of entrepreneurship education and training Public universities Universities support entrepreneurship in four ways:(
1) providing workshops on starting a business for free or at very low rates;(2) at seven of the ten universities, supporting the Bancaja
Young Entrepreneur Chairs, with special seminars, networking with entrepreneurs, and training opportunities;( (3) offering entrepreneurship fairs to connect different stakeholders;
and (4) conducting research on promoting entrepreneurship in higher education (Laurent, Periã¡Ã ez, and Petit de Gabriel
2010). ) Each university has created also specific initiatives and courses to promote entrepreneurship For instance, the Economics department at the University of Malaga (UMA) started offering a course
on entrepreneurship in 2009. This is an elective course that all university students can take, although only 200 students took
and most of them came from the Economics department. This figure is small compared to the approximately 33 000 UMA students.
UMA recognizes the poor participation rates in these courses and is trying to expand them to other departments such as ICT and applied scientific
research. On the other hand, the University of Seville, in collaboration with its OTRI (Technology Transfer Office), supports entrepreneurs involved in the creation of university spin-offs by paying part
of the fees of an MBA PROGRAM Business schools In Spain, the public university system has a better reputation than the private system,
except in the field of business education. Private business schools in Spain lead all the quality rankings in
business and executive education. This is especially true for the top schools situated in Madrid and
Barcelona such as the Instituto de Empresa, IESE and ESADE, which are ranked among the top 10
business schools in Europe according to the Financial Times†ranking. Andalusia has lacked high quality education in business and entrepreneurship and even more so at the graduate level.
Economics and business administration departments in public universities are disconnected often from the local business community and, in response, business associations and chambers of commerce have created
their own small private business schools in different cities. The best-ranked business schools in Andalusia are concentrated private
and in Seville (San Telmo Institute, EOI and ESIC) and in Malaga ESESA and ESIC.
Other private business schools exist in CÃ rdoba (ETEA) and Granada (Escuela Europea de Negocios and Escuela de Gerencia/ESIC.
Most of them offer courses on entrepreneurship and business leadership, but not official degree programmes 8
Technology Transfer Offices (OTRIS Andalusia Technology Transfer Offices (OTRIS) have seen their responsibilities and budget grow
in the last decade thanks to the regional government†s push for innovation. Apart from their function
of promoting technology transfer, public-private cooperation and creation of spin-offs, OTRIS are increasingly paying attention to promote entrepreneurial activity among students as a way to increase
the number of companies originated in the university. For instance, the OTRI of the University of
Granada offers a program called La Ruta Emprendedora (The Entrepreneurial Route) that supports visits to technology parks and related workshops organized by sector (ITC, Biotechnology and health
sciences, Environment, Renewable Energies and Agriculture, Cultural and Creative Industries ANDALUCIA EMPRENDE ANDALUCIA EMPRENDE has a network of 1 000 people to assist, advance, mentor, and train
very small firms in the region. It is the main provider of entrepreneurship training in the region.
The main target is the entrepreneur, but it also targets students (in high school, vocational training schools
and universities) and women. ANDALUCIA EMPRENDE has more than 200 business incubators Centros de Apoyo al Desarrollo Empresarial,
or CADE) around the Andalusia region, including rural areas. They also have a very extensive catalogue of entrepreneurship education.
For youth, their training programs promote entrepreneurship culture in primary schools, high schools, baccalaureate programs, and vocational training schools,
teaching students how to create and manage cooperative firms. For the highest level of vocational training students, ANDALUCIA EMPRENDE offers a
business plan competition in which the winners spend three days training in the business incubators. In
collaboration with EXTENDA, they offer four training programs: a course on how to internationalize a company for new entrepreneurs;
a study tour of a foreign country; internships with companies abroad in strategic sectors for the Andalusia economy (aeronautics, biotechnology, ICT, culture
industries, renewable energies; and support for Andalusia expatriates to establish their company home in Andalusia.
Finally, they also collaborate with Becas Talentia in order to help entrepreneurs that studied abroad establish themselves in Andalusia
Confederaciã n de Empresarios de Andalucã a (CEA CEA is the main business association of Andalusia,
which promotes entrepreneurship in vocational training schools and secondary schools. Their training is based on improving the skills of
employed people (in collaboration with the Ministry of Education) and inspiring young people to become self-employed entrepreneurs.
They have two main training programs: 1) a program to promote business education at vocational training centres; and 2) a university program promoting
entrepreneurship, held at all public universities in Andalusia. They also host gatherings called †Let†s
Speak about Enterprise†in different educational institutions in Andalusia, with 99 000 people taking part in 2007 and 2008
8. For instance, in 1999, the San Telmo Institute with the support of MIT created the CREARA program
to promote entrepreneurship and the creation of innovative companies in the region Corporaciã n Tecnolã gica de Andalucã a (CTA
CTA is a private foundation, basically a business association of the largest technological companies based in Andalusia (Abengoa, Endesa, Airbus, Iberdrola, etc.
but with the collaboration of the Regional Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science. CTA recently began a new program to
support the doctoral education of researchers within their member companies. They also have specific agreements with universities and technology centres to support their IT and technology activities
Opportunities in entrepreneurship education Andalusia has a significant infrastructure for entrepreneurship training in place, providing a
foundation upon which the region and RETA can build. Many of the region†s public universities are
already engaged in entrepreneurship education, from special workshops to support for MBA PROGRAMS to internship programs at the technology parks.
Of particular note are related the sector educational activities of the OTRIS, such as La Ruta Emprendedora at the University of Granada, as well as
RETA€ s own digital cluster program with CITIC (see below. Another key strength that the region
might develop more is FUNDACION EMPRENDE€ s extensive entrepreneurship training programmes, including its collaborations with the Talentia programme and the agency EXTENDA to
improve international ties for local entrepreneurs Main issue: a schism between economic development and workforce development
Although the duplication of training is understood to be problematic, only a few regional stakeholders describe the many different organizational disconnects in the region as issues as well
Yet, such disconnects may hinder communication, foster more redundancy, and prevent training programs from adopting appropriate curricula â€
thus constituting a key weakness in training provision Andalusia experiences a chronic schism between economic and workforce development programming
that makes it difficult for businesses to obtain appropriately trained labour and, most pertinent for
entrepreneurship, education, and employment; and the lack of a workforce strategy tied to †clusterâ€
As described above, entrepreneurship training in Andalusia takes place in multiple venues. But most commonly emphasized by stakeholders in the Andalusian regional innovation system is the
training available at the universities. Focusing nearly exclusively on university R&d and technology transfer, regional actors seem to have missed the more modest but important contribution of vocational
training and education. While hiring Phd-level workers might be key for highly innovative companies
in IT or biotechnology sectors, the reality is that most SMES in Andalusia are highly dependent on
personnel without a university degree. Innovation †defined in a broad sense by OECD€ s Oslo Manual
Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science, there is only one vocational training diploma in Andalusia included under the Energy and Water professional family.
The diploma, Superior Technical Degree in Energy efficiency and Solar-Thermal Energy, was established only very recently in 2008
training strategies will allow the expansion of the local market for these services and products †a
past decade, with the Ministry of Science and Innovation taking responsibility for universities away from the Ministry of Education in 2004,
and the Ministry of Economy merging with Innovation and Science in 2010. The Ministry of Employment remains separate.
and training in the region. The regional innovation system separates itself from the general education and employment
systems, suggesting that the official view of innovation is exclusively about R&d. It is not clear how
importance of non-university-related innovation, as well as the depth of the region†s economic problems, it is unfortunate that this separation of agencies may hinder strategic coordination, for
Education and the Economy, 2007 Limited synergies between cluster strategies and workforce strategies Finally, in part because of this agency balkanization, the region†s cluster strategy lacks strong
coordinated with sectors, for instance The english and entrepreneurship education available at technology centres like the Andalusian Stone Technology Centre.
development that tailors training to employer needs in specific industry sectors (Zandniapour and Conway, 2003;
RETA€ s training Since its inception, RETA has provided four main types of training that are described briefly in
Box 3. RETA's main provision of training EVA Online Training Tool: EVA was an online site that intended to implement advanced and innovative
training programs for the changing needs of SMES and government officials through two courses. One course combined online and onsite training, in collaboration with the International University of Andalusia (UNIA), in
9 Tà cnico Superior en Eficiencia Energã tica y Energã a Solar Tà rmica †Entrepreneur Advice†(Experto Universitario en Asesoramiento a Emprendedores.
provided training in information technologies to SMES that were part of a relevant cluster in Andalusia. The
%Training of RETA agents: RETA agents were considered the †sale representatives†of the regional innovation
After training by RETA, the agents maintained contact with SMES and identified needs related with IT
The perception during the study visit is offered that training by RETA may have been too generic
receive some training in entrepreneurship from RETA. Yet, given the breadth of agent involvement in
Despite the challenges †the redundancy in overall education and training system, the lack of
university savvy about technology and entrepreneurship, and the many disconnects in the system †there are opportunities for RETA to assume a new role in the region.
vacuum in terms of coordinating the various training systems and linking them to the cluster strategy At present, although many individual agencies work to coordinate their own educational and training
programs with relevant actors, the siloed agency structure means that no one agency oversees the programs and ensures that they relate to the region†s clusters.
improving the innovation system, the enthusiasm of foreign students for the region, and the existing sector-based models which might be built upon
coordinate training programs across agencies, universities and schools and advocate for more sophisticated training programs. There is an opportunity to coordinate more university activity
regionally and link it better to regional needs. The preparation of the II Andalusian Plan for
planning that links the training better with the region†s other flagship programs, such as the innovation
help the region use its training resources more effectively. As the literature on entrepreneurship and
networks, which span beyond the university system to include business associations and government There is also considerable existing energy, enthusiasm,
The university system is committed to support labour policy, technology, and entrepreneurship. While most effort of the regional government to promote entrepreneurship and
talent seem to be focused in improving sending Andalusian students to top universities abroad (as in
students that are attracted to Andalusian universities every year. The Universities of Granada and Sevilla alone received over 3 000 exchange students in 2007-08, placing Andalucia ahead even of
Barcelona in popularity. As research elsewhere has found, immigrants are disproportionately likely to become entrepreneurs.
RETA might work as an intermediary to facilitate a longer stay in the region for these students, by helping them obtain legal residency and connecting them to entrepreneurship
resources (for instance in the technology parks Finally, there is significant infrastructure already in place to link the training system more
effectively to a regional sector strategy. Numerous sector-based training models already exist, at the
OTRIS, the technology parks and centres, FUNDACION EMPRENDE, the unions, etc. Internship programs at the technology parks, EMPRENDE,
students with businesses. The regional government seems to be supporting this approach already, not only by trying to link the technology parks with its high-tech sector strategies, but also by fostering
make is to become the glue that binds the separate pieces of the education and training system and
Thus far, RETA has struggled to find a niche in training offering small-scale entrepreneurship and IT training programs typically in collaboration with other
FUNDACION EMPRENDE, already the leader in regional entrepreneurship training, to promote innovation and IT training in low-tech SMES.
which are supported by the learning models in the final section 10 For instance, it recently started the Andalucã a Lab,
Sector-based training initiatives are programs that target specific industry sectors, trying to create a win-win situation by
for the region†s entrepreneurship training system. Ultimately, however, better information and planning will not lead to results
Refocus entrepreneurship training Refocus entrepreneurship training along the models of the best business schools, with a particular
focus on attracting immigrant exchange students (though retaining immigrant entrepreneurs remains out of the region†s purview.
Although Andalusia†s business schools cannot compete with the private schools in Madrid and Barcelona, they have the benefit of location in a region attractive to students
from many other countries. Here RETA might play an intermediary role by helping to market the
region in countries that it has developed already relationships with Train entrepreneurs for global e-commerce Businesses in traditional Andalusian sectors, such as ceramics, typically do not compete
The IT training available from different Andalusian agencies is a first step towards becoming more competitive.
Learning models East Bay Green Corridor Partnership: Linking workforce and economic development in the regional green economy
Training workers can take months or years, while firms need quick and flexible access to labour to compete in the global market
link training and placement with permitting or development processes or condition business incentives on local hiring practices.
as well as three other educational institutions: the Peralta and Contra Costa community college districts, and Cal State East Bay.
Each of these cities brings different economic strengths and policy approaches to the partnership, but they seek to develop
and the University of Illinois. The partnership aims to capitalize on the East Bay†s regional strengths and assets, as well as foster and
graduates of the youth program Though too recent to evaluate systematically, local stakeholders argue that the Partnership has
Entrepreneurship training in Gothenburg, Sweden As described above, the Andalusian public universities offer a few entrepreneurship training
programs, and have plans for entrepreneurship chairs, but in general the offerings are undersubscribed Given the region†s interest in entrepreneurship,
as well as the concentration of foreign students and immigrant entrepreneurs, there may be potential to expand the offerings at the university level
Developing an entrepreneurial university takes time, and with limited resources, it may be best to focus on just one of the public universities.
Such targeting is did what Sweden to counter its relatively weak entrepreneurial culture, as it invested in technology-based entrepreneurship at the University of
Gothenburg and the nearby Chalmers University of Technology (Jacob, Lundqvist, and Hellmark 2003 Sweden†s emphasis on new technology-based firms is based on the understanding that they
contribute to economic growth not just by producing own products but also input to other firms allowing them to innovate in their processes or markets.
The Gothenburg model is considered particularly successful because of the intensity of local collective learning spawned by the
education program, i e.,, the project-based learning model (Rasmussen & Sørheim, 2006. Programs at
both the Chalmers School and the School of economics and Commercial law at the University of Gothenburg are highly selective
12 A small class of students engage in the entrepreneurship process from idea development, team building,
and venture capital attraction, to actual firm setup. Local business entrepreneurs serve on the start-up firm†s board of directors.
The universities offer office 12 More recently, Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg have joined forces to
teach entrepreneurship at the higher education level in the region, with the support of the Swedish
government, creating the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE http://www. hgu. gu. se/item. aspx?
These programs not only offer degrees, but send students out into the world with their own start-up business
Although there are significant attempts at regional coordination among the public universities in Andalusia, there is also much redundancy.
region that has struggled to launch entrepreneurship programs at the universities. RETA might play a role in targeting entrepreneurship training resources,
specifically a new learning-by-doing program as has been so successful in Gothenburg, at one of the biggest universities.
However, launching the effort would be challenging without significant resources. First, Andalusia universities lack the
competitive specializations of the many Gothenburg research institutions. Second, initiating the effort would require significant regional and national investment, likely diverting funding from other
university-based innovation programs For further information Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship, http://www. entrepreneur. chalmers. se/cse
/School of economics and Commercial law at Gothenburg University http://www. hgu. gu. se/item. aspx? id=17007
Web localization certificate programmes: Training entrepreneurs for global e-commerce Although entrepreneurship programs have offered training in e-commerce for many years
experience with global markets has shown that many websites are not appropriate to attract consumers in foreign markets.
complement other training and educational programs in international e-business, such as marketing translation, and intercultural communication Although no systematic evaluation of localization programs exists, localization, and global e
students and tourists to the region, the need for internationalization, and the lack of web and IT
Given its experience offering IT training, as well as its past role in the Digital Cluster program, RETA
might be able to play a role in launching such training. The region has some resources to build upon
extensive training resources. However, the lack of local capacity in e-commerce will likely present an
John Cook School of business at St louis University, http://globalizationexecutive. com /Austin Community college, http://www. austincc. edu/techcert/localization. php;
California State University-Chico, http://rce. csuchico. edu/localize References Aoyama, Y. and M. Castells. 2002.
An Empirical Assessment of the Informational Society Employment and Occupational Structures of G-7 Countries.
Columbia University Press Carnoy, M. 1994. Faded Dreams: the Politics and Economics of Race in America.
Institute of Urban and Regional Development, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA Chapple, K. & Hutson, M. 2010.
University of California-Berkeley Coronado, D.,Acosta, M. and Fernã¡ndez, A. 2008. Attitudes to innovation in peripheral economic
with universities and large firms. Regional Studies 33,4: 379-389 de Neubourg, C.,Castonguay, J. & K. Roelen. 2005.
University system: The case of Chalmers University of Technology. Research Policy 32,9 1555-1568 Junta de Andalucã a. 2007.
Plan Andaluz de Investigaciã n, Desarrollo e Innovaciã n, available at www. juntadeandalucia. es/economiainnovacionyciencia//.
Self evaluation Report. Paris: OECD Directorate for Education Programme on Institutional Management in Higher education Madsen, H.,Neergaard, H,
. & J. P. Ulhã¸i. 2003. Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and human capital. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 10,4: 426-434
Temple University Press Martã nez i Coma, F. & Duval Hernã¡ndez, R. 2009. Hostility toward Immigration in Spain.
National Center on Education and the Economy, 2007, Under One Roof: New Governance Structures for Local Economic and Workforce Development
Action-based entrepreneurship education. Technovation 26, 185†194 Saxenian, A. 1994. Regional advantage: Culture and competition in Silicon valley and Route 128
University Press Sevilir, M. 2006. Human Capital Investment, Entrepreneurship and New Firm Creation. Unpublished paper
Universities and public and private research organizations play a crucial role in regional economies that rely upon growth-oriented entrepreneurship and business innovation.
particular, research spin-offs and industry-university knowledge transfer (labour mobility, research collaborations, technology transfer agencies, university technology licensing programs, etc.
are key elements of this process, given the importance of basic and precompetitive research for innovation
in which universities and research organizations contribute to regional economic development These new models and the insights they afford for a catch up region,
both the Andalusia university system and RETA within that context. The role of RETA in supporting
the development of industry-university relationships is examined. Policy recommendations are based on the alternative perspectives on innovation and the knowledge transfer process, as well as the
learning models are described which complement the key policy recommendations in the chapter and provide some insight into how they can be implemented
training and research activities of higher education institutions and regional firms, and how those linkages can best meet the needs of innovative firms and increase their innovative capabilities.
and that students often provide the most effective means for strengthening the linkages in the innovation system.
university research have to build common ground that overlaps the context of the university laboratory with that of their own R&d laboratories, design shops, and manufacturing plants.
understanding how university-industry knowledge occurs. A key aspect of the process of knowledge transfer from universities and research institutes is through personal connections given that the
knowledge being transferred is †embodiedâ€. To deploy university-generated knowledge in a commercial setting, firms must capture both its tacit,
as well as its codified, component (Wolfe and Lucas, 2001. As one of the business leaders in Waterloo, Ontario is fond of saying, †the best
Knowledge transfers between universities and other economic actors are personalized highly, and as a result, often highly localized,
transfer provides a strong clue as to why universities are seen increasingly as an essential element in
generation of innovation approaches focuses on the role of shared knowledge and learning processes and the importance of building relationships and social capital between key actors and institutions
The preceding discussion suggests that the task of transferring knowledge from universities to industries is more complex,
and the role of universities in economic development more varied, than the linear approach to the innovation process allows.
knowledge flows between universities and industry, including both first and second generation models outlined above, frequently treat knowledge itself as a universally available commodity, virtually as a
A careful examination of the existing research on university -industry knowledge transfer is essential for a more balanced perspective on this relationship.
Mowery et al. have argued recently, †Any assessment of the economic role of universities must recognize the numerous,
diverse channels through which university research influences industrial innovation and vice versa†(Mowery, Nelson, Sampat et al.
Research organizations, including universities, are not just generators of commercial knowledge or even highly qualified research scientists;
in addition to the conduct of basic research, universities provide both formal and informal technical support, as well as specialized expertise and facilities for ongoing, firm
documents the multiple ways in which universities contribute to the development and expansion of local industry:
through the provision of skilled graduates who become key players in local industry; through the conduct of long-term fundamental research that
for start-up companies that spin-off from universities to become the seeds of new business National Academy of Engineering, 2003, pp. 46†48;
university research becomes increasingly important to local firms not just for the transfer of knowledge generated through its own research activities,
From this perspective, universities can be seen as multifaceted economic actors who are embedded in regions,
The impact of the university can extend beyond the provision of basic research but, in order for this to occur, the knowledge assets of the university must
be aligned properly with the multifaceted needs of local firms. A large base of research and development is required but not sufficient.
The university must also address the business, workforce and community issues. The university must be aligned with regional interests and industry clusters
across a broad spectrum, not just in terms of technical knowledge (Paytas, Gradeck, and Andrew 2004,34 Throughout the week of the study visit to Andalusia, the expert team made much of the
University-industry linkages play an important role, but they tend to take the form of applied problem solving, rather than basic research
them, they tend to draw upon research results from the higher education system or national laboratories as a source for potential innovations or product modifications.
University-industry linkages are an essential part of the knowledge transfer for sectors that rely upon this type of
-based learning (Jensen, Johnson, Lorenz, et al. 2004). ) Innovation in the STI mode draws substantially upon existing bodies of codified knowledge, both those involved in previous research undertaken by
involves a process of learning-by-interacting and is much more local in nature (closer to the synthetic
innovation are important for understanding how firms utilize the results of university-based research as well as the role played by highly qualified personnel trained through university-based research.
The existence of these different dimensions of the innovation process suggests there is considerable variation in how university research is applied taken up
and by different industrial sector. Those sectors associated with the steel industry, machine tools and advanced manufacturing tend to draw
University research is of value to innovative firms in terms of keeping them informed about where the knowledge frontier is moving in
In these industries, the direct results of university research and their potential for commercialization are much more relevant for the innovative activities of individual
The ability of firms to draw on both the tacit and codified components of university research
industrial sector, depends on their direct access both to researchers and especially to students involved in generating that research.
engage in the DUI mode of innovation †are through faculty consulting and student placements or
policy in Andalusia and the specific role assigned to the universities in promoting innovation. It pays
particular attention to the current state of the technology transfer process between the universities and
made to members of the OECD-LEED Study Mission between the role of the largest universities in
university sector. The university system is designated as playing a key role in this strategy. The PIMA
notes that there has been a significant investment in the system over the past ten years
resulted in the creation of five new universities and a 28 percent increase in the number of students
enrolled and a corresponding increase in the teaching staff of the universities. This increase in the size
and level of enrolment in the Andalusia university system is part of a broader change process focused
on adapting teaching in the universities to social and business needs and developing a first class
research enterprise. These goals are to be operational through the financing of joint university-business
R+D+I projects, targeted particularly on strategic business sectors and through the funding of high quality research projects.
technology transfer by promoting the role of the Industrial Liaison Offices (OTRIS) in the universities
nearly half) is designated for the support of knowledge industry and universities (Junta de Andalucã a
Andalusia public universities (dependent on the regional government) and private companies. In March, 2010 the Ministry of Enterprise,
universities and private companies as the central element of the regional government†s economic development strategy in Andalusia.
The second category includes the ten public universities in the region, as well as public research organizations, research centres and the R&d departments of private companies
The key role of the public university system The public university system clearly occupies a key position at the centre of both the overall
institutional design of the knowledge and innovation support system in Andalusia, as well as being the chief beneficiary of funding under the PIMA.
Public universities have thus been the primary source of R&d spending in the region as well as the principal beneficiaries of the increase in public funds for
and especially the research universities, is strongly reinforced by the priority afforded to them in the region†s strategic plans discussed above.
fostering greater collaboration between the universities and industry (Sanz-Menendez and Crus-Castro 2005, 24†25
The Andalusia university system consists of ten public universities, of which one, the Universidad Internacional de Andalucã a (UNIA) is devoted primarily to teaching
The regional system of universities is governed by statutes and regulations of the central 13. The PAIDI identifies a long list of priority research areas for the region,
management of the university system. A key focus of the region†s strategy has been to position
university researchers to compete as effectively as possible for national and EU sources of research
universities as the principal basis for research funding, which in turn has had a strong impact on the
organizational structure of the universities. The establishment of an official register of university research teams has made de facto the research team the key organizational unit responsible for the
conduct of scientific research within the universities. This internal structuring has been formalized in the University Law of 2003 and regional regulations governing the university system, which now
designate research teams as a core element in the internal structure of the universities (Ramos-Vielba
and Fernandez-Esquinas, 2009. The nine research universities have drawn up their own research strategies in response to the PAIDI;
however, the recent self evaluation report prepared for the OECD review of higher education in the region notes that the relation between the universities†research
priorities and those designated in the region†s strategic plans lacks a strong degree of coordination, as
indicated by the relative absence of the universities†prioritizing of research in biotechnology, ICTS or
tourism. The self evaluation report concludes that †this shows that the universities do not have their
own research strategies, but rather that they are derived, to a large extent, from the research groupsâ€
Support for university research is provided through a range of institutions, including the OTRIS the university foundations and the presence of the universities in the technology parks.
The nine public research universities also develop their own strategies to meet regional demands, especially the needs
of the SMES through their association with other research organizations such as the Higher National Research Council (CSIC) or public and private research centres.
Each of the nine universities excepting UNIA, has an OTRI; these are in turn part of the National OTRI-Net
university students, faculty and researchers who want to create their own companies, especially in the case of spin-offs derived from university research.
They also support the university community in registering new patents. Apart from their function of promoting technology transfer, public-private
cooperation and creation of spin-offs, they are increasingly paying attention to promoting entrepreneurial activity among students as a way to increase the number of companies originated in the
university However, they are hampered in their performance of this role by the lack of sufficient and
adequate staff to maintain contact with local businesses, as well as by structural impediments in national policies governing patenting
and release time for university research to participate in start-up firms. One of the main difficulties experienced by the OTRIS in Andalusia is need that they to serve
the needs of their universities as a whole, while the needs of individual departments might be quite
As one of the university officials noted for the case of researchers and entrepreneurs in our
site visit to the University of Seville, †one of the problems is the size of the University of Seville
made by university professors during their period of contract with the university, and which constitute
part of their university duties, belong to the university. Professors have the right to share in the benefits that flow to the university from the use of the intellectual property rights derived from their
inventions, but the precise share that they receive is governed by the statutes of the individual
universities. In general, the universities are critical of the current state of the legal framework governing intellectual property rights as it provides them with little guidance for determining how
benefits should be shared in the course of contractual work National regulations have imposed also traditionally restrictions on the mobility of university
researchers between the public sector and private spin-off companies, as it limits them from holding more than a 10 percent interest in private companies,
from being a member of a board of directors, or taking a temporary leave of absence from the university to form a private company.
The act governing universities was amended in 2001 to allow university researchers a five year leave of absence without
giving up their university position to participate in technology-based spin-offs (Empresas de Base Tecnolã gica-EBT.
However, the universities are still critical of the current law as they feel that the
guidelines for implementing the regulations are insufficient to allow the integration of university researchers into the EBTS.
The regional government has established also two separate programmes to promote the creation of EBTS. The Atlantis Programme, managed by the IDEA Agency is geared
Andalusia universities by providing them with loans of up to EUR 100 000 through the public venture
The universities undertake to mentor the start-ups right from their inception while IDEA provides the assessment needed to fund
potential for success. The combined efforts of the universities and the regional government are clearly
A final factor inhibiting the transfer of research results from the universities to the private sector
Many of the region†s universities place a higher priority on the performance of basic research as well as judge scholarly success based on the international recognition
economic development (an academic phenomenon which is limited not to Andalusia universities. One consequence of this cultural attitude is that the universities have been reluctant to direct research
efforts in strategic directions related to areas of industrial strength in the regional economy acquiescing to pressure from their researchers to afford all areas of research endeavour equal treatment
visits of the study team with the representatives of two of the leading universities in the region
Technology transfer at the University of Malaga Malaga is the third largest university of Andalusia after Granada and Seville.
It has 2 300 professors on staff and 40 000 students. The university has 270 active research groups,
which is the third largest number in the region. The university has been working on technology transfer for quite a
while, although the regional government has made this a high priority in the last five years, which has
made more funding available to university. One problem that the university faces is that it has started
up too many companies, but the government does not have sufficient funding available to support all
of the start ups. Roughly 30 percent of the university funding is tied to the number of patents,
spin -offs, and number of companies that the university provides technical assistance to. These performance indicators for research and technology transfer are valuable in helping universities obtain government
funding. The University of Malaga is part of the network of technology transfer offices in Andalusia
Red OTRI) whose purpose is to help the individual universities collaborate more effectively. They have a parallel system in effect between the network of technology transfer offices and RETA.
The connection with RETA is primarily through the University of Malaga, while the relationship between
other universities is maintained through the network of technology transfer offices The University of Malaga†s underlying strategy is to generate technology push by moving
research out of the university into the private sector. They have generated 150 patents, but they also try
to support a number of new spin-off companies every year. They choose 11 projects per year, and then
provide support to the best three economically. They provide the spin-off companies with a place to
work for one year and also offer additional support to the companies in the form of economic
The university also has two persons in the research office working with the various research groups trying to determine what
objective of this focus is to demonstrate to new research groups within the university the feasibility of
the university because licensing a patent is easier to do and a license generates faster returns to the
university than the lengthy process involved in establishing a technology-based business. Thus, the university focuses on promoting patents as a way to support external start-ups through technology
licensing The university also organizes various seminars and meetings between private companies and its research groups.
They try to organize thematic meetings to help the match between academics and entrepreneurs. In addition, they have posted online the themes and interests of their research groups
this activity is to convince the private companies that increased contact with the universities is
available within in the university The university enjoys a good working relationship with RETA and it draws upon this relationship
to build its contacts with private companies. The relationship is based on the extensive knowledge that
send companies to the University for Assistance. RETA often has detailed knowledge of the individual
needs or requirements of particular companies which they provide to the university. The university, in
turn, tries to identify the appropriate research groups that have the specific skills that can help solve
university and the companies and 80 percent of the contacts generated by RETA have resulted in
One of the main fields in which the university invests more intensively is information and
indicators at the national level in this research area and the ICT research groups within the university
Indeed, the University of Malaga ia ranked 8 th in the national rankings for ICT departments
the perspective of the university, the Andalusia regional government is doing a good job of providing
university institutes that participate directly with private companies. With respect to technology transfer organizations within the regional innovation system,
the university representatives felt there has been a multiplication of them in recent years, with the result that there are often parallel
The university scientists find this support framework very confusing because they are asked to participate in a lot of
when it is collaborating with the universities, but less so when it is not. This gives rise to the sentiment
With respect to the question of how the university views the †demand pull†approach to technology transfer, the representatives did not seem to place a great deal of emphasis on coordinating
programs that provide academic credits to students for working on company research projects. The universities in some respect have much more research and technology capabilities than the local
companies need, in other words they are adapted not well to actually meet the innovation needs of the
This suggests the need to rethink the way in which existing university capabilities can be deployed more effectively to meet the needs of local companies
Technology transfer at the University of Seville The second meeting was at the University of Seville with representatives of Citius and the OTRI
Since 2004, the University has had a Vice-Chancellor†s Office for Technological Transfer separate from the Office of Research.
This office is responsible for overseeing the University†s OTRI, as well as providing support services to facilitate work experience for its students in enterprises and the
Foundation. There are 14 different research offices which report to the Vice-Chancellor†s office. They
offer assistance in the use of advanced equipment for the various research groups in the university plus
Citius, the technology and innovation centre at the university is a 5 000 square metre building
medical research as well as training technicians for later work in hospitals. Citius has a number of joint
Endesa (the power company) has an agreement with the university under which it rents space, but also
has to spend a certain amount of money every year in research with the university which creates synergies between Endesa and the research groups.
allows the companies use of the space in the university. Three companies that were mentioned were
give companies a special price for using the research equipment in the university. The research centre
research projects and the application process and one for entrepreneurship in the University of Seville.
and firms was EUR 28 million for the University of Seville, which accounts for approximately half of
the total contract funding for the universities in Andalusia. They have undertaken also all the management of projects related to Framework Funding from the EU. The third division in the Office
Funding for the OTRI comes half from the University of Seville, 40 percent from the regional government,
of the University of Seville One problem that was identified by the university representatives is that they lack a cadre of
technically trained people who can provide technical support to research teams and firms. The university is endowed well with professors and administrators,
but they also perceive the need for a category of people who do not do research,
national regulations governing university employment which had been raised previously. Professors cannot leave the university and go to work for a start up company with any assurance that they will be
able to return from that employment to their university position A related problem that was identified concerns the issue of intellectual property rights (IPR.
The university has found that companies want to retain all the rights to intellectual property when they sign
a contract with a university research team, and the university researchers are usually keen to sign the
agreement no matter what the conditions are. As a consequence, this means that the university will end
up losing the benefit of years of research. From the administrators†perspective, this implies the need
for a more balanced approach to sharing the benefits that will potentially flow from the IPR derived
from university research. However, control over IPR is often found to be one of the most difficult
issues to negotiate in joint university-industry research initiatives and there is no universally agreed solution to this problem.
Furthermore, the university representatives suggested the need to redesign career incentives, because a career reward system based primarily on publications does not provide
adequate recognition to researchers who are interested also in research commercialization and the transfer of knowledge.
internal incentive system within university departments tend to be shaped strongly by the leadership of those departments.
With respect to the question of technology transfer to SMES the university representatives suggested that the OTRI is prepared not well to provide technical assistance to firms.
The real problem they face is with respect to the size of university which has 4 000 researchers and approximately 70 000 students.
The OTRI has just twelve people They suggested that there is a need for a separate office in each of the different sub-units of the
university, or at least in each of the applied science departments. The small size of the OTRI creates
additional problems for the university in working with SMES because the relatively small team of
small firms that may need university support to introduce incremental improvements in their products or processes.
difficult for universities to work with small firms and, as a consequence, they focus their efforts on
problem is that they establish initial contacts between firms and the university, but they do not do
position between the small coterie of firms that have been identified as innovative and the universities to assist the firms in finding the researchers with the appropriate knowledge and skills, thereby
University-Industry Linkages: A More Variegated Perspective While the emphasis in both the regional government†s strategic plans and in the universities†own
relations between university researchers and private firms, especially SMES in the region. The studies suggest that the primary focus on intellectual property mechanisms is misplaced,
data gathered by the university technology transfer offices. The findings of this research are highly
The researchers surveyed a total of 765 research teams at Andalusia universities in 2008 based on
The majority of these research teams (89 percent) were based at universities reflecting the predominant role they play in the regional R+D+I system.
2) training and the transfer of personnel; 3 commercialization activities related to intellectual property rights; and 4) other contacts.
amount of activity related to the training of human resources, both in terms of the specific training of personnel provided by the researchers for firms and internships of university researchers in private
firms, as well as the exchange of scientific personnel between research teams and firms. Activities directly related to the exploitation of intellectual property rights resulting from university research
occurred in many fewer instances, with only 10 percent of the teams being involved in patenting and
types of relationships with industry that are developed in most university systems. †The excessive focus on intellectual property rights provides a disincentive for the many university researchers who
participate in the multiple other forms of university-industry collaboration. They also note that policy
-makers who rely on the formal data collected by university technology transfer offices are privy to at
best the †tip of the iceberg†in terms of the true dimensions of university-industry collaboration that
exist (Ramos-Vielba et al. 2009, p. 17 In a related study, the same group of CSIC researchers surveyed 737 Andalusia innovative
The firms were asked about the nature of their university-industry connections. The researchers discovered that 57 percent of the firms in the sample did not engage in
any type of collaboration with universities. The firms in this group tended to be smaller, independently owned and more locally oriented.
education degrees and few of them had R&d departments. Among the remaining 305 firms that
collaborated with universities, the most frequent type of collaboration involved informal relationship followed by the training of university personnel inside the firm.
Among the other firms, 15 to 25 percent engaged in some form of consultancy relationship with university staff, 5 to 15 per cent of the
firms had contract research projects with the universities and less than 5 per cent of the firms had
participated in the creation of spin-off or start-up firms, the sale or transfer of patents or joint ventures
significant for any discussion of RETA€ s role in enhancing connections between the universities and
universities and companies and how †contacts that occur in different kinds of events are the breeding
between universities and companies are limited not to R&d transfer, but they depend on the needs and
characteristics of the companies in the part of the regional economy where the universities are located This supports the idea that knowledge creation and application †and therefore innovation †are
important for universities and regional coordinating bodies to recognize that R&d activities especially the commercialization and exploitation of intellectual property derived from university
research are just a portion of the firm†s overall interactions with the higher education system and that
an interest in this aspect only emerges when firms have an absorptive capacity that has been built up
through a wide range of previous interactions with universities The policy implications of this research suggest the need for greater support on the part of the
higher education system for a less R&d-intensive form of interaction between the universities and the
This would require the universities to provide greater support for these firms in the form of technical advice and problem solving in a wide range of
focused forms of cooperative education programs which could ensure that the students being trained in the universities are familiar with the kinds of technical problems that these firms must overcome.
It is through these lower orders of interaction between public research organizations and private firms that
Table 2. Interactions with universities of Andalusian innovative firms Percentage of'yes'answer to each type of interaction
Consultancy work 21.8 Patent exploitation 4. 6 Joint ventures with Universities 3. 7 Commissioning of R&d
projects to Universities 14.0 Training of Uni. Postgraduates and internships at firms 27.5 Participation in spin-offs/start-ups 3. 9
Joint R&d projects 22.1 Exchange of personnel 7. 1 Informal networks 32.2 Use or renting of facilities 8. 1 Training of firm workers by the
Universities 15.2 Other types of collaborative activities 1. 9 Source: Fernandez-Esquinas et al. 2009 To reiterate, the key challenge is how to tighten the linkages in the system between the individual
agencies that comprise this part of the innovation system and how to improve the linkages between
universities and innovative firms. Andalusia needs to move beyond the narrow number of R&d performing firms to bring in a broader range of the currently innovative firms and the greater number
of innovation serves to broaden the conception of the different roles that the universities and research
science and technology parks, technological centres and public universities and worked through a network 85 innovation agents situated in the parks, technology centres, main industrial estates, and
with other recent evaluations of the role of the higher education institutions in the region. With respect
R+D+I system, the universities displayed a generally positive attitude towards the contribution of
which is not surprising given that its primary mandate is to help university research groups attract EU funding for their institutions.
Some of the universities were more critical of the contribution that RETA makes to promoting linkages between researchers and SMES in the region
the OTRIS in order to establish connections between university researchers and private firms limits RETA€ s effectiveness in the eyes of the research community (Laurent, et al. 2010, 34†35.
coordinating agency and the universities, it suggests there is considerable room for RETA to revaluate the way in which it currently manages its relationship with the region†s research organizations
organizations, particularly the universities, and local businesses within the region. However, as was observed several times during our site visits to the universities, this system operates imperfectly at
best. The challenge that RETA faces is that only a very small portion (less than 5 per cent) of the
second tier innovative firms that it services are in a position to engage with the universities in
and commercialize the outputs of university research. Its role would be more manageable if it were limited to working with the 300 more
at the two universities, that current role seems to be limited at best, especially in comparison to their
organization in the region, such as CTA, the Employers association and even the universities, and provide complementary services that meet the needs of the tier of innovative SMES it is mandated to
Doing so would allow it to be viewed as a valued partner by the public universities through the
The detailed surveys of both university research teams and innovative firms conducted by the team at IESA-CSIC reveal that there are already a substantial number of university researchers who
engage in a wide range of informal contacts with regional firms in a variety of activities,
We know from the broader literature that consultancy with university faculty often serves a variety of purposes from the firm†s perspective.
which private firms test the compatibility of university faculty in terms of potentially engaging with them in contract or collaborative research.
to the next level of involvement with the university researcher or research team in terms of engaging in
the universities revealed that the universities themselves are much happier when RETA works with them to bring individual firms to the research office
or OTRI to find suitable faculty collaborators RETA and the RED-OTRI need to work together to develop a mechanism for linking firms in need of
technical assistance with university faculty with the requisite technical or business skills to provide that assistance.
database of faculty research and consulting skills at the nine research universities in the region.
The IESA-CSIC surveys might even provide the preliminary basis for constructing such a database if the
to identify the faculty members on the various research teams at the individual universities with skill
out on a university by university basis beginning with one or two, where both organizations feel there
universities in the region. While this may take some time to fully implement, it is expected that early
successes at one or two universities in the region would have a positive demonstration effect that
and social networks among private firms and university researchers that are viewed as a central component of third generation innovation models
Promote cooperative education programmes The second recommendation concerns ways to expand the current number of trainees in the
university system by introducing some form of cooperative educational program at the universities The Study Mission heard that there currently exist a number of different programs in the region to
provide training spaces for university students in private firms. This was made clear in both visits to the universities,
as well as in the surveys conducted by the IESA-CSIC research teams. While the exact scope of these programs is not clear,
It should be noted that a formal cooperative education program goes beyond merely placing student trainees with firms for a limited period.
A cooperative education program usually involves engaging university students in alternating work study terms throughout the course of
their undergraduate or first degrees. Where these programs have been used extensively, such as at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, there is solid research evidence
which indicates that that the coop students themselves provide a highly effective conduit for transferring research and specialized
knowledge into the private firms and also for bringing the †real world†perspective of the firms back
from their work terms into the university classroom. This example is discussed in further detail in one
of the learning models. The introduction of a full-fledged co-op program at several of the regional
universities would require some additional public support, but it could make use of RETA€ s contacts
with the group of innovative firms in the region as the basis for finding job placements for university
students in the small and medium-sized enterprises that RETA services. The principle obstacle to
introducing and expanding university coop programs is the high cost incurred by the university administrations in locating work placements for their students.
In successful coop programs, this is usually accomplished through the provision of several dedicated university personnel to the task of
finding these placements in the firms. The high cost of this task could be overcome to some degree by
using RETA€ s existing network of contacts with innovative firms in the region to locate the
placements for the university students. It would require RETA to work closely with both the firms
located in the technology parks as well as firms distributed more broadly throughout the region to identify the firms that would be interested in providing work placements for students in a cooperative
education program. This could accomplish several purposes at once. It could improve the quality of human capital working in the firms by providing them with technically trained university students;
it could provide students with more real life work experience as part of their formal education; and it
could use the students as a conduit for feeding problems and concerns of small and medium-sized
enterprises back into the teaching activities of the university faculty. There is also some evidence from
the North american experience that coop students can create a demand-pull mechanism to pull technical knowledge out of universities to provide assistance to firms (Bramwell and Wolfe, 2008
Consider the creation of a †virtual technology park†The third recommendation involves alternative ways for RETA to work more closely with the tier
of innovative firms located in the technology parks as well as those located outside in order to develop a denser network of social relationships between firms
and research teams. Two ways to achieve this are to expand the presence of incubators in the technology parks as a way of providing more space for
university spin-offs and entrepreneurial start-up firms, or to physically locate the parks on a university
campus, as is the case with the new PTA-University of Malaga Campus. However, the impact of the
current crisis in the region and the eventual reduction of ERDF funds may constrain the resources
strengthening the connections with one or two of the key universities and building a denser set of
both the database of expert skills in the universities and the creation of a focused cooperative
education program with some of the universities and innovative companies as a means to strengthen
the social networks between firms and universities. The objective of this third recommendation would be the creation of a †virtual technology park†for some of the innovative firms dispersed throughout the
limited geographic scale, with one or two universities and one or two parks, would allow RETA to
†scale up†the model by extending it to other parks and universities in the region.
create a demand for emulating the approach in other firms and universities across the region
Learning models This part of the chapter presents evidence from three learning modules, largely from North
America, that provides further support for the policy recommendations set out above The Industrial Research Assistance program/National Research Council
The first learning model explores the relevance of Canada†s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP.
by a network of about 260 Industrial Technology Advisors (ITAS), who are housed in universities community colleges and other technology transfer organizations across the country.
In this respect IRAP performs a networking and coordinating role between firms and other key organizational units
some have taught at universities and community colleges, and many of them have worked for IRAP for a considerable period of time.
The Cooperative Education Program at the University of Waterloo Description of the Approach The second learning model provides more details about the University of Waterloo†s cooperative
education program and particularly, the crucial role that it plays in the local innovation system.
This case also suggests a justification of the key contribution that RETA could make to helping broaden the
The University of Waterloo currently has the largest cooperative education program in the world, with over 11 000 students (60 percent of the
student body) and 3 000 employers, 281 of them local, involved in the program each year.
Coop program offerings are extensive and are available in all faculties and departments, and in over 100
different programs. The Centre for the Advancement of Coop Education (Watcace) was established in 2002 to provide a research capacity to identify
and disseminate best practices in co-op education Many of the larger Waterloo firms, as well as global ones, have deep and enduring links with the co
-op program. Mike Lazaridis, the co-CEO of Research in motion, is an active and vocal proponent of
campus alone, 15 per cent of its current employees are Waterloo co-op students, and more than half of
their Waterloo staff consists of former co-op students Rationale for the Intervention The Waterloo Region in Ontario, located about 100 km west of Toronto,
The founding document for the new university in the 1950s, referred to as the Waterloo
Plan, called for a new type of education to be offered on a cooperative basis with industry.
education, especially in the sciences and engineering by giving the students hands-on experience working in firms to complement their classroom time;
and second, to maximize the usage of what was initially a very constrained physical plant by ensuring that classrooms were being used fully through
all three semesters of the year. The rotation of students to industry and back to the classroom helped
solidify tight relations with local industry Reasons for success The reflexive relationship between the university and local industry allows the curriculum to keep
up with the ever-changing technological frontiers of industry while industry support of the program funds the acquisition of technology to enhance classroom learning.
As a result Waterloo became one of the first universities in Canada to enable students to actively explore
and make use of innovations in the relatively new field of computing science in the 1960s and 1970s.
The exposure that students had to the early days of computer technology laid the foundations for a technological leap that shaped the
that the university performs a critical intermediary function in facilitating the transfer of knowledge between students and local and non-local industry through the Cooperative Education Program
Nelles, Bramwell and Wolfe, 2005 A number of key benefits of the co-op program were identified in research conducted on the role
of the University of Waterloo in the regional economy. First and foremost, it acts as a steady source of
because firms know that the students have work experience, and they get an opportunity to
and recent graduates provide †fresh eyesâ€: †new ideas, new minds younger talent in the companyâ€.
Second, co-op students act as an important transfer mechanism for tacit knowledge and know-how; they also act as a critical source of knowledge circulation within the
graduates well trained within the university, they also come with practical experience gained through co-op placements, both in local firms and in firms all over North america.
Waterloo co-op students have an international reputation for being of high quality, and as a result, local firms have to compete
with global ones to attract the best students, though they retain the benefit of location. For instance, in
a recent speech at the university during his Microsoft 2005 Tour, Bill gates referred to Waterloo as †a
Most years, we hire more students out of Waterloo than any other university in the world. â€
Beyond these highly visible and tangible benefits of the Co-op Program is its contribution to
Co-op students also act as an important conduit between local firms and the teaching faculty at the university.
At the same time, student-driven technology transfer is critical specifically to the commercialization process. One firms reported that
†students come off co-op terms and co-opt entrepreneurial faculty to develop a company...They play a big role in spin-offs and technology transfer. †This awareness of the crucial link between
commercialization and entrepreneurialism is underscored also and supported by the Enterprise Co-op Program, which enables students to start their own venture in lieu of doing a co-op placement with an
established firm, and focuses on creating a local network of contacts and mentors to support it
Bramwell and Wolfe, 2008 Obstacles and Responses The principal obstacle to the success of the co-op program,
North american universities have not implemented it to the same degree, is the high cost of finding
and maintaining the placement positions for the student body. The university invests a considerable amount of its own resources in financing
and managing the program. It has the advantage that these costs have been built into the universities budget virtually since its inception.
It also now benefits from the high reputation that both the program and the university†s students enjoy,
which makes it easier to find firms willing to take the students on work placement
Relevance to Andalusia The key lesson to be drawn from this experience is that the patient investment of resources in a
has proved invaluable in both creating extremely tight linkages between the university and the dense
public universities interested in expanding either work-related training programs or introducing a full coop education initiative in finding the work placements for students
For further information http://www. cecs. uwaterloo. ca/about Future Trends in Science and Technology Parks
The third learning model corresponds to the third policy recommendation in that it draws upon the evolving trend of science
In this respect, the learning model is more prospective in pointing to work that has recently been carried out on the future evolution of technology parks.
University Research Parks, undertook an extensive review of the characteristics and trends in research parks over the last 50 years.
collaborative networks and lever the intellectual resources of universities more effectively than today The second scenario puts forward a model where research occurs in †clouds†that virtually link
firms and universities through co-location in a traditional technology park through a more distributed
Association of University Research Parks. Columbus, OH: Battelle Memorial Institute Bercovitz, Janet and Maryann Feldman, 2008. †Academic Entrepreneurs:
and David A. Wolfe. 2008. †Universities and Regional Economic Development: The Entrepreneurial University of Waterloo. †Research Policy 37
September): ) 1175†87 Fernandez de Lucio, Ignacio, Fancisco Mas-Verdu, and Enrigque Tortosa. 2010. †Regional
Industry and University. †IESA-CSIC Paper. Cordoba Geiger, Roger L. 2004. Knowledge and Money:
Research Universities and the Paradox of the Marketplace. Stanford: Stanford university Press Gertler, Meric S, . and Tara Vinodrai. 2005. †Anchors of Creativity:
Universities Create Competitive and Cohesive Communities? †In Taking Public Universities Seriously. eds Frank Iacobucci and Carolyn Tuohy.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press Gomez, Antonio-Martin Porras. 2007. †Internationalization and Innovation Policies in
Andalusia: Which Prospects in the Mediterranean. †Fondacion Tres Culturas del Mediterraneo Granados-Cabezas, Vicente. 2010.
University of Michigan Press Landabaso, Mikel, Antoni Kuklinski, and Carlos Roman, eds. 2007. Europe-Reflections on
Biznesu†National-Louis University Laurent, Julia, Inmaculada Perianez Forte, and Eulalia W. Petit de Gabriel. 2010.
Self evaluation Report. OECD Reviews of Higher education in City and Regional Development. Seville: General Secretariat for Universities, Research and
Technology, Regional Ministry for Innovation, Science and Enterprise, Junta de Andalusia Lundvall, Bengt-à ke. 2006. †One Knowledge base or Many Knowledge Pools?
†DRUID Working Paper No. 06†08. Aalborg and Copenhagen. Www. druid. dk Manzella, Gian Paolo,
University-Industry Technology Transfer Before and After the Bayh-Dole Act. Stanford, CA: Stanford Business Books
Mcgill-Queen†s University Press for the School of Policy Studies, Queen†s University Niosi, Jorge. 2008.
IRPP Choices 14 (4 october) Connecting the Dots Between University Research and Industrial Innovation. IRPP Choices.
Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy OECD, Science Technology Industry. 1999. University Research in Transition.
Paris Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Paytas, Jerry, Robert Gradeck, and Lena Andrews. 2004.
Universities and the Development of Industry Clusters. Pittsburgh and Washington, D c.:Center for Economic Development, Carnegie mellon University and Economic Development
Administration, U s. Department of commerce Ramos-Vielba, Irene, and Manuel Fernandez-Esquinas. 2009. †Beneath the Tip of the Iceberg
The Multiple Forms of University-Industry Collaborative Linkages. †IESA-CSIC Paper. Cordoba Sanz-Menendez, Luis,
. and Matthew M. Lucas. 2001. †Investing Knowledge in Universities Rethinking the Firm†s Role in Knowledge Transfer. †In Knowledge management in
international †learning models†which are designed to illustrate what is being done in other regions to
The goals required investment in research, education transportation, renewable energies, and employability The renewed Lisbon Strategy was based on a set of 10 interventions
Invest more in human capital through better education and skills The recent global crisis has
of the population aged 30†34 having completed tertiary education from 31%to at least 40 %ï Reduce the number of Europeans living below national poverty lines by 25,
been a reduction in university attendance: from 14.7 percent in 1997-8 to 12.2 percent in 2007-8
absence of entrepreneurship in universities and in primary and secondary education, technology transfer, and the role of the universities
ï Key obstacles for start-ups: social and cultural issues, lack of financial support, and limited enterprising capacity
ï Advantages for start-ups: government programmes and policy, the economical climate (at the time), and financial support
However, their level of education is relatively low and their income levels fall in the range EUR 1 200-1 800 per month
given the education levels and other limitations, there is a need for broader support to entrepreneurship and job creation
ï€ Specialization of the 10 Andalusia public universities to transform them into driving forces enriching businesses in the region
ï€ Send 500 youth to the best universities in the world ï€ Train and counsel 5 000 SMES to add innovation to products and services
business training, and accommodation at the pre-incubation and incubation stages More specific objectives are to:
to entrepreneurs in the creation and management of companies, including information, training technical advice, access to finance and business accommodation in buildings and offices.
4 435 hours of training delivered This chapter does not assess the impact that can be directly
As far as university spin-offs are concerned, based on the results of the study visit, Andalusia emerges the leading Spanish region in quantitative terms
number of university spin-offs generated. However, in qualitative terms (such as growth employment, turnover, etc. the approach could be improved.
including education, vocational educational training, self employment, assistance to all forms of start-ups, not only those connected with
reduction in university attendance, declining from 14.7 percent in 1997/8 to 12.2 percent in 2007/8
developing a culture of entrepreneurship at all levels of the education system: primary, secondary vocational and tertiary
The region also recognises the role of universities in this respect; the Andalusia Innovation and Modernisation Plan (PIMA) and the Research, Development and Innovation Plan of Andalusia
PAIDI) include a set of actions designed to encourage entrepreneurship in universities. The above is a
primary school, secondary school, VET institutions and universities. This should not be restricted to a technologically-oriented view of innovation and
entrepreneurship. The high and rising levels of general and youth unemployment necessitate the harnessing of all ideas, talents, sectors, etc. for the future of the region
re) training programmes could be established using existing institutions, such as university faculties research centres, training centres, etc.
rather than establishing new ones. Moreover, the large number of people entering the unemployment register will require rapid retraining
by the new Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science and the Ministry of Education to develop
policies and initiatives at primary and secondary school levels. This process should also draw the VET
and university systems into the discussion, leading to integrated regional policy and support. The business sector should form part of the Working group, in defining policies, monitoring and
training and capacity building (all aspects of starting a firm; business planning (use of local business advisory service providers;
delivering training and support. This would be necessary prior to gearing-up for a new role:
universities and municipalities also implement their own business incubator programmes over and above those supported by the region.
for those with a good business idea from the university or the region ï Incubator stage:
levels of information, support, training, subsidies, etc. may inhibit their long-term competitiveness growth and innovation.
The region†s spin-off support is currently almost entirely focused on universities, as illustrated in
Learning models This part of the chapter will provide evidence from three learning models from EU countries that
can provide further illustration and support for the policy recommendations set out above The Entrepreneurship Action Plan for Wales:
vocational educational establishment, universities, etc. The Entrepreneurship Action Plan for Wales offers concepts which are suitable for replication by a large region such as Andalusia, subject to the
approaches to education and training, community enterprise, business start-ups, development funds and the many other areas for action which this strategy has embraced.
vocational educational training, employment subsidies, job creation schemes and self employment schemes targeting the registered unemployed. The policy has been successful in terms of uptake
entrepreneurship training, business plan, etc. as well as after initiation of activities (coaching mentoring, consultancy, etc Relevance to Andalusia and considerations for adoption
-employment through training, start-up grants, etc. The emphasis should be on allowing the potential entrepreneurs to determine the market need
Unlike the preceding two examples this learning model is not based on a concrete best practice
New graduate jobs per incubator p. a. 41 jobs 7 to 197 NA Cost per job (gross) â 4, 400 â 124 to â 29,600 â 4, 000 to â 8, 000
entrepreneur training, business support, financing and technology support ï Business incubators should be encouraged to periodically undertake impact assessments
Wolfe, D. 2010) University †Industry Collaboration, this publication CHAPTER V: SME DEVELOPMENT IN ANDALUSIA
support environment for the different types of SME before proposing a number of learning models that
most are recent graduates from an engineering or science background who might have the technical competences
collaborative culture of learning and knowledge exchange. A recent study that explored the type and
was a relatively high level of collaboration with universities and government research centres (30 percent) the level of collaboration with other SMES was much lower (19 percent), with a much higher
networks, through previous university or career experience. Existing policy agendas seeking to internationationalise these activities by developing links with foreign companies and universities
should be encouraged and extended How to identify ways of supporting the internationalisation of the SME sector
There are limitations to how much of a collaborative learning culture can be instilled on SMES from top-down initiatives imposed by regional government agencies
At the same time, regions that have been most successful in inculcating a better collective learning culture tend to be those that have developed sectorally based support organisations that can provide
knowledge, training and consultancy needs for SMES A good example of the latter, which has facilitated innovation in a traditional sector,
key firms on a planned basis to create close university-industry linkages to support innovation
where universities and public agencies are the main institutions through which the regional government is attempting to foster innovation
For example, dedicated training seminars relating to industry specific skills and expertise would be forums for boosting collaboration and trust
level of cooperative activities in agri-food sectors) to create †bottom-up†forms of collective learning
SMES and larger firms building more effective collective learning networks both within but also outside the region.
promote collective learning activities, though these are seen often as remote from most SMES because of their overt focus upon higher level forms of knowledge creation.
should be replaced by a flatter and more †negotiated†set of collective learning relationships, where
Learning models The Tuscan Model of Localised Quality in the Agri-Food Sector Description of the approach
/Dr Roberta Sonnino, School of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building King EDWARD VII Avenue, Cardiff, Wales, CF10 3w.
Professor Gianluca Brunori, Department of Agronomy and Management of the Agro-ecosystem Group of Agricultural and Environmental Economics, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto, 80-56124
Pisa, Italy. Email: gbrunori@agr. unipi. it Danish low-tech clusters and the †village economyâ€
Danish firms spend 2. 1 percent of their wage bill on training compared to1. 5 percent for The netherlands or 1. 8 percent in Germany (Maskell, 1988.
firms and 26 percent spin-offs from public research organisations such as universities Rationale for the intervention
from three of Scotland†s universities, led to the sector being prioritised as a strategic cluster.
internationally renowned universities working in the field of medical, life and biological sciences. The Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee,
and to a lesser extent Aberdeen have a long history and track record of research in these fields.
Additionally to the supply of ideas and concepts from university research, the Scottish universities have produced generations of well-trained graduates to service the life sciences labour market:
indeed Scotland produces a proportionately larger number of graduates from its universities than other parts
of the UK. The public health service has also been an important consumer for new and innovative
The academic community is part of a much broader global network of scientific knowledge and has been an important contributor to key global breakthroughs in
Consequently the loss of Scottish graduates to other places need not be a problem, and as many return to Scotland later in their careers, can be seen as an important part of
of training by SMES. To address this issue, the Scottish government recently introduced a Life Sciences Modern Apprenticeship scheme which provides subsidies for SMES to take on trainees
lessons for Andalusia which is similarly well provided with universities, although may lack the longer tradition of commercialisation of research and development of spin-off companies.
for Public Policy for Regions, University of Glasgow Brunori, G. 2005 Rural Strategy in Tuscany.
Cumbers, A. Mackinnon, D. Chapman, K. 2003) Innovation, collaboration and learning in regional clusters: a study of SMES in the Aberdeen oil complex.
Lorenzen, M. 1998 Specialisation and Localised Learning: Six Studies on the European Furniture Industry. Copenhagen Business school Press, Copenhagen
Madsen, P. K 2006 Contribution to the EEO Automn Review: Flexicurity in Denmark, European Employment Observatory, Working Paper, University of Aalborg
Maskell, P. 1997 Learning in the village economy of Denmark. In Braczyk, H. J. Cooke, P. and
Heydenreich, M. eds) Regional Innovation Systems. London, UCL Press Maskell, P. Eskelinen, H. Hannibalsson, I, Malmberg, A. and Vatne, E. 1998 Competitiveness
Localised Learning and Regional Development: Specialisation and Prosperity in Small Open Economies, London, Routledge Maskell, P. 1998 Successful low-tech industries in a high-cost environments:
Analysis. University of Edinburgh: Innogen Working Paper No. 16 Romero, I. and Javier Santos, F. 2007 Firm size and regional linkages:
Analysis. University of Edinburgh: Innogen Working Paper No. 16 Scottish government 2009 Life sciences Key Sector Report, Scottish government, Edinburgh
investments in R&d, improved tertiary education, fostered co-operation between industry and university, stronger entrepreneurship, etc
As a result, these themes have assumed top importance in the policy agenda of the regional
stresses the importance of business enterprise R&d (BERD) investments, industry-university technology transfer, and intermediate organisations such as technology centres and technology parks â€
ii) knowledge-generation organisations (e g. universities; iii) knowledge-transfer organisations (e g. technology centres; iv) system-management organisations (e g.
knowledge-based economy put a premium on education; as a result, the regional government should
seek to strengthen further participation in higher education; ii) the potential contribution of vocational education and technical skills to entrepreneurship and innovation is appreciated not sufficiently in the
region; iii) entrepreneurship education is still at an incipient stage, in spite of the wide offer of training
programmes for entrepreneurs The number of Andalusia†s people aged between 25 and 34 with university and post-compulsory
education degrees increased between 1998 and 2007 from 25.2%to 32.6%,with Spain moving over
the same period from 31.2%to 38.9%.%Despite this improvement, Andalusia universities have lost nearly 50 000 students over the 1999-2009 decade.
The boom of construction and tourism possibly explains this trend, as both do not require strong university competencies.
However, in the knowledge -based economy there are greater returns from higher education. College graduates make up 29%of the
employed population in the region, but only 15%of the unemployed. Conversely, unemployment among young adults (aged 16-24) with just a high school diploma stood at stunning 56%at the end of
2009. The recession has taken therefore a heavier toll on the youth with lower qualification than those
with tertiary education There seems to be also a significant divide between the regional innovation system and the
vocational education system. Being the current entrepreneurship and innovation strategies mainly based on the promotion of R&d and industry-university technology transfer, the regional government
is missing the possible contribution of vocational education to innovation through a more qualified and skilled workforce.
This is shown, for instance, by the fact that the ministry of employment is not actively involved in the design of regional innovation and entrepreneurship strategies,
although it is responsible for vocational education, self employment programmes, and even for some entrepreneur training schemes. A by-product of this divide is that workforce development is aligned not as with
cluster development as it could be. The Second Andalusia Plan for Vocational education, currently being prepared by the Ministry of Education,
is looking at closer co-operation with firms, and as part of this effort it should strive to bring workforce development in line with the sectoral priorities of the
region Entrepreneurship education is not as strong in the region as it could be expected, given the
emphasis placed by the regional government on entrepreneurship and business innovation. There is indeed a broad supply of entrepreneur training provided by a very heterogeneous array of actors
universities, technology centres, agencies such as ANDALUCIA EMPRENDEAND RETA), but this is largely ad hoc training dealing with specific aspects such as marketing, business internationalisation
ICT adoption, etc. There is a lack of programmes that tackle entrepreneurship in a more comprehensive and integrated way, looking at the broad set of skills that new entrepreneurs need to
start up and grow their business. The natural setting for similar programmes would be the university
but amongst the ten public universities of Andalusia only the University of Malaga has recently
established an elective entrepreneurship course that has, inter alia, poor attendance. The low take-up rate of this course may also flag that Andalusia†s entrepreneurial culture remains feeble, although the
regional government has spared no effort in its reinforcement over the last years Contribution of research organisations
The three key aspects with regard to the role of universities in the regional entrepreneurship and SME development system can be synthesised as follows:
i) Andalusia†s public universities are the largest beneficiaries of R&d funding, and have influenced significantly regional development
strategies, with some unintended consequences on the alignment between university research priorities and the region†s strategic priorities;
approach where university research commercialisation is pursued mainly through patenting and technology licensing; other forms of technology transfer are overlooked consequently;
room for strengthening linkages between university faculty and smaller firms, a niche in which RETA
Spanish average of 45.5%,public universities have been the primary source of R&d spending in the
This has entailed a privileged position for regional research universities, which have been able to influence significantly the strategic orientations of the regional government as regards R&d
of the academic community. In a similar scenario, synergies between R&d funding and industry development can be missed,
report prepared by the Andalusia Ministry of Education for the OECD underscores that there is not
enough coordination between the research strategies of public universities and the strategic goals of regional economic and innovation plans, bringing the example of the lack of Andalusia universities
prioritising research on biotechnologies, ICT or tourism, in spite of these being considered key sectors by the regional government.
The university research agenda seems rather driven by the interests of the research groups, which is the main academic unit of reference for R&d funding applications
The commercialisation of university research is pursued primarily by the Andalusia government through the regional network of Technology Transfer Offices (OTRI),
facilitating the relationships between local firms and regional universities. The OTRI network prioritises patenting, technology licensing,
commercialisation, and some important results have indeed been achieved, with the University of Seville producing 24 patents over the last year.
First of all, the University of Seville clearly takes the lion†s share in industry-university technology transfer, with half of private research contracts allocated to it (i e.
and Granada, the other regional universities have a very minor role in this activity. Secondly universities and their OTRI offices need to look beyond a mere intellectual property approach
Different studies, both from the US and Spanish contexts, suggest that the primary focus on intellectual property mechanisms is misplaced,
research contracts, collaborative research, training of human resources and supervision of graduates are also important modes of knowledge transfer that OTRIS should consider more than has done so far
Through less R&d-intensive forms of industry-university collaboration, the regional technology transfer offices will be able to reach out to a wider number of both faculty members and enterprises
especially those of smaller size that do not engage in R&d but that would still benefit from a stronger
collaboration with university (e g. through consulting In this respect, RETA could play an important role by building up together with OTRI a faculty
skills database that could be matched with the existing dataset of †innovative needs†of Andalusia
but explore the wider spectrum of industry-university collaborative options available Entrepreneurship and start-ups Andalusia innovation and modernisation strategies (i e.
training of participants, who are often unfamiliar with business management practices Incubators are one of the most favoured tools of business development promotion in Andalusia
and training Finally, while university spinoffs have received much attention, less has been given to corporate spinoffs. At the time of the peer review visit there did not seem to be many activities ongoing in this
area, but again the effects of the crisis might change the scenario and prompt more redundant workers
ministry of education should also be sought as the main government body responsible for vocational training in the region
questionable whether †clustering†has fostered a more collaborative culture of learning and knowledge exchange. Indeed, few firms appear to develop collaborations with other firms co-located in the same
and could indeed be matched with another database collecting the skills of university faculty members so as to ease knowledge transfer between HEIS and firms, including of small size.
The network of university technology transfer offices (OTRI) appears most suited to taking up this challenge together
with RETA To summarise, the work done by RETA over the last years should be capitalised, if anything to
Universities are being geared up to be conduits for knowledge and innovation in the new economy but as the OECD study reports, inappropriate class syllabi and the lack of awareness of
business training needs and of the importance of new technology, call into question the effective use
Students still tend to go outside of the Andalusian public university system for advanced business-related training,
and the experience of the University of Malaga†s entrepreneurship programme show how entrepreneurship courses in the region tend to go
undersubscribed. Balancing generic entrepreneurship development programmes with tailor-made initiatives aimed at Andalusia†s strategic sectors is imperative.
yet there is only one vocational training diploma in Andalusia included under the Energy and Water professional family.
Pursuing a twofold strategy in industry-university collaboration Universities face the usual conundrum of, one the one hand, enhancing their own research
capabilities to move up global university rankings which do not take institutional contributions to local economic development into consideration and, on the other hand, the need to make such a contribution
through close interaction with local businesses. Where the industrial base is characterised by few technology-intensive firms and advanced technology sectors like in Andalusia,
R&d activity focused on strategic growth areas and problem-solving or learning-oriented activities centred round the need for upgrading existing sectors could be given equal priority.
improving university capacity for research. The enhanced capabilities for university research can lead to regional universities being able to attract talent, both students and faculty, from elsewhere.
Such an objective should be realised as best as possible as it will help develop and draw in to the region a
greater pool of human capital. But an exclusive focus on such a strategy could be at odds with the
Universities may not be able to resolve these difficulties themselves and this is where careful planning of the work of
e g. collaborative learning and knowledge exchange) may have not been working in the region as well as hoped for.
Together with a diverse student body and the identification of entrepreneurial talent in that community, much could be achieved by way of
ï Link training programmes more effectively with sectors in order to improve firm productivity and innovation, especially in the traditional sectors that are Andalusia†s strengths
ï Refocus entrepreneurship education along the models of the best business schools, trying to attract immigrants and to exploit the advantage of Andalusia†s geographical location
ï Build (RETA and OTRI) an integrated database of faculty research and consulting skills to match the
ï Establish cooperative education programmes engaging university students in alternating work terms with study terms throughout their undergraduate degrees
ï Stay abreast of recent developments in technology parks and consider moving the Andalusian model towards a format in which research occurs in †clouds†that virtually link together distributed and light
ï Think of promoting corporate spin-offs as an alternative to university spinoffs with stronger industry and market knowledge
This will include involvement in future cooperative education programmes and retention of talented foreign students from local universities in technology parks
ï Ensure that best-practice policy principles are applied in local technology parks, including by strengthening the relationships of the latter with local universities
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