A study on the relations between university, company and government in a university technological park in the interior of the state of São Paulo

Abstract

University-Business-Government cooperation, also known as triple-helix, has been identified as the most effective way to integrate the corporate and academic world, encouraging innovation projects that support regional technological development. Faced with the recent dismantling of the public funding system for academic research in Brazil, many Universities have advanced in their strategy of partnerships with companies, in the search for guaranteeing resources to maintain their research activities. This work sought to identify the expectations of representatives of each axis of the triple-helix in a scenario of scarcity of public resources, through a case study in a University Technology Park in the interior of the state of São Paulo, which involved interviews with managers the University, the government and companies. The information collected in the research shows that bringing Universities and Companies closer together is, above all, a survival strategy for both sides. A strategy supported and fostered by the State, by directing specific policies and resources towards strategic actions of interest to the nation. Amidst a political scenario that points to the retraction of the State's role as a provider of public resources for research, this apparently irreversible movement draws a new scenario for science and technology in the country, with the increasing presence of the private sector, which is leaving the role of client or demander of technologies and innovations generated in the predominantly public research infrastructure of the country, to occupy the leading role in technological development.