Everyone surely owns an innovative product that has its roots in a university lab, or knows someone that has benefited from the presence of start-ups that formed through the dissemination of knowledge and technologies from the university to the marketplace. Universities have been the lifeblood of many vibrant economies, such as Silicon Valley, whose engine is Stanford University. A key question, therefore, is whether we are maximizing the positive economy-wide impact of these engines for knowledge, innovation, jobs and competitiveness.
Several testimonies and studies suggest the answer to that question is
negative. For example, Krisztina
Holly, vice provost for innovation at the University of Southern
California and former founding executive director of MIT's Deshpande
Center for Technological Innovation, recently wrote for CNN: “Currently,
the federal government is investing nearly $50 billion a year on
university research -- yet barely a dime on university programs to help
translate the most promising ideas into new businesses and employment
opportunities. That's like turning up the water pressure but never
opening up the faucet.”
To read the full, original article click on this link: Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship | The Untapped Potential of Research Universities
Author: Jonathan Ortmans
