Revista Brasileira de Inovação (Feb 2015)
Reasons, benefits and difficulties of the university-industry interaction
Abstract
The article analyzes the reasons, benefits and difficulties of university-industry (U-I) interactions. It was conducted a survey research that investigated interactions of computer science knowledge area of Rio Grande do Sul in 2013. The results show that the main reasons and benefits for universities are classified as intellectuals, whereas for the firms are proactive reasons and innovation benefits. Regarding the difficulties, the two groups of respondents highlighted the interest and institutional factors. To go beyond “points of interaction”, as suggested by the literature as a characteristic of the U-I interactions in Brazil, it is necessary not only quantitatively expand the number of interactions, but also increase the quality of relationships, referring to the understanding that these influence directly in the activity of generating knowledge and innovations. The issues raised in the survey demystify the idea of universities as “ivory towers” and firms as passive actors.
