University-industry links

Establishing and strengthening links between the university system and other parts of society, especially the economy, is a policy goal in almost all countries to enable industry to make better use of existing and new know-ledge, build technological capacity, focus research efforts on problems of economic and social relevance and ease the mobility of trained and educated people.

Like all innovation surveys, the Norwegian survey tends to show that universities and institutes are not the main source of the information firms use in innovation, and this is also largely true for the information embedded in patents (Table 2.8). However, the proportion of firms co-operating with the public research infrastructure, especially the research institutes, is much higher than the OECD average.

Table 2.8. Number of patents from the public R&D base Patent applications to the Norwegian Patent Office, 1998–2003

Year Colleges Research

institutes Universities Public R&D

base (A) Total number

of patents (B) Percent A/B

1998 14 38 58 110 1 291 9%

1999 9 34 82 125 1 338 9%

2000 10 54 69 133 1 406 9%

2001 13 59 80 152 1 275 12%

2002 10 71 86 167 1 267 13%

2003 9 54 48 111 1 161 10%

Source: NIFU STEP and Norwegian Patent Office.

Figure 2.14. Proportion of HERD funded by industry, 1981 and 2005

0 5 10 15 20 25

Slovak Republic Czech Republic Mexico Portugal Italy France Denmark Ireland Japan Austria United Kingdom Norway United States Sweden Poland Australia Total OECD Finland EU Netherlands Spain New Zealand Canada Switzerland Greece Belgium Iceland Hungary Germany Korea Turkey

1981 - or nearest available year 2005 - or nearest available year

Source:OECD Main Science and Technology Indicators, 2007.

Figure 2.14 shows the proportion of HERD funded by industry in a range of countries. The proportion of HERD funded by industry in Norway is similar to that in the United States and marginally below the OECD average. These statistics are, of course, affected by an inadequate definition of HERD, (it is often a somewhat notional amount ascribed to a proportion of the block grant).

According to the 2005 RCN indicators report, industry funded roughly NOK 350 million of the research in Norwegian universities but also pro-vided NOK 1.4 billion (22%) of the institute sector’s income. Norwegian industry spent in excess of NOK 700 million on research at universities and institutes in 2004. On any measure, therefore, Norwegian data on industrial funding of HERD significantly understate the interaction between industry and the knowledge infrastructure as a whole. In Norway, as in other countries, companies work with universities and institutes for different reasons. The knowledge involved in institute interactions is normally much closer to market and may relate to a critical path in R&D, while university interactions tend to involve longer-term, more speculative knowledge, development of human capital and recruitment of skilled labour.

RCN’s user-directed R&D activities are the major promoters of indus-trial links with the knowledge infrastructure, especially with the institutes.

These have recently been complemented by the creation of a regional innovation centre scheme – the Norwegian Centres of Expertise (NCE) programme owned by Innovation Norway – and a competence centres scheme – the Centres for Research-based Innovation (CRI) (Box 2.5).

As indicated above, the universities and university colleges have been linking up with industry via technology transfer offices (TTOs) and using existing infrastructure such as incubators and science parks. These include:

x Tromsø Science Park Ltd., Tromsø.

x Trondheim Innovation Centre Ltd., Trondheim.

x Leiv Eriksson Innovation Ltd., Trondheim.

x Bergen High-Technology Center Ltd., Bergen.

x Rogaland Science Park Ltd., Stavanger.

x Campus Kjeller Ltd., near Oslo.

x Oslo Research Park Ltd., Oslo.

x Ås Science Park Ltd, Ås.

Box 2.5. The Norwegian Centres of Expertise and the Centres for Research-based Innovation Norwegian Centres of Expertise (NCE)

This programme is targeted at specialised business clusters with profitability potential to promote the development of internationally competitive businesses and industrial centres. It was launched in 2006.

The specific content of the NCE programme was developed by the three business support agencies: Innovation Norway, SIVA and the Research Council of Norway. Co-operation and co-financing between the business support agencies, the regional partnerships and the industrial centres ensures that this programme is to be a long-term effort, strengthening both the regional and national innovation system.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development finance the programme. In 2006, the ministries granted NOK 35 million to the six NCEs that had been appointed. Today there are nine NCEs and the 2007 budget is NOK 50 million.

Centres for Research-based Innovation (CRI)

The Centres for Research-based Innovation (CRI) scheme targets the research-intensive part of the Norwegian business sector. The main objective is to enhance the innovative capability of the business sector by forging close alliances between research-intensive enterprises and prominent research groups for long-term research projects. Participation by foreign companies or research institutions is welcome.

A centre’s host institution can be a university, a university college or a research institute, or an enterprise with strong research activity. In addition to generating relevant research, increasing co-operation among various research centres and disseminating technology, the scheme emphasises the education and further qualification of researchers.

The Executive Board of the Research Council decided on 15 June 2006 that 14 of the applicants would be invited to establish centres and these are now starting up.

A centre is financed for five years, with the possibility of a three-year extension. Co-financing by government authorities and private businesses is a prerequisite. Several businesses and research institutions can be accommodated in a centre.

The total budget allocation from the Research Council for the 14 existing centres under the CRI scheme will amount to NOK 1.12 billion over an eight-year period. Each centre will receive an allocation from the Research Council of roughly NOK 10 million a year and the host institution and partners must contribute at least as much as the Research Council. Formally, the Research Council's share is financed by yields on the Fund for Research and Innovation.

The science parks have traditionally been service organisations and real estate managers. Now, however, their role as incubators and assistants for innovation is increasingly important. Many parks have their own commerciali-sation units or companies, and they are often local representatives for the FORNY programme.

A bridge needs a foundation at both ends, so building linkages requires technological capacity in industry as well as in the knowledge infrastructure.

While there is a strong set of linkage instruments in place, there appears to be scope to strengthen the PhD cadre in industry. A business PhD scheme similar to Swedish and Danish programmes has recently been established.