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Triple helix in developing countries - issues and challenges*

Mohammed Saad a; Girma Zawdie b
a
Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol b David Livingstone Centre for
Sustainability (DLCS), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Online Publication Date: 01 November 2008

To cite this Article Saad, Mohammed and Zawdie, Girma(2008)'Triple helix in developing countries - issues and
challenges*',Technology Analysis & Strategic Management,20:6,649 — 652
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/09537320802426267
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09537320802426267

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 Technology Analysis & Strategic Management
Vol. 20, No. 6, November 2008, 649–652

EDITORIAL

Triple helix in developing countries – issues

and challenges∗
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This special issue aims to highlight the issues and challenges associated with the ‘triple helix’
strategy for promoting innovation and learning societies in developing countries. It explores
the triple helix model of innovation based on the dynamics of interactive relationships between
government, industry and universities in the creation, dissemination and sharing of knowledge
which forms the basis for sustainable economic growth and social development. Also considered
is the need to strengthen the capacity to generate, apply, adapt and disseminate knowledge in
developing countries. The key questions addressed in this special issue relate to the ways in
which such capacity can be strengthened; the role of universities in this context; and the issues
and challenges associated with the development of the triple helix system in developing countries.
The seven papers discuss triple helix experiences in a wide range of countries from Africa,
Asia, Latin America and Europe. In the first paper, Etzkowitz and Dzisha argue that the triple helix
approach can provide a framework for rethinking of socio-economic development as knowledge-
based and not resource-based; endogenous and not exogenous; university-led rather than state-led;
and based on triple helix interaction rather than on single or double institutional effort. This task,
as suggested by Etzkowitz and Dzisha, can be accomplished through the development of an
entrepreneurial university and the circulation of elites across the university–industry–government
nexus. Circulation, which is seen as the foundation of development, can help achieve quick and
effective learning. This can establish the basis of new forms of collaboration and interdisciplinary
knowledge production which can enable the university to have a new role and become directly
involved in social and economic development. Realisation of this new role would, however, require
major organisational and cultural transformations both within and between each of the triple helix
spheres.
These transformations are also examined in Kruss’s article, which focuses on the post-1994
triple helix relations in South Africa. The paper notes that the legacy of past social and organ-
isational forms have remained in the face of the changing and dynamic roles and interactions
within and across each of the three institutional spheres of the triple helix model. Traditional
forms of partnership such as donations and sponsorships are, for instance, co-existing with new
and emerging entrepreneurial and network forms, such as commercialisation, incentivisation and
networks. There is also some evidence of the adoption of new organisational and institutional

* Corresponding author. Email: mohammed.saad@uwe.ac.uk

ISSN 0953-7325 print/ISSN 1465-3990 online

© 2008 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09537320802426267
http://www.informaworld.com
 650 Editorial

mechanisms and of the capacity to harness the potential of research for innovation. In conclu-
sion, Kruss recommends a strategic balance of old and new forms of partnership across more
institutions, taking into account the diversity of university contexts, knowledge fields, industrial
sectors and technology platforms. However, two challenges are highlighted. The first is to take
into account the complexity and diversity of distinct university contexts, knowledge fields, indus-
trial sectors and technology platforms. The second challenge is to proliferate and sustain new
organisational forms of partnerships more widely and with greater depth within and between the
university, government and industry.
Nwagwu’s paper explores the relevance of the triple helix approach to universities in Africa
using a case from Nigeria. The paper focuses essentially on the contextual factors and constraints
which militate against the adoption of entrepreneurial role by the Nigerian university and shifts
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towards the triple helix paradigm involving interactions between the university, industry and
government. Nwagwu describes a pessimistic but realistic perspective in which many African
universities seem to be operating in a context which could make the triple helix implementation
impossible to achieve. The constraints, though complex and difficult as a challenge, are not
impossible to remove, at least in part.
Ranga, Miedema and Jorna’s paper offers some useful recommendations aimed at helping com-
panies and universities to strengthen their collaboration and enhance their capacity to exchange
knowledge and develop innovation. The authors present in their paper the results of a recent
exploratory study aimed at enhancing the innovative capacity of small firms in the northern
Netherlands, a region lagging behind the rest of the country in terms of economic growth and
innovative capacity. The objective is to examine and identify any best practice related to the
capacity of the triple helix perspective to help address the poor transfer of knowledge between
the university, industry and government, and hence better contribute social and economic devel-
opment. The main difficulties existing in this northern Netherlands region are very similar to
those featuring the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in many developing
countries. In addition, the local university is at an early entrepreneurial stage and its interactions
with the industry are very limited. This poor collaboration is found to be the result of poor (or
even lack of) communication and information about the collaboration opportunities offered by
government and knowledge institutions. The main recommendations include the need to estab-
lish a dialogue and consolidate trust among the three institutional spheres and the need for the
university to strengthen its entrepreneurial policy and role.
Kirkland’s paper also addresses the role universities can play in economic growth and the dra-
matic increase in the uptake of university research management systems in recent years. These
systems can provide a balance between the needs of institutions to meet their obligations, and
the ability of academics to determine the best ways for conducting their research to better satisfy
the requirements of the external environment and industry. Research management can play an
important role in ensuring that universities contribute effectively to economic growth and social
development. The extent to which universities are actively engaged in research management activ-
ity varies substantially from country to country. Even in developed countries where entrepreneurial
universities are actively involved in research, innovation and social and economic development,
there is recognition that robust systems and procedures were developed only during the last
20 years. Thus, the process is rather new and by no means complete.
The development of such systems in African universities is still at its infancy. Recent inves-
tigations carried out by the Association of Commonwealth Universities demonstrate growing
awareness of this among the universities themselves, and that support has been received from a
range of international donors to address the problem. However, this has not yet succeeded in the
 Developing Countries – Issues and Challenges 651

creation of significant and sustainable long-term structures at institutional level. The main conclu-
sions of this investigation suggest that developing countries are becoming increasingly aware of
the challenges of research management. However, its effective introduction is still lagging behind
for the same reasons as those identified by Nwagwu as major inhibitors to the triple helix model.
Malairaja and Zawdie’s paper is an attempt to examine the effectiveness of science parks
as a strategy to promote university–industry collaboration in Malaysia. The paper is based on
the premise that companies collaborating with university usually have higher productivity rates
than comparable companies that do not have such links. These companies are often better off in
terms of market share, quality of products and services and cost competitiveness. Thus, the link
between firms and universities, which forms the key feature of an entrepreneurial university, is
considered fundamental to the concept of science parks. Co-location of firms in a science park
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facilitates and encourages networking and collaboration, and can foster transfer of knowledge
and innovation. Science parks thus provide an environment that assist firms to develop their
technological and innovative capabilities. Through science parks, universities are increasingly
engaging in entrepreneurial and business activities. Science park firms are generally expected to
be more knowledge-based and to conduct more research and development activities than off-park
firms apparently because of the close interaction with local universities. The findings show both
Science Park (on-park) and off-park firms having a reasonably high level of interaction with local
universities. However, science park firms have more links with universities than off-park firms,
although the difference is not shown to be statistically significant. Universities have established
various mechanisms to facilitate links with industry, especially in the area of technology transfer
and commercialisation of research results. However, these links are still affected by constraints
such as insufficient funding, greater focus on teaching, lack of common purpose, dominance of
foreign direct investment in the critical areas of manufacturing.
The paper by Datta and Saad suggests that the recent success of India in the domain of out-
sourcing of services can be explained through the triple helix paradigm albeit in a manner that
does not conform strictly to the existing triple helix notions. The paper addresses the importance
of social ties between key actors involved in offshore outsourcing. The focus of this paper is on
inter-organisational actor networks that span different geographical locations and are central to
the explanation of the success that India has enjoyed in the field of export of knowledge intensive
services. The paper looks at how the triple helix theory can be adapted to understand India’s
success in export of services. By integrating the triple helix thesis with the social capital theory,
the paper offers a holistic explanation of India’s success in outsourcing services. The role of social
capital is highlighted here as a resource used by firms to cope with such uncertainties and more
specifically to search for potential exchange partners.
In India’s case, the first variant of the triple helix model known as ‘statist’ is the model that
perhaps illustrates most accurately the nature of inter-relationships between university, industry
and the government from the period between 1947 and 1991, with government being predominant
over the other two spheres. Things changed in the early 1990s, when India, faced with a financial
crisis, made a series of economic reforms that liberated the industry to a large extent from the
influence of the government. The relationships between the government and the university and
the industry followed a pattern closer to the ‘laissez-faire’ and ‘hybrid’ models. The triple helix
has been found to be particularly useful in explaining the growth of the knowledge base of a
society and this holds true for the emergence of India as a service provider of knowledge intensive
services. However, in a developing country context, when there is a large scale emigration of
skilled labour, the enquiry of relevant networks needs to be extended beyond the geographical
space bounded by nation states. The physical or virtual return or circulation (as discussed in
 652 Editorial

Etzkowitz and Dzisha’s paper) of this skilled labour is seen as the foundation of development
that can help achieve quick and effective learning. Integrating the triple helix thesis with network
analysis that extend beyond national boundaries can provide a more comprehensive account of
the production and exchange of knowledge that is currently being witnessed in India.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the triple helix system ascribes a greater role to the
university in the creation, dissemination and utilisation of knowledge. It is therefore important
that the system under which universities in developing countries operate is liberalised enough to
enable them to be entrepreneurial, risk taking and innovative. This, as suggested by Kruss, can be
achieved through a combination of old and new ways of doing things in order to accommodate
the realities of local institutions, contexts and priorities.
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Mohammed Saad
Bristol Business School,
University of the West of England, Bristol

Girma Zawdie
David Livingstone Centre for Sustainability (DLCS),
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow