Abstract
Background: Research universities in South Africa are well-recognised sources of new knowledge and their contributions to innovation are manifested through the creation, transfer and commercialisation of new technologies originating from academic research. Research collaboration between universities, industry and the community offer various benefits, which include funding for students and researchers and third-stream income for universities. Additionally, industry can gain access to new technologies to incorporate in improved products and services.Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the factors that encourage academic researchers’ involvement in technology commercialisation.Setting: The growth in university technology transfer in South Africa can be attributed to the South African Intellectual Property Rights from the Publicly Financed Research and Development Act (Act 51 of 2008). The establishment of Technology Transfer Offices at universities across South Africa, aims to involve researchers in commercialisation activities, champion the innovation conversation within universities and to progress innovations from concept to application in society.Methods: The study followed a positivistic research philosophy and a deductive approach. Researchers (n=38) in two faculties at the Nelson Mandela University participated in this exploratory study and completed an online survey. The respondents were selected through purposeful sampling. Results: The findings indicate that a combination of incentives is necessary to enable and to encourage researcher involvement in the commercialisation of research. A set of recommendations based on the findings and implementation suggestions are proposed.Conclusion: A combination of monetary and non-monetary incentives are required to enable academics’ involvement in commercialisation activities.
Highlights
Universities have traditionally been places of higher learning and research, where the dissemination of new knowledge was limited to producing new graduates and research publications (Rasmussen, Moen & Gulbrandsen 2006)
A definition of an entrepreneurial university is any university taking on activities to improve regional or national economic performance as well as the university’s financial advantage and that of its faculty (Etzkowitz et al 2000), which differs from the definition proposed by Baldini et al (2014), which is academic entrepreneurship, which encompasses formal and informal mechanisms to commercialise research
The terms are inter-related and the entrepreneurial university concept applies at the institutional level, whereas academic entrepreneurship refers to the activities and roles undertaken by individuals (Baldini et al 2014)
Summary
Universities have traditionally been places of higher learning and research, where the dissemination of new knowledge was limited to producing new graduates and research publications (Rasmussen, Moen & Gulbrandsen 2006). Universities are presently expected to play a distinct role in uplifting social and economic conditions through the direct transfer of innovative knowledge products and artefacts to the private sector (Bercovitz & Feldman 2006; Guerrero & Urbano 2019). To address this transformed role from a research university to a more entrepreneurial one and to emphasise the boldness of this progression, Etzkowitz (2003a:109) coined the term ‘entrepreneurial university’. The industry can gain access to new technologies to incorporate in improved products and services
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