Normative change in science and the birth of the Triple Helix

Abstract

A process of normative change in academic science makes spin-off entrepreneurship compatible with the advancement of knowledge. A parallel process of normative change in industrial science produces a creative tension between organizational and scientific goals that enhances the attainment of both objectives. The creation of hybrid organizations mediating between university–industry and university–government brings these institutional spheres into closer contiguity. The emergence of triadic interactions and ‘taking the role of the other’ among university–industry–government in the transition from an industrial to a knowledge economy may be seen as a conscious innovative stream rather than a chance evolutionary event.