The innovative grant of university–industry–research cooperation

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to make government usage of technology research grants more efficient and to evaluate how to use university–industry–research cooperation to promote industrial innovation in Taiwan.Design/methodology/approachThis case study aims to use the triple helix model and other references to develop indicators which can estimate the performance of university–industry–research cooperation in Taiwan. The study selects three facets: “(prior) mechanisms,” “(in-progress) regulations” and “(post-hoc) operations” to find out the critical indicators contributing the final outcome. The study found that a successful university–industry–research cooperation requires the following factors: strengthening review methods for the mechanisms; its relationships of rights and obligations; policy needs in regulations; and plan incentives in operations.FindingsIt is recommended that, to promote university–industry–research cooperation in Taiwan, resource distributors and program management units should not only continue program application incentives and strengthen interdepartmental resource integration, they should also consider the establishment of a fair, just and open review mechanisms, and they should enhance the relationship between the rights and obligations of university–industry–research cooperation.Originality/valueThe study of this program includes application review before, during and after the program, management examination and performance evaluation to formulate recommendations as reference points for resource distributors and grant recipients. And because of industry–university cooperation being the main way of research and technology development, the findings and suggestions of this study may also be helpful for other grant systems in the world.