University technology transfer offices in the post-covid-19 era

Abstract

This paper investigates how University Technology Transfer Offices (UTTOs) adapt to support those in need due to the COVID 19 pandemic. We argue that UTTOs can support social enterprises and innovations within the university, even though these do not always pursue commercial purposes or depend on intellectual property (IP). To realize our paper's main objective, we use the theoretical lens of dynamic capabilities to develop our arguments in a qualitative study among UTTOs located in the COVID-19 most affected countries in Europe, North America, and Latin America. We carry out qualitative research on semi-structured interviews with officials from UTTOs and experts in the domain of innovation, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship. We shed light on how university technology transfer offices understand, support, and promote commercial and non-commercial social innovations as well as entrepreneurial initiatives. Our findings suggest that universities' strategic vision and the intellectual property mechanisms available at UTTOs can be adapted to capture new forms of value brought to support social innovation and entrepreneurship to alleviate the pandemic catastrophic effects in society.