University Third Mission and Sustainable Development: An Exploration into Indian Academia' Environmental Sustainable Technologies Patenting Activity

Abstract

This study examines the universities committed efforts towards sustainable development under university third mission. We provide an exploratory study on innovation output as results of research towards sustainable development. The paper explores 930 Indian higher educational academic institutions' environmentally sound technologies patenting activity and their collaborations for almost past 14 years. Based on the patent application dataset of World Intellectual Property Organization's Patentscope database and green patent inventory, we identify trends, key players along with dominance area of invention filings and important players in collaborative network structure by using Openrefiine, Microsoft excel, Gephi for visualisation and analysis. Our results present the environmentally sound technological patent fillings are inferior, although overall filings have grown and only a small group of institutions are active in patent filings. We conclude the third mission's inclusion of research for sustainable developmental is evolving slowly, and that it requires more commitments.