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University and entrepreneurship
- Establish rigorous academic programmes in entrepreneurship.
When resources allow it, universities should capitalise on the interest of large numbers of students from across the faculties to establish rigorous academic programmes in entrepreneurship that go beyond the relatively haphazard current approach using mainly informal workshops and seminars. Appropriate curriculum additions will help students be better prepared to seek capital and operate businesses in the real world. To progress further, the institutions should proactively develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set amongst professors and administrators.
- Introduce methods to monitor and evaluate programme impacts.
Processes should be designed and implemented to better monitor the economic and social impacts of educational and extracurricular entrepreneurship programmes at HEI. A systematic evaluation of such programmes would allow for measuring, assessing and steering the university's role and influence in a local or regional innovation system. Widening the target audience of university entrepreneurship education might enhance entrepreneurial attitudes and motivations of non-university entrepreneurs.
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Reduce barriers for professors and university staff to start businesses.
To capitalise on underexploited means of commercialisation universities should work to reduce university internal barriers to professors and researchers starting businesses and should, in the long run, provide incentives for professors to start businesses. Incentives might include reduced teaching requirements, equity in start-ups, and royalties from licenses to those start-ups.
- Increase attention on intellectual property issues.
HEIs should recognise the value of the intellectual property created as a result of their research, more aggressively protect that intellectual property, and pursue all possible means of realising the commercial value of that intellectual property.
- Promote high level innovation.
Existing good practice initiatives should be sustained and lessons applied to other industries. Brokering relationships between larger regional companies with latent intellectual property and SMEs with the capacities to use it should be seen as another potential route for stimulating higher level innovation. The smaller company could buy, licence or pay a commission for the intellectual property. The approach requires a specialised agency with in-depth technology and business awareness to scan for such brokering opportunities and to initiate and facilitate dialogue.
- Increase the focus on high-growth businesses and internationalisation.
Entrepreneurship education at universities should focus more on high-growth businesses and internationalisation. The goal should be to help reinforce a culture for entrepreneurship beyond self-employment. University educated entrepreneurs should be inspired to think more ambitiously about the potential of businesses they launch.
- Encourage university-industry linkages.
In general, local co-operation between HEIs and firms tends to be limited. Networking, however, can be facilitated by the existence of a co-ordinating organisation, which is considered by local companies as being impartial or at least enabling knowledge and know-how spill-overs. Universities are not usual interlocutors for local firms. Even high-technology and growth companies direct, in first place, a request for support or interaction to the Chambers. A closer co-operation, perhaps even on a formalised level, between the HEIs and the Chambers could therefore be useful to reducing the distance and barriers between the University and local enterprises.
- Exploit innovation through a wider group of firms.
The existing innovation infrastructure should be used more intensively to foster collaboration between HEIs and local companies of all sizes as well as with large companies located elsewhere but with relevance for the local value-chain. Multinational companies located locally or elsewhere represent an opportunity for local economies to accelerate and scale-up commercialisation processes because of their strong access to markets. Such links could help to test innovative products and services in market-like conditions and positively influence time-to-market relations. Attention should be paid to the protection of intellectual property when building value release strategies.
- Consider the establishment of business incubators.
Incubation centres can facilitate through the provision of appropriate premises and services the launch and development of new and small businesses. Incubators which include also pre- and post-incubation support are able to address the needs encountered at different stages of company development. The provision of post-incubation support might facilitate contacts and networking activities between previous and current incubator firms that are in different development phases. To ensure that the range of services provided matches with OECD best practice the opportunity for ‘twinning’ and regular experience sharing with successful and innovative incubators in other countries should be explored. It could be recommendable to conduct a study on the need and possible utilisation of such business incubators or technology centres. In case of insufficient local demand, possibilities to co-operate with existing facilities in the wider region should be considered.
- Increase international networking efforts.
Active involvement in international networks would help to contribute to the internationalisation of the local economy. It is important to expose leading university managers and policy makers to colleagues working in other jurisdictions and to establish working networks with the people involved. This could be tackled through active involvement in international networks of economic development practitioners such as the European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA), which is currently planning to launch a European network of universities and regions, the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in the US, the European Business Angels Network, and the National Business Incubation Association as well as the activities of the OECD LEED Programme.
- Further develop Alumni networks.
University Alumni networks should be made use of for university entrepreneurship activities. Access to regular information in the form of newsletters and mailing lists and the organisation of regular meetings on specific themes may help to maintain contact. The involvement of those Alumni that have become successful entrepreneurs could be a valuable contribution to entrepreneurship programmes in the university network.
International Learning Models
Good Practice in East Germany
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