Stockholm - Friday 17th to Saturday 18th of June 2011. A conference that provides deeper understanding of the Knowledge Transfer concept and its implications to university management. See also Institutional size and performance, Montpellier - Friday 15th to Saturday 16th April 2011.
The need for innovation as booster of the European economy has been recognized for a long time. In many European higher education systems, this has led to expectations on universities to move from basic/curiosity driven/frontline research (a beloved child has many names) to research with applications closer linked to the market. A traditional approach in this respect is to establish “science parks”. Spin-off and spin-out of knowledge results from university in the form of a business in the market is a very visible sign of knowledge transfer. The concept of Knowledge Transfer today has broader implications. Society, more specifically the political system and industry, asks for better and faster access to knowledge from universities.
Knowledge Transfer is now understood to apply not only to inventions or research results but also to the flow of skilled staff to and from universities as well as the use of university education or training in the economy. Universities are not simply moving from purely curiosity-driven research to purely market/economic-driven research. As well as being driven by the need for higher education to boost the economy, increased engagement with business and industry is also driven by the need for universities to diversify and to make their income streams sustainable, in part in order to have greater autonomy. But engagement with business and industry could further influence the content of our taught courses only when we find better ways to understand the needs and demands (not always the same thing) of employers on what skills and attributes they want graduates to have.
Knowledge Transfer is about inventions, the dissemination of research results, the movement of skilled staff and the use of HE training in business through continual professional development; but Knowledge Transfer could also be about being relevant to society and about engagement with regions and communities to influence social policy. All this has consequences not only for the supply of research results and study opportunities delivered by universities. More responsibilities also fall on higher education institutions when it comes to matching competences provided with the needs and expectations of society. Needs, expectations and demand don’t always coincide.
These developments will influence the planning and development of university research and education stronger than we may be expect.