Benchmarking Industry-Science Relations
Benchmarking Industry-Science Relations
The project investigates interactions between science and industry, taking into account the influence of institutional parameters, incentives and barriers, R&D structures in firms and research establishments, public funding and infrastructure. Core to the approach was identifying examples of good practice in industry-science relations. It emerged that benchmarking can only be applied to a limited extent because of the complexity of the phenomena in question. The focus on structures was elaborated via a cross-country comparison (Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Italy, Spain, Ireland, the USA, Japan), with a view to determining how to set institutional parameters more efficiently. This is important because the transfer of knowledge and technology is highly dependent on a country’s structural parameters. Structures that aim to build up direct, personal contacts proved the most effective for promoting interaction.
