Enhancing the Role of Universities in Building National Innovative Capacity in Asia: The Case of Taiwan

SummaryTaiwan has already demonstrated how a Newly Industrializing Economy can build an export-oriented manufacturing system driven by catch-up strategies linked to knowledge leverage via public institutions. In the 1990s, Taiwan moved toward building its innovative capacity, and in the 2000s it is drastically upgrading the role of universities in providing fundamental R&D, in acting as incubators of new, knowledge-based firms, and in building the country’s innovative potential through IP protection and commercializing activities. This study examines how these new approaches are being implemented in three universities, in National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), National Tsing Hua University (NTHU)—both located in the Hsinchu high-tech belt—and National Taiwan University (NTU) located in the Taipei metropolitan area, as well as in the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). ITRI has been the engine that drives Taiwan’s technological upgrading, and continues its role through new emphases on patenting and entrepreneurial technology transfer.