Title: Universities as cornerstones in science, technology and innovation ecosystems

Authors: Yunus Çengel

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Adnan Menderes University, Aydin, 09010, Turkey; University of Nevada, Reno, USA

Abstract: Knowledge, technology and the related infrastructure play a central role in a country's economic growth and global competitiveness. The two critical components of the science, technology and innovation (STI) infrastructure are education and information and communication technologies (ICT) that facilitate innovation and economic growth. The higher education institutions constitute an important part of this STI infrastructure by educating and training new generation to meet future demand by knowledge-intensive industries for high-skilled workers. No economic policy is drafted and implemented without referencing R&D activities that result in the advancement of S'T. A key indicator for an economy's knowledge- and technology-intensive status is the share of knowledge- and technology-intensive industries' share of gross domestic product (GDP). This paper attempts to give an overall assessment for the innovation ecosystem, and the key role the academic institutions play in it.

Keywords: science technology and innovation; STI ecosystems; universities; R&D; research and development; knowledge economy; creativity; higher education institutions; HEIs; STI infrastructure; information and communications technology; ICT; economic growth; information technology; knowledge-intensive industries; high-skilled workers; gross domestic product; GDP; innovation ecosystems.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRIC.2017.082308

International Journal of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, 2017 Vol.1 No.1, pp.23 - 40

Received: 27 Sep 2016
Accepted: 27 Sep 2016
Published online: 18 Feb 2017 *

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