14 TECH MONITOR z Jan-Feb 2007 Special Feature : The Triple Helix Model for I nnovation The triple helix model of innovation a University-industry-government interaction Henry Etzkowitz, James Dzisah, Marina Ranga and Chunyan Zhou b I n a knowledge-based society, university, industry and government have equal roles and form a triple helix in stimulating innovation. A stable regulatory framework is a necessary but not sufficient condition. The transformation of a university from a teaching to a research and thence to an entrepreneurial institution is vital. Govern- ment must help to support the new developments through changes in the regulatory environment, tax incentives and provision of public venture capital. I ndustry takes the role of the university in developing training and research, often at the same high level as universities. I f knowledge-based industries are lacking, university-govern- ment interactions can help jump-start their creation; if they are present, they can help expand their growth. This article outlines a comparative analysis of the emer- gence of an entrepreneurial university. Prof. Henry Etzkowitz Chair, Management of Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise James Dzisah Marina Ranga Newcastle University Business School Room 10, 5th Floor, Ridley Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK Tel: 0191 5498; Fax: 0191 8638 E-mail: Henry.Etzkowitz@ncl.ac.uk Dr. Chunyan Zhou B-131, 1-1 Beihai Street Dadong District, Shenyang City P. R. China 110044 Tel: (+ 86-24) 8833 5339 E-mail: alice1082@hotmail.com superseding the firm as the primary source of future economic and social development. Interaction among university, indus- try and government is the source of the origination and/or the development of incubator movements, interdisciplinary research centres and venture capital, whether private, public or social. These organizational innovations are as im- portant to the flow of innovation as tech- nological advances. This university, industry and gov- ernment as relatively equal interdepen- dent and interacting institutional spheres is the basis of a triple helix society. c The emergence of a double helix of government-industry relations - a bi- W I ntroduction e are moving towards a new way of using knowledge in the economy - there is a shift from the “hands off” linear model to an “assisted” linear model of innovation, with initiatives taken by triple helix co- alitions. 1 In a knowledge-based society, the university attains equal status with gov- ernment and industry, the two leading institutional spheres from the 18th cen- tury, moving from its role as a second- ary supporting institution into a primary institutional sphere. The university is in- creasingly central to discontinuous in- novation in knowledge-based societies, Special Feature : The Triple Helix Model for I nnovation