Publication: La información en los parques científicos y tecnológicos y el papel de las bibliotecas universitarias
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2015-12
Defense date
2016-02-05
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Abstract
Los parques científicos y tecnológicos (PCyT), así como los viveros de empresas que pueden o no formar parte de ellos, son agentes que desempeñan un papel relevante en el proceso de innovación y que fomentan el acercamiento entre la universidad y la empresa. Potencian, a través de sus programas de incubación, la creación de empresas de base tecnológica (EBTs) y les ofrecen un conjunto de servicios de valor añadido, entre los que en ocasiones se encuentran los de información. Las EBTs se conciben como proyectos empresariales donde el negocio es la I+D+i y cuyo activo principal es el conocimiento.
En este entorno, donde la innovación cobra especial relevancia y se extiende a todos los procesos, las universidades desempeñan un nuevo rol, su denominada ‘tercera misión’ que integra la trasferencia de conocimientos hacia el entorno social, entre sus objetivos. Pero, para lograr prestar su contribución a la sociedad no basta con una declaración de intenciones, sino que se requiere que todos sus recursos disponibles estén en constante interacción.
El vínculo con la universidad y la posibilidad de acceder a sus recursos, en especial a las bibliotecas y laboratorios es una de las razones que motivan a los emprendedores a insertarse en un parque, de ahí que constituya una de las facilidades que estas instituciones intentan ofrecer a sus empresas incubadas. Sin embargo, la realidad señala que estas relaciones no siempre tienen lugar.
Por esta razón el propósito de la investigación desarrollada ha sido conocer cómo se lleva a cabo la gestión de la información en las empresas incubadas en los PCyT y en qué medida participan las bibliotecas universitarias en la misma. El análisis realizado ha permitido definir algunas propuestas que fomenten la colaboración de las empresas incubadas, teniendo en cuenta las principales tendencias nacionales
e internacionales.
En su realización se estudiaron tres segmentos de parques científicos y
tecnológicos: los españoles, los brasileños y los miembros de la Asociación
Internacional de Parques Científicos y Áreas de Innovación (IASP). En el caso de
los dos primeros el estudio consideró tanto a empresas incubadas como a los
responsables de los parques objeto de estudio y a los de las bibliotecas relacionadas
con ellos a fin de obtener una visión integral del proceso, desde quien proporciona
los servicios hasta quien los recibe. En el caso de España se incluyó además a los
responsables del área de vigilancia tecnológica. Por su parte, en el caso de los
parques IASP solo se tuvieron en cuenta los responsables de los parques y de las
bibliotecas de las universidades relacionadas, dado que las políticas de estas
instituciones no siempre permiten divulgar la información de las empresas
incubadas.
El reducido tamaño de las muestras de los tres segmentos objeto de estudio no
permite generalizar los resultados obtenidos en la investigación, ya que se
constituyen como estudios de casos. No obstante, su valor radica en ser una primera
aproximación al análisis de la labor de las bibliotecas universitaria en la gestión de
la información que llevan a cabo las EBTs.
Sin lugar a dudas, queda mucho por hacer para que en las EBTs se genere una
verdadera cultura organizacional que promueva la gestión de la información y la
creación de conocimientos que apoyen de forma efectiva los procesos de
innovación de sus empresas incubadas y que contribuyan a que estas logren ventajas
competitivas. Pero en este proceso puede resultar de gran utilidad, el que las
bibliotecas universitarias transformen su forma de ver a los empresarios incubados
y los asuman como parte de sus propios usuarios, al tiempo que estrechen lazos de
colaboración con los PCyT.
Science and technology parks and the business incubators they may include have a role to play in the process of innovation, bringing the university closer to businesses. Their incubation programs promote the creation of technology-based companies, offering value adding services which may include information management. These companies see their business as research, development and implementation, and their activity as fundamentally knowledge-based work. In this environment, where innovation is especially important in all processes, universities can play a new role, their so-called “third objective”: to transfer knowledge to the society around them. But a declaration of intent is insufficient to achieve this goal: it requires that their available resources are actively used. The connection to universities, and the ability to use their resources, in particular libraries and laboratories, is one motive for entrepreneurs to base themselves in a park, hence one of the facilities that parks try to offer their incubated firms. However reality shows that these relationships do not always come to fruition. Hence the research proposal, to learn how information management is done in incubated firms within Science and Technology Park, and to what extent university libraries participate. This analysis has led to some proposals to foment collaboration between university libraries and Spanish Science and Technology Parks to support the activity of incubated firms, taking into account important national and international trends. Three groups of Science and Technology Parks were studied: those in Spain, those in Brazil, and members of the IASP (International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation). In the first two groups, the incubated firms, as well as the Parks' management and associated libraries were considered, to give a complete perspective, from those who provide as well as those who receive services. In the Spanish case those responsible for technology watch were also studied. For IASP parks only the parks' management and their associated libraries are studied, as information on companies they incubate is sometimes confidential. The small sample sizes militate against over-generalizing the results, instead offering case studies. Nonetheless they are valuable as a first analytical approach to the role of university libraries in information management for technology-based companies. There remains much to do before technology-based companies' organizational culture promotes information management and knowledge creation which effectively support innovation within incubated firms, contributing to the development of competitive advantages. Within this process, it can be very useful for university libraries to rethink their view of incubated firms, to treat them as first-class library users, while tightening their collaborative links with Science and Technology Parks.
Science and technology parks and the business incubators they may include have a role to play in the process of innovation, bringing the university closer to businesses. Their incubation programs promote the creation of technology-based companies, offering value adding services which may include information management. These companies see their business as research, development and implementation, and their activity as fundamentally knowledge-based work. In this environment, where innovation is especially important in all processes, universities can play a new role, their so-called “third objective”: to transfer knowledge to the society around them. But a declaration of intent is insufficient to achieve this goal: it requires that their available resources are actively used. The connection to universities, and the ability to use their resources, in particular libraries and laboratories, is one motive for entrepreneurs to base themselves in a park, hence one of the facilities that parks try to offer their incubated firms. However reality shows that these relationships do not always come to fruition. Hence the research proposal, to learn how information management is done in incubated firms within Science and Technology Park, and to what extent university libraries participate. This analysis has led to some proposals to foment collaboration between university libraries and Spanish Science and Technology Parks to support the activity of incubated firms, taking into account important national and international trends. Three groups of Science and Technology Parks were studied: those in Spain, those in Brazil, and members of the IASP (International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation). In the first two groups, the incubated firms, as well as the Parks' management and associated libraries were considered, to give a complete perspective, from those who provide as well as those who receive services. In the Spanish case those responsible for technology watch were also studied. For IASP parks only the parks' management and their associated libraries are studied, as information on companies they incubate is sometimes confidential. The small sample sizes militate against over-generalizing the results, instead offering case studies. Nonetheless they are valuable as a first analytical approach to the role of university libraries in information management for technology-based companies. There remains much to do before technology-based companies' organizational culture promotes information management and knowledge creation which effectively support innovation within incubated firms, contributing to the development of competitive advantages. Within this process, it can be very useful for university libraries to rethink their view of incubated firms, to treat them as first-class library users, while tightening their collaborative links with Science and Technology Parks.
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Keywords
Parques científicos, Parques tecnológicos, Empresas, Bibliotecas universitarias