University-industry linkage to develop innovation - case of a private university and entrepreneurs in the city of Encarnación

Abstract

The National Council of Science and Technology-Paraguay, in its white paper, initially considers the Sábato Triangle as a linkage model, however, in Paraguay there is little evidence of linkage between the State, the productive business sector and the universities. That is why, in this work, the following objectives were proposed: to identify the innovations developed by entrepreneurs when carrying out the different linking activities in the university, to measure the level of perception of these to detect needs regarding university actions and the sense of membership in collaborative networks. For this, the questionnaire was used as a method, structured in 21 closed questions and applied to entrepreneurs in the city of Encarnación. The results obtained were: that two groups were formed, in the first activity 8 entrepreneurs with links (students and graduates) participated; and the second activity was made up of 7 unrelated entrepreneurs (external companies). At the end of the project, the same questionnaire was applied to measure the impact produced by participation, and evidenced significant changes in the strategies of the four types of innovations. In conclusion, the activities allowed joining university contact networks, but external entrepreneurs have not had the same intention. The measurement of the actions carried out during the project reaffirms the need to define clear structures, linkage policies and a monitoring system with feedback that allows improving linkage actions.