Diagnosis of the market for ideas and the role of industrial associations as intermediaries in the Brazilian context

Abstract

Markets for technologies and ideas depend on the flow of knowledge and technology from one company to another or from universities and research institutes to industry. These markets are driven by the process known as open innovation. In recent years, the literature has emphasized the need to analyse the market for ideas through its constituent parts. The concept of technology and knowledge intermediaries is relatively new and has not yet been well defined. This article focuses on specific types of intermediaries in an attempt to enrich the conceptual framework of this knowledge domain and to identify the influences of variables at various contextual levels. The article focuses on the role of industrial associations as intermediaries connecting companies with other innovation system agents. By assessing the content of their respective websites, the authors compare the approaches of selected industrial associations in Brazil with counterparts in other countries. In doing so, they find differences between the two groups in mindset and attitudes to university–industry interaction. On the basis of their analysis, they diagnose shortcomings in the Brazilian context that need to be addressed if the country is to be competitive at the global level in terms of innovation and the effective exploitation of research.