SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PARKS AS VECTORS FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION IN ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

Amid the notable increase in entrepreneurial activities in the academic field and, consequently, the need to explore various entrepreneurial domains, the central theme of this research was the characterization of a science and technology park as a co-participant of a local innovation ecosystem. To identify the main aspects relating to the perceptions of the ecosystem about the science and technology park located in an entrepreneurial university through qualitative action research, this study carried out a three-stage survey, the first of which used a form that sought to capture the perceptions of the actors in this ecosystem, namely economic impact, social impact, technological impact, and educational impact. In a second phase, in-depth interviews were carried out, in which six respondents were selected based on convenience and their degree of involvement in regional innovation and entrepreneurship processes in order to represent the various influence groups and, through their previously revealed perceptions, collect potential suggestions for improvement and possible actions to be adopted by the park's managers as a mechanism for improving management. In the last phase, a matrix of priorities was used to identify the criteria for the park's management to take action to improve its performance. In conclusion, the results indicated, among other actions, that there is a need to establish shared and professional management, combining public and private sector managers to attract new companies and expand their presence in this ecosystem.