A new role for leading universities in emerging economies: Building the local capabilities to develop knowledge-based STPs

The building of local knowledge-based capabilities is a central issue in the development of Science and Technology Parks (STPs). Whether universities should assume an active role in building these capabilities has received a great deal of attention in the last few years. Several scholars propose that leading universities have to balance traditional roles in teaching and basic research with new societal demands involving the creation of suitable conditions for the growth and development of the regions where they are located. Based upon dominant perspectives in the literature on university-industry linkages, the present study analyzes the role of UNICEN, an Argentine publicly-funded university, in creating the conditions that gave rise to a successful software-based STP in the relatively small city of Tandil, in Buenos Aires Province. The case provides evidence of the entrepreneurial role that a university can play as a central actor in the start-up phase of developing a STP.