INNOVATIVE UNIVERSITY PROGRAM (IUP) IN NICARAGUA: ACTIVITIES, PRODUCTS AND RESULTS

Abstract

The ten universities that comprise the National Council of Universities (CNU) in Nicaragua participated in a program (2007 to 2010) aimed at developing the role and contribution of universities in a process of innovation. The program was funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), and was based on action-learning, in which universities shared their experiences, skills, strategies and activities between them and with other key groups in the innovation systems. Chalmers University of Technology, through the foundation Stiftelsen Chalmers Industriteknik (CIP) was the Swedish counterpart, involving researchers from the school of technology, management and economics, and the Center for Intellectual Property studies (CIP). The program’s goals were of extreme importance for the development of the Nicaraguan Universities, and are similar to the challenges that universities in the world are facing at present. In search of improvement of innovative process at the universities, all the actors involved identified the following objectives: to develop the roles and responsibilities that the CNU and the universities have in the current and future system of innovation in Nicaragua, in partnership with other key groups; generate the policies to enable the University to include innovation in their mission and practices;to evaluate and improve the process of researchmanagement, including plans, designs methods, building relationships and management practices that will support the applicability and integration of research activities and results into society;to develop functions, processes and structures in the universities, that enable innovation and entrepreneurship be integrated into his vision and practices, particularly in the process of “ research to market”. Moreover, the entrepreneurial university program aims to: develop in depth the role and profession of the researcher, and the contracts and incentives to ensure the continued development of this professional group from a perspective of research and innovation; to develop an atmosphere and culture at the Universities (and the CNU) to encourage more transparency, cooperation and learning, by developing a more systematic and conscious approach, reflecting and sharing, to develop skills and strategies to protect and extract value from intellectual property, and train personnel at Masters level to develop local skills in the area of intellectual property and Intellectual Capital Management. This paper presents the actions taken, results and conclusions of the program.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/calera.v11i16.752

La Calera Vol. 11, No 16 p. 50-56/junio 2011