Relational Strategies of Public Organizations to Stimulate the Diffusion of Knowledge in Innovation Systems

Studies of the innovation system Triple Helix have demonstrated how the interactions between industry, university, and public organizations spur the diffusion of knowledge. While we know much about the interactions between industry and university, our understanding of the role of public organizations is limited. This article focuses on how public organizations can stimulate the diffusion of knowledge. To do so, public organizations can use strategies that target the social structure of an innovation system that is modeled as social network and thus as web of inter-organizational relations. These relational strategies aim to intervene into the diffusion of the knowledge so that the aspired knowledge flow reflects both, the goal of research policies and the knowledge base of the innovation system. The relational strategies are detailed and illustrated focusing on industry-university interaction. Moreover, a flow chart for strategy selection is presented. Taking a sociological perspective of innovation systems and the interactions of the organizations it encompasses, this paper contributes to a better understanding of how public organizations can shape the knowledge base of an innovation system.