The Triple Helix

One of our most brilliant evolutionary biologists, Richard Lewontin here provides a concise, accessible account of what his work has taught him about biology and about its relevance to human affairs. In the process, he exposes some of the common and troubling misconceptions that misdirect and stall our understanding of biology and evolution.

A Triple Helix of university-industry-government interactions is the key to innovation in increasingly knowledge-based societies. As the creation, dissemination, and utilization of knowledge moves from the periphery to the center of industrial production and governance, the concept of innovation, in product and process, is itself being transformed. In its place is a new sense of 'innovation in innovation' - the restructuring and enhancement of the organizational arrangements and incentives that foster innovation. This triple helix intersection of relatively independent institutional spheres generates hybrid organizations such as technology transfer offices in universities, firms, and government research labs and business and financial support institutions such as angel networks and venture capital for new technology-based firms that are increasingly developing around the world. The Triple Helix describes this new innovation model and assists students, researchers, and policymakers in addressing such questions as: How do we enhance the role of universities in regional economic and social development? How can governments, at all levels, encourage citizens to take an active role in promoting innovation in innovation and, conversely, how can citizens so encourage their governments? How can firms collaborate with each other and with universities and government to become more innovative? What are the key elements and challenges to reaching these goals?

The triple helix of university–industry–government interactions is a universal model for the development of the knowledge-based society, through innovation and entrepreneurship. It draws from the innovative practice of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with industry and government in inventing a regional renewal strategy in early 20th-century New England. Parallel experiences were identified in “Silicon Valley,” where Stanford University works together with industry and government. Triple helix is identified as the secret of such innovative regions. It may also be found in statist or laissez-faire societies, globally. The triple helix focuses on “innovation in innovation” and the dynamic to foster an innovation ecosystem, through various hybrid organizations, such as technology transfer offices, venture capital firms, incubators, accelerators, and science parks. This second edition develops the practical and policy implications of the triple helix model with case studies exemplifying the meta-theory, including: • how to make an innovative region through the triple helix approach; • balancing development and sustainability by “triple helix twins"; • triple helix matrix to analyze regional innovation globally; and • case studies on the Stanford's StartX accelerator; the Ashland, Oregon Theater Arts Clusters; and Linyi regional innovation in China. The Triple Helix as a universal innovation model can assist students, researchers, managers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to understand the roles of university, industry, and government in forming and developing “an innovative region,” which has self-renewal and sustainable innovative capacity.

Theory and Practice of Triple Helix Model in Developing Countries contributes to the expanding literature on "triple helix" innovation - focusing on developing countries. The book is based on practical cases and experiences from Africa, Latin America and Asia. Relevant experiences and best practices from developed countries are also examined. The book is presented as a response to the growing awareness about the need for policy shift from the traditional technology transfer practice to a policy position that is capable of providing a sustainable basis for innovation and technological progress in developing countries. The book explores the triple helix system of innovation based on the dynamics of the interactive relationships between government, industry and universities in the creation, dissemination and sharing of knowledge in developing countries. A major point addressed by the book is the extent to which the ‘triple helix’ system of relationships between university, industry and government can enhance the effectiveness of universities in developing countries as agents of innovation, industrialization and sustainable development.

'Now you're over twenty-one and back from overseas, I've decided it's time to tell you something.'When Lauren Burns learns she is donor conceived she begins a turbulent journey to discover the identity of her biological father. Battling outdated legislation and a medical culture of silence, she enters a political campaign to pass world-first laws overturning decades of donor anonymity. She must also grapple with the radical rewriting of her history and sense of identity when she finally finds her biological father and discovers she's part of a well-known Australian family. Lauren's extraordinary story traverses the many moral and legislative dilemmas of assisted reproductive technology: the rights of the child and the donor, and the strange terrain to be navigated if and when the two parties ever meet. More than a memoir, Triple Helix is also a detective drama and a critical examination of the fertility industry. It will open eyes, hearts and minds to the complexities of donor-assisted conception from the other side of the crib.

This book is an authoritative confirmation of the critical role that knowledge plays in economic transformation. It is an indispensable roadmap for new research programmes and a guidepost for policy makers around the world. Calestous Juma, Harvard Kennedy School, US How to use and capitalize knowledge for the benefit of society has become even more urgent in the present financial and economic crisis. This book embraces the tensions inherent in the complex governance of research and innovation. It argues for strategies appropriate to the behaviour of complex adaptive systems in an evolutionary mode, thereby highlighting in a timely manner the necessary fit between organizational forms and the epistemological structure of knowledge in the overall context of a fertile investment climate. Helga Nowotny, European Research Council, WWTF Vienna Science and Technology Fund, Austria In the 21st century, economic and social development depends increasingly on knowledge rather than labour and capital. This book examines how knowledge is exploited through the development of innovations that yield economic and other benefits. The authors, who include leading figures from the field of innovation studies, look in particular at the growing links between universities, government and industry and the evolving triple helix relationship as they attempt to develop more effective means for capitalizing on knowledge. The book will be of considerable interest to policy-makers and to senior managers in industry and universities as well as to innovation scholars. Ben Martin, University of Sussex, UK In recent years, university industry government interactions have come to the forefront as a method of promoting economic growth in increasingly knowledge-based societies. This ground-breaking new volume evaluates the capacity of the triple helix model to represent the recent evolution of local and national systems of innovation. It analyses both the success of the triple helix as a descriptive and empirical model within internationally competitive technology regions as well as its potential as a prescriptive hypothesis for regional or national systems that wish to expand their innovation processes and industrial development. In addition, it examines the legal, economic, administrative, political and cognitive dimensions employed to configure and study, in practical terms, the series of phenomena contained in the triple helix category. This book will have widespread appeal amongst students and scholars of economics, sociology and business administration who specialise in entrepreneurship and innovation. Policy-makers involved in innovation, industrial development and education as well as private firms and institutional agencies will also find the volume of interest.

"Challenging, theoretically rich yet anchored in detailed empirical analysis, Loet Leydesdorff's exploration of the dynamics of the knowledge-economy is a major contribution to the field. Drawing on his expertise in science and technology studies, systems theory, and his internationally respected work on the 'triple helix', the book provides a radically new modelling and simulation of knowledge systems, capturing the articulation of structure, communication, and agency therein. This work will be of immense interest to both theorists of the knowledge-economy and practitioners in science policy." Andrew Webster Science & Technology Studies, University of York, UK ________________________________________ "This book is a ground-breaking collection of theory and techniques to help understand the internal dynamics of the modern knowledge-based economy, including issues such as stability, anticipation, and interactions amongst components. The combination of theory, measurement, and modelling gives the necessary power with which to address the complexity of modern networked social systems. Each on its own would partly illuminate an innovation system, but the combination sheds a far brighter light." Mike Thelwall Information Science, University of Wolverhampton, UK ________________________________________ "The sociologist Niklas Luhmann is considered one of the few social scientists possibly able to explain a decisive event once it has happened. In this book, Loet Leydesdorff answers the challenge to take Luhmann's analysis one step further by introducing anticipation into the theory. This book provides a fascinating exploration of the use of recursion and incursion to model social processes." Dirk Baecker Sociology, Universität Witten/Herdecke, Germany ________________________________________ How can an economy based on something as volatile as knowledge be sustained? The urgency of improving our understanding of a knowledge-based economy provides the context and necessity of this study. In a previous study entitled A Sociological Theory of Communications: The Self-Organization of the Knowledge-based Society (2001) the author specified knowledge-based systems from a sociological perspective. In this book, he takes this theory one step further and demonstrates how the knowledge base of an economic system can be operationalized, both in terms of measurement and by providing simulation models.