The University-Driven LISs

Theoretical conceptions of the role of universities in local innovation systems have evolved over the past 20 years, from an initial approach that stressed the importance of knowledge spillovers from university educational and research activities into their regional knowledge spaces, towards a new emphasis on the “third role” of universities, as animators of regional economic and social development. However the typical conception is that universities and research centres in developing countries take little part in stimulating the formation of LISs, with this mission instead being substituted by the state or large companies. This chapter analyses the role and the mechanisms through which universities can contribute to creation of LISs, first from a theoretical point of view. The theoretical arguments are then supported by an analysis of the role of the National University of Singapore, in driving the development of the “Biopolis” biotech LIS.