Mikel Olazaran

Technology Transfer between Technology Centres and SMEs: Evidence from the Basque Country

Public policies (often at the regional level) favouring pre-competitive research and cooperative research and development have played a decisive role in the development of technology centres in Europe and all over the world. The technology offer model gave priority to the creation of technology transfer organizations and structures, but there is increasing evidence that this model did not attach enough attention to the needs of small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) and in particular, to their capacity to take in knowledge. In this paper, based on qualitative research, we show in detail some of the main issues involved in the relationships between technology centres and SMEs in the Basque Country, a region that has developed intensive policies favouring technology transfer organizations over the years.

Technology transfer in European regions: Introduction to the Special Issue

Regions can be considered as “regional innovation systems,” but the question of whether and to what extent technology transfer is taking place at this or other (e.g., national and global) levels remains empirical. The theme issue contains a number of case studies of “regional innovation systems” within the European Union. Other papers elaborate on the pros and cons of the systemic approach to the technology transfer processes involved, or make comparisons across regions. In this introduction, the editors discuss the relations between regional policies, technology and innovation policies, and the integration of these different aspects into (potentially regional) systems of innovation. Under what conditions can “technology transfer” be considered as a mechanism of integration at the regional level?

Regional Technology Policy and the Emergence of an R&D System in the Basque Country

The political changes of the late 1970s early 1980s opened up a process of devolution and decentralization in Spain which reached very important levels in historical regions such as the Basque Country and Catalonia. In the R&D policy realm, Basque government policies had an important impact in the emergence of a regional R&D system from stratch in a short period of time. The industry-oriented Basque model was also rather innovative in the Spanish context of the 1980s, which was dominated by public, basic science-oriented national research councils. In this paper we analyze the process of configuration of regional R&D policies in the Basque Country by looking at the interplay between structural factors, actors, interests, ideas, and institutions. We also look at the main achievements and shortcomings of those policies.

Vocational education–industry linkages: intensity of relationships and firms’ assessment

ABSTRACT Twenty years since educational reforms were implemented in Spain aiming at the modernisation of the vocational education system and at the improvement of its educational and developmental functions, relationships between education and industry have not been widely analysed. This study reviews the recent international literature on the topic and then looks at one advanced regional case within the school-based, Spanish vocational education context. Analysing data from a sample of 330 industrial firms from the Basque Country, binary logistic regression was applied in order to identify factors especially associated to the fact that SMEs have a greater or lower number of collaboration relations with vocational schools. We also examined the variables that have the greatest impact on whether firms assess vocational schools positively. Results indicate a strong association between intensity of relationships and positive assessment of vocational schools’ educational and developmental functions.

Making visible the role of vocational education and training in firm innovation: evidence from Spanish SMEs

ABSTRACT The interactive learning model argues the importance of incremental innovation, linked to production activities, and the role in that innovation of qualified workers – including those with a vocational training degree – in opposition to the supremacy of scientific personnel that tends to characterize high-tech industries. However, scarcely any attention has been paid to the role of intermediary workers in innovation processes. This study, based on a survey of 1142 Spanish industrial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), examines the degree to which technicians and employees with a vocational education and training (VET) profile are represented in these firms and their involvement in innovation activities. In order to identify the importance of the factors studied in a multivariate model, a binary logistic regression was performed with an index of VET workers’ participation as a dependent variable, segmenting the companies by technological level. The study shows that for sectors with greatest R&D intensity, the presence of VET personnel in technical posts and the existence of external co-operation in innovation were found to triple the probability of greater participation. In more low-tech sectors, these variables continue to exercise a strong influence, but the multiplier effect of another two has also been detected, specifically the innovative capacity of the company and a greater level of involvement of operators in organizational learning practices.

La relation entre le système éducatif et le système productif dans la formation professionnelle: (Le cas de la formation professionnelle au Pays Basque)

L’objectif de cet article est d’analyser la portee de la relation existant entre les centres de formation professionnelle (FP) et les PME industrielles de la Communaute Autonome Basque (Espagne). Pour ce faire, nous nous appuierons sur l’information diffusee, d’une part par les acteurs pertinents du systeme d’enseignement technique a travers les entretiens menes en profondeur, et d’autre part, par les PME industrielles moyennant une enquete. Les resultats obtenus indiquent que la formation professionnelle est un acteur majeur du Systeme Regional d’Innovation et qu’elle contribue, grâce a ses principaux champs d’activites (formation classique, formation continue et services aux entreprises), a ameliorer la competitivite des entreprises et favoriser ainsi leurs processus d’innovation.