Innovation Intermediation in Technology Transfer Systems
Summary
Innovation intermediaries are organisations and individuals that facilitate the transfer of technology and knowledge between research institutions and commercial actors. They operate within technology transfer systems to bridge gaps among universities, research centres, industry, government and civil society. Their functions include brokering partnerships, managing intellectual property, providing funding advice, orchestrating collaborative R&D and enabling diffusion of innovations across sectors and regions. Intermediaries encompass technology transfer offices, incubators, science parks, accelerators, open innovation platforms and specialised brokers. Their activities support the translation of scientific discoveries into marketable products and services, with a growing emphasis on sustainable and responsible innovation. In a globalised economy characterised by complex innovation ecosystems, intermediaries navigate regulatory frameworks, cultural differences and diverse stakeholder objectives to create value and foster socio-economic development. The evolving landscape of digitalisation, sustainability imperatives and the convergence of emerging technologies has prompted intermediaries to adopt novel roles—such as orchestrators of multi-actor networks, boundary spanners across knowledge domains and facilitators of circular-economy solutions—thereby enhancing resilience and inclusivity in technology transfer processes worldwide.
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Innovation Intermediation in Technology Transfer Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in innovation intermediation in technology transfer systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Innovation intermediation: The facilitation of knowledge, resource and technology exchange among research, industry and other stakeholders.
Technology transfer system: A network of processes and organisations dedicated to moving innovations from conception to commercial or societal application.
Open innovation: A paradigm emphasising purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation and broaden markets.
Boundary spanner: An actor who connects disparate organisations or knowledge domains, enabling collaboration and information flow.
Knowledge broker: A specialised intermediary that identifies, acquires and disseminates knowledge to support innovation activities.
References
- Innovation intermediaries' types and functions: A computational analysis of the literature. Technological Forecasting and Social Change (2023).
- Innovation intermediaries at the convergence of digital technologies, sustainability, and governance: A case study of AI-enabled engineering biology. Technovation (2024).
- Innovation intermediaries revised: a systematic literature review on innovation intermediaries’ role for knowledge sharing. Review of Managerial Science (2022).
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