Communication within a national R&D-system: A study of iron and steel in Sweden

Abstract

Several studies presented during the past 15 years have demonstrated that universities and research institutes supply industry with ideas for innovations only to a very limited degree. Little is known of whether this is due to limited relevance of basic research for practical applications or a general lack of contact between the various sectors of the R&D-system. A sociometric study of contacts between Swedish engineers in the iron and steel field indicates that the contacts between industry, institutes and universities are not poorly developed. Most of the contacts that institutes and universities have with other organizations in Sweden are directed towards industry. This means that research institutes are needed only to a limited extent as an intermediary between the academic institutions and industry. On the other hand it was found that research institutes have a key position in many parts of the network by linking people from different industries. On the whole engineers have a positive attitude towards increased contacts with their collegues regardless of which type of organization or which country they belong to. This implies that engineers at the universities and institutes are perceived as relevant discussion partners by industry and vice versa. Therefore, measures should be taken to stimulate communication within this field on both national and international level.