International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development - Volume 7, Issue 3, 2008

New directions in universityindustrygovernment interactions are taking place in Latin American countries. The idea that the university should play an economic role is a relatively new one. The articles in this special issue deal with issues involved in establishing the groundwork for this new academic role.

This article presents a discussion on the development of the activities of science, technology and innovation (S&T&I) in Cuba after 1959, the experiences gained and the challenges to face. The main topics to be discussed are: the different periods of this process and its main characteristics; the role of government and other innovation actors; the S&T&I planning and managerial model prevalent at different moments; the effects and outcomes of the fall of the European Socialist countries and the different measures taken to overcome the difficult situations encountered. Several case studies are presented: the development of biotechnology for medical purposes, and some results experienced in the basic industry sector. Some general conclusions are drawn, and some challenges and perspectives identified.

This article presents a comparative analysis of the intellectual property rights regimes pertaining to plant breeding activities in Brazil and Argentina, highlighting the main differences and similarities, as well as the impacts of these regimes on the respective national seed markets. Different policies adopted by public agricultural research organizations in the two countries (INTA in Argentina and Embrapa in Brazil) have had different impacts on the constitution of their seed markets: Argentina's market is now much more concentrated and dominated by multinational companies than Brazil's, which is more competitive and diversified.

This article presents the results of a case study of a university research group in basic science, the Laboratory of Enzymology and Free Radicals at the Universidad de la Repblica, Uruguay. The study explores some of the research dynamics and rationales within the university setting. It also analyses the relationship between science and society based on the links between the research group and the productive sectors. The study noted that research groups are not always stable structures and tend to change according to institutional policies, economic contexts, disciplinary evolutions and personal motivations for research. In this regard, the article contends that the expansion of research capacities on a developing country university setting can be based on integrated strategies of research organization, group management and symbolic rewards for researchers.

Mexican businesses are organized in a highly complex system, comprising an enormous variety of associations that group individual firms according to sectors and geographical lines of division. These associations may constitute an efficient means of support for the construction of knowledge networks benefiting their members. We analyze academicindustry relationship in which business associations (BAs) of different types participate in order to explore the connection between different institutional settings and knowledge network development. We argue that the structure of BAs is a key factor in their ability to sustain networking. It is, therefore, possible to speak of structural advantages or disadvantages as regards the building of triple helix relations.