A experiência gaúcha de parques científicos e tecnológicos à luz da tríplice hélice

Abstract

The triple helix, a model of innovation system for the regional development, has become popular in the academic community and in governmental bodies; it has being widely used as reference for establishing public policies in order to foster CT&I activities. In contrast, it has arisen much criticism regarding the argument of it being a generic, descriptive and insufficient inadequate model, due to the complexity of contexts and specific environments. Scientific and technological parks, in turn, are acknowledged as environments which hold a high concentration of activities that involve interactions among university, government and company. Peculiarities and local context characteristics of institutions involved become determiners for the origin of parks, which constitute in different manners, hindering the possibility of replicating models to new enterprises. The State of Rio Grande do Sul, which is considered one of the main poles of innovation in Brazil, has fifteen (15) parks certified by the Programa Gaúcho de Parques Científicos e Tacnológicos (PGTEC) [Gaúcho* Program of Scientific and Technological Parks], it is responsible for hosting four hundred (400) companies and generating around nineteen thousand (19,000) jobs. Two of these parks have obtained four times the prize of best scientific and technologic park by Anaprotec, in 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2014. This thesis aimed to analyze the constitution trajectory of the scientific and technological parks of Rio Grande do Sul in the perspective of the triple helix. As methodological procedure, it was used the qualitative approach with interpretative character as well as descriptive and explanatory outlining. The method used, case study, and research strategy, oral history thematic, has counted on semi-structured interviews, non-participative observation and analysis of documents as evidence source. It was used the data analysis technique to analyze the content, categories defined a posteriori, with the help with assistance of the software QSR NVivo Version 10. Tecnopuc, Tecnosinos, Valetec, UPF Parque, Tecnovates, Tecnounisc and 25 interviews were used as analysis units. The main results reveal a number of elements, events, which preceded and influenced the constitution of the parks and originated different models with particular characteristics. As suggested by the triple helix model, it was possible to analyze the role played by the university, government and company, all of them treated as analysis categories. It was also possible to identify a new element as determiner in the constitution of parks, represented by the leadership category; political, corporate and university leaderships which have contributed to the emergence of the parks through a leadership process. Treated in this thesis as a new dimension of analysis to the triple model, leadership is considered the result of empirical, spontaneous, and endogen development (constituted in a period of twenty (20) years, from 1994 to 2014) of the governmental programs of the Tecnopoles of Porto Alegre and RS. And it was also found in the university community a favorable environment for fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, capable of creating and developing the necessary conditions to the deployment and consolidation of the scientific and technological parks which were analyzed.