Abstract

In the last years a broad debate has spread on the role that the University could play in order to strengthen the firms' competitiveness. Three main branches of studies have developed: i) The analysis of the trade-off between open science and the use of IP rights by academic researchers; ii) the Triple Helix model focused on the interactions among University, Industry and Government; iii) the study of the growth of the academic entrepreneurship. A clear disagreement appears regarding the setting of the boundary between public research and market needs. The degree of importance to assign to commercial knowledge splits the academic community. In the knowledge-based economy R&D comes out from the narrow industry boundaries. Once, in order to develop a product it was necessary to gather from knowledge coming from separated fields. In this sense, the knowledge built up in our Universities represents a still unexpressed and highly innovative potential, that, if well organised and structured, could relaunch national firms competitiveness.