CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

In the globally and knowledge based economy, the universities and other knowledge organisations are valued for their ability to contributeto the regional innovation processes. This is particularly relevant for the developing countries in South America since their R&D spendingis highly concentrated on the public knowledge infrastructure. However, there are few studies examining the role of knowledge organizations atregional level in Latin America. The proposed study aims to analyse the role played by knowledge organisations in the formation of a high-techRegional Innovation Systems in Argentina. This country has a number of attractive features relative to the positive evolution of its R&D spendingand the recent implementation of a policy that promotes cooperation between firms and knowledge organisations among high-tech sectors. Asevidenced in developed regions, the organisations under study play a key role in the promotion of a high-tech Regional Innovation Systems. However,this prominent role is not based on those local factors identified in the literature, such as organisational and institutional local assets, but onnational science and technology policies and individual initiatives conducted by the faculties involved.