SMEs and the new role of academic research: Case Norway

Abstract

The main aim of this report is to explore the changing relationship between academic research and small and middle-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Norway. The focus is on this country’s policies and institutions (formal and informal) that are designed to promote the commercialisation of academic research and/or knowledge exchange between SMEs and universities. This national report provides an overview of the current interaction between the university sector and the large population of Norwegian SMEs (the ‘U-SME relationship’), it describes the instrumental regulatory and institutional factors that shape the U-SME relationship in Norway, and it discusses relevant policy-measures with an eye to further improving the relationship. It complements the national reports of other Nordic countries in a project supported by the Nordic Industrial Fund (2002-2003).