Business-science cooperation on innovation activities in bioeconomy industries: BIOEAST countries case

LTLiteratūros apžvalga atskleidžia, kad verslo bendradarbiavimas inovacijų srityje tampa vis svarbesnis inovatyvumui. Yra daugybė privalumų, tokių kaip augantis efektyvumas, geresnis įmonės įvaizdis, darbuotojų pasitenkinimas, geresnė finansinė padėtis ir kiti, kurie atskleidžia bendradarbiavimo svarbą. Tačiau egzistuoja kliūčių, trukdančių bendradarbiauti tarp įmonių ir akademinių institucijų. Paminėtinos tokios kliūtys: finansavimo trūkumas, kultūriniai skirtumai, skirtinga motyvacija, biurokratija ir kt. Empirinė analizė atskleidė, kad įmonių bendradarbiavimas su universitetais ar kitomis aukštojo mokslo institucijomis vykdant inovacinę veiklą skirtingose visiškai ar iš dalies biologinėse BIOEAST makroregiono pramonės šakose nebuvo aktyvus. Rumunija ir Bulgarija atsilieka nuo kitų BIOEAST šalių visų rūšių bendradarbiavimo srityse, o Kroatija ir Slovėnija yra lyderės pagal verslo bendradarbiavimą. Raktiniai žodžiai: bendradarbiavimas, BIOEAST, inovacijos, įmonės, universitetai.

ENBusiness cooperation in the field of innovation is becoming an increasingly important feature of innovation activity. It has a high value due to contribution to global development and competitiveness. The importance of cooperation on innovation activities depends on many factors, such as the number of partners, common interests and others. It is also worth mentioning that the process of cooperation is affected by globalisation, technological changes and preferences (Jaklič, Damijan, Rojec, Kunčič, 2014). As Trąpczyski, Pulecki and Staszków (2018) stated, firms are forced to improve their innovativeness due to more complex process of product development and the demand for innovative products or services. However, the potential of investments on research and development (R&D) can be successfully exploited when enterprises cooperate with universities or other research institutions. Innovation, knowledge and learning together are called key elements of economic development (Stejskal, Mikušová Meričková, Prokop, 2016). BIOEAST is a central and Eastern European initiative for knowledge-based agriculture, aquaculture and forestry in the bioeconomy. This political initiative started in the Visegrad group countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) and later few other countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania and Slovenia – joined this initiative. All eleven countries that participate in this initiative are collectively referred to as the BIOEAST countries club. This club is unique in that the countries within it take cooperative action to achieve synergies and improve performance. The sustainable development of various industries related to the bioeconomy requires a strong focus on research, innovation and cross-border cooperation and BIOEAST countries are working to meet these requirements (BIOEAST, 2021).Research object: enterprises cooperation on innovation activities. Research goal: to analyze business-science cooperation on innovation activities in fully or partly bio-based industries of BIOEAST countries. Research problem: how enterprises collaborate with universities and other research institutions on innovation activities in different fully or partly bio-based industries of BIOEAST countries? Research methods: literature review, comparative analysis. This paper is organized as follows: theoretical background about the cooperation of business with other institutions on innovation activities is introduced in the first part. In the second part business cooperation activity in different fully or partly bio-based industries of the BIOEAST countries club is analyzed. Finally, main conclusions are presented. This article is prepared based on the results of BIOEAST project Advancing Sustainable Circular Bioeconomy in Central and Eastern European countries (BIOEASTsUP) H2020, Grant Agreement number: 862699 – BIOEASTsUP – H2020-RUR-2018-2020/H2020-RUR-2019-1.