HYBRID R&D FORMS OF THE INNOVATION ENTERPRISE

Hybrid organizations have become increasingly central to university-industry technology transfer efforts in all regions that hope to harness technological innovation as a generator of entrepreneurial development. Finland, for example, has added a new “third mission” to the 2002 statutes on universities which creates incentives for direct contributions to the nation, and its economy in university-industry R&D. In Hawaii, a few firms have adopted an ICT-infused form of industry-based R&D that could serve as a model to other economic regions, like the Baltic Sea Region; and it could also help policy makers understand how local and global policies can build bridges that shape an environment that is conducive for hybrids. In this research-in-progress paper, our empirical analysis focuses on the ways in which hybrid R&D organizations have leveraged their information and communication technology expertise to "tech-up" other members of their collaboration network, and to increase their ability to derive the R&D resources from public and private research funding agencies that sustain their hybrid form. We use institutional theory concepts to examine the dynamics of academia-industry relationships in the Baltic Sea Region, particularly in Finland, and to combine these observations with findings from a qualitative study that focuses on high-tech firms in Hawaii.