26th International Association for Management of Technology Conference - IAMOT 2017

The innovative capacity of a country or region is conditioned by the result of the relations between economic, political and social actors, with local cultural and institutional conditions (CASSIOLATO, LASTRES, 2008). In Brazil, such capacity depends on which region occurs and how the National Innovation Systems (NIS) policies are managed. Interrelated institutions that contribute to the development of innovations (ALBUQUERQUE, 1996; PLONSKI, 2005; STAL, 2006) compose the NIS. The parties interconnection provides the development of mutual skills. When there is a relationship between industry, universities and government, the innovation is strengthened (PORTO et al., 2011). This kind of relationship is based on resources allocation and infrastructure development, from the government to other parties (TOLEDO, 2015, p.337), what is the fundamental state of NIS constitution (CASSIOLATO, LASTRES, 2005). The use of knowledge and its incorporation into new production systems depends on this stimulus. Although the developing economies NIS, such as Brazil, occurs from developed economies practices, their actions can be elaborated to encourage the creation of new markets and to take advantage from technological innovation aimed at social change. In this context, the Social Innovation (SI) can be inserted comprehended as innovative activities and services that are motivated by social need and are predominantly diffused through organizations with social objectives (MULGAN, 2006). A technological focus and a future orientation may lead to the development of technologies for social and business application, because scientifically and technologically developed countries transform the society, in search of welfare, quality of life and progress. In this sense, this study emphasizes that university-industry (U-I) cooperation can allow integration of social, environmental and technological factors to the development of SI to the benefits of society. This way, U-I cooperation could allow the SI promotion and diffusion, making improvements in the social conditions of developing economies population. The study has a conceptual approach. Studies about U-I cooperation, SI and their relationship were searched. A single study (Benneworth and Cunha, 2015), connecting the themes, has been identified. It discusses that universities contribute to social process of social innovations by identifying and looking for ways to solve social problems. In the NIS, U-I cooperation is an instrument for social change, because of its innovations and technologies. This change comes from high social impact innovations which can improve quality of life: the Social Innovation. If innovation is a social process, that involves people communicating and sharing ideas (TIDD; BESSANT; PAVITT, 2008), the development of social innovations is allied to this perspective. People can interact to transform their reality to promote quality of life and social insertion. This way, it was identified a gap in the literature: the studies focus on the characteristics, barriers, instruments and mechanisms about U-I cooperation, but it does not include the SI perspective. This type of study could be researched to propose specific and proper structures to promote SI. A profitable field of research in this area was observed.