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O-009Interaction Between the University and Industry in the Aim to Build a RegionalEnvironment for Innovation: A Survey About the Perception from IndustryAndre Ferreira, Marcelo Amaral, Pitias Teodoro, Maria Leopoldi, Universidade Federal Fluminense - UFF, BrazilThe emergence of a knowledge society has attracted the interest of governments, entrepreneurs and academics to buildinnovation spaces, able to capture opportunities and take actions to leverage the economic and social development fromknowledge creation and its conversion in innovative products and services. Among these barriers can be cited: (i) a low propensityof Brazilian companies to invest in innovation, according to PINTEC, the official data survey about technology investment andinnovation (IBGE, 2009), (ii) a lack of institutional structure within universities to foster interaction between academics and localcompanies (RAPINI, 2007) and (iii) a low knowledge and use of legal framework and mechanisms to finance innovation, as taxsubventions. In addition to internal issues, the institutionalization of networks among stakeholders in the construction of innovationspaces is a slow process and often there are no consistent or enough efforts for its establishment.In this context, this article is part of a research project to analyze the contribution of a public research university, located outsidethe main cities of Brazil, to the innovation and development of its region of influence. The case studied is the Regional Campusof the Federal Fluminense University (PUVR-UFF), in the city of Volta Redonda, located at the Middle Valley of Paraíba River,in the south of the State of Rio de Janeiro. This is a strategic region in geographic and economic terms, because is in the middleof the two major economic centers of the country, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The region comprises large industries such asVolkswagen Trucks, Peugeot Citroën, Saint Gobain, Votorantim and Steel Company Nacional - CSN, the largest steelmaker inLatin America, and a wide park of small and medium-sized companies with a strong vocation for metallurgy and, recently,services. The region has 851,982 inhabitants in 13 municipalities.Created in 2005, as a part of the government program to expand the university system, PUVR-UFF is composed by two schools(engineering and human and social sciences) and in 2009 it has 116 members in the faculty staff, 70% with PhD, and 1,500students. It is expected to achieve 5,000 students and 260 professors in 2012.In the first stage, the research was conducted with the faculty staff in the end of 2008 and the data highlights that 47.5% of itsmembers have had some kind of interaction with businesses and 91% of respondents agreed that academics from publicuniversities can be engaged in such kind of activities. There is not any evidence to consider PUVR-VR as an entrepreneurialuniversity (ETZKOWITZ, 2008), but there is great potential to interact with companies placed in the region. The key instrumentto foster the relationship could be the creation of an institutional infrastructure to manage adequately the linkage buildingprocess (FERREIRA et al, 2009).In the second stage, the research is focused on the companies located in the area of influence of PUVR-UFF. The data wasobtained from a survey with managers of the companies selected and the findings are presented in this article. The nonstatistical companies sample was mounted based on a random selection of companies, with at least 50 employees, andmanagers. The sample represents the diversity of industrial segments in the region with the prevalence of industrial companieswith respect to services companies. Semi-structured interviews, organized in three blocks, were realized to check if the companydid some kind of interaction with the university in the last 3 years and characterize the interaction level. The perception ofmanagers about the barriers and facilitators was also checked as well as the involvement of the companies surveyed ininnovative activities, based on the PINTEC indicatorsThe sample data allow to conclude that is close to zero the level of interaction between universities and companies in theRegion of Middle Valley of Paraíba River. The few activities founded are essentially in consulting and training. One possiblereason to explain it is the short lifetime of PUVR-UFF and the absence of institutional arrangements in the both sides toencourage the interaction. About technology and innovation, investments from companies are low, under the national level, whatwas a surprise due to the relevance of industrial sector from this region in the country. Otherwise, interviewed people manifesteda positive curiosity with respect to the potential rewards of this partnership what can be an opportunity to develop cooperationactivities in the way to improve the development of innovative products, processes and services.References- ETZKOWITZ, H. KLOFSTEN, M. The Innovating Region: Towards a theory of knowledge based regional development. ResearchManagement 35, 3, 2005.- ETZKOWITZ, H. The Second Academic Revolution and the Rise of the Entrepreneurial University. IEEE Technology andSociety Magazine, Summer 2001.- ETZKOWITZ, H. The Triple Helix: University-Industry-Government innovation in action. New York: Routledge, 2008- FERREIRA et all. The Insertion of the Public University in the Process of Innovation and Regional Development - A CaseStudy in Brazil, 2009.- IBGE. Pesquisa Industrial de Inovação Tecnológica 2008. Ministério do Planejamento, Orçamento e Gestão. Rio de Janeiro,2009.- MALHOTRA, N. K. Pesquisa de Marketing: Uma Orientação Aplicada. 3ª. Ed. Porto Alegre: Bookman, 2001.- RAPINI, M. S. Interação Universidade-Empresa no Brasil: Evidências do Diretório dos Grupos de Pesquisa do CNPq.Estud. econ., São Paulo, v. 37, n. 1, p. 211-233, janeiro-março 2007.- TIGRE, P.B. Gestão da Inovação: A Economia da Tecnologia no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Campus, 2006.Madrid, October 20, 21 & 22 - 201097