The Role of Universities in Innovation Ecosystem and Academic Innovation

Globalization, which is being felt more and more with the developing technology as days pass, has made institutions from education to trade face a competitive environment which is full of hardships. The most effective concept that stands out in terms of competition is accepted as “Innovation†. This concept defines a reformist, creative, dynamic and effective philosophy which can bring a solution to many fields such as universities, public enterprises, private businesses and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations). The aim of the study is to search for an answer to the questions related to the interaction situation between shareholders in innovation ecosystem, the collaboration of shareholders in terms of common purposes, the role and place of the universities in ecosystem, and the reflections of academic innovation in ecosystem. The questions prepared for the study with open-ended questions and Likert scale are sent to the academicians via e-mail who are chosen via cluster sampling method at 20 universities chosen randomly among 193 universities enrolled in YÖK (the Council of Higher Education in Turkey). The findings of this study are as follows; (1) the interaction between shareholders inside the innovation ecosystem is very weak, (2) lack of interdisciplinary studies, (3) the weakness in the formation of innovation culture, and (4) the concept of academic innovation is not sufficiently widespread. The study is limited to the academicians working at 20 universities which are chosen randomly. This study reveals the role of universities in forming innovation ecosystem and academic innovation culture from the perspective of academicians. Lack of an extensive study revealing the role of universities in innovation ecosystem makes this study authentic.