Co-creation of localised capabilities between universities and nascent industries: The case of Aalborg University and the North Denmark region

This paper focuses on two cases of interaction between Aalborg University and science-based industries that have appeared in the North Denmark region in recent decades: the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and biomedical industries. These two cases provide a unique opportunity to study the mechanisms behind the more or less successful development of localised capabilities through university-industry interaction: while both of them are science-based industries with tight linkages with the university, the outcome of the exchanges with the higher education institution has differed. The feedback loops between university and industry seem to have stimulated the development of localised capabilities favouring the competitiveness, and success, of the ICT industry. However, the university actions supporting the development of the biomedical industry do not seem to have been followed by a growing industrial development, as would be expected if the biomedical industry had developed localised capabilities ensuring its competitiveness. For each case, qualitative and quantitative research methods have been applied: this paper combines desk research on secondary sources with qualitative interviews and descriptive analyses based on data from Statistics Denmark.