ABSTRACT
Research centers, technology transfer offi ces, and science parks, and the interaction among them, are emerging as the driving force of sciencebased economic and social development.1 As these organizations grow and expand their capabilities, some of the tasks they undertake overlap those of their counterparts. A research center may develop an industrial liaison offi ce. A technology transfer offi ce that formerly licensed intellectual property to existing fi rms may also form new fi rms based on intellectual property generated at the university. The science park, originally intended to serve as a receiving point for successful fi rms generated from academic research, may also establish an incubator facility to start new companies.
