ABSTRACT
The interactions of national and international innovation systems both with nether and upper regions, as conceived by Freeman (1995), particularly having transnational corporations as key actors, have convincingly demonstrated their importance for catching up, particularly in developing countries. Consequently, Porter (1990) could not be more accurate in his argument that the intensification of global competition has made the role of the home nation more important, not less. And it is within this context that the triple helix paradigm would need to be considered with all its potential to promote the interactions between university, industry and government for industrial development. Principally, the role of government in the design and implementation of national policies for catching up in technology is essential in the case of developing countries. This has been demonstrated with the assertive participation of government and chaebols 1 in the successful industrialization process of Korea, and, for omissions and cultural differences, in the not so favourable outcome obtained in Mexico.
