Academia-Industry Innovation Linkages in the Case of Saudi Arabia: Developing a University-Industry Triple-Helix Framework to Promote Research and Development Collaboration

Future innovation platforms in Saudi Arabia cannot be isolated from the changes that are now reshaping the Saudi economy, which has long been known for its chronic heavy dependence on the country's natural resources. This is especially apparent when we consider the proportion of export revenues that is attributable to the oil sector (see Figure 1). Saudi Arabia in the global research and development scene: Context and economic rationale Saudi Arabia is not the only nation with natural-resource wealth that affects its economy in many ways, including its research and development (R&D) levels. The continued deep reliance on natural resources for the past several decades has taken its toll on today's Saudi industry. Large corporations dominate the industry landscape; these include Saudi Aramco, which has a monopoly on upstream oil development, and Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC), which is currently the world's seventh-largest petrochemical producer and the largest non-oil company in the Middle East. The Kingdom's development remains largely in the investment stage, although there are potential pockets of innovation. highlighted the major challenges facing the advancement of Saudi Arabia towards industrialization and the diversification of its economy. The Saudi form of Dutch Disease made the manufacturing sector less competitive than it could otherwise have been, and although figures on R&D expenditures by private firms are not being collected, they are assumed to be very low by international standards. R&D programmes remain limited largely to the large industrial companies. Saudi investments have always tended to be risk averse and less favourable towards extending funds to new technology-driven companies that have a high-risk profile. Moreover, efforts to stimulate innovation and enhance competitiveness at the national level have confronted serious human resources challenges. Although the number of engineers and scientists in Saudi Arabia has increased in the last few years, it remains low when compared with those of other industrialized countries. According to research from the International Development Research Centre, Saudi Arabia has the lowest total early-stage entre-preneurial activity rate of all the factor-driven economies in its study. Only 4.7% of the adult population are actively involved in the start-up of a new business or own a young business that has existed for less than three and half years. It seems the wealth of resources that was once argued to have been an obstacle to Saudi Arabia diversifying its economy in innovative ways will become a benef it. Saudi Arabia is gradually taking …