Leveraging interorganizational networks to foster university-industry interactions

University-industry interactions are often criticized for being sporadic and unsystematic, which limits their overall potential for impactful innovation. This paper studies how universities can promote more structured and continuous interactions through formalized interorganizational networks with industry. Based on a six-year longitudinal study of a network created by a large university (i.e. the UniSMART Community at the University of Padova, Italy), we analyze micro processes that can be leveraged by universities to foster technology transfer initiatives over time. Our work reveals key insights into how such a network works, how external and internal actors engage with it, and how to foster technology transfer interactions in such a setting. We contribute to the technology transfer literature by identifying how universities can systematically lead these interactions, detailing their evolution over time, and incorporating the perspectives of both academic and industrial stakeholders.