中欧社会论坛 - China Europa Forum

Knowledge transfer in forms of product and technology from higher education institutions to industries has gained elevated importance as the Third Mission of higher education institutions who now play increasingly more important roles in economic development of the communities where they are located. Many education and technology policies catered toward the encouragement of such activities have acted as influential forces on the dynamics between universities and the industries, some, such as the Bayh-Dole Act in the USA, cast fundamental impact on institutional advancement.

While China considers University-Industrial Technology Transfer (UITT) as an effective strategic measure to sustain regional innovation, European societies assert the needs for the check and balance for the application of new technology for value of societal stakeholders. The perception and management of potential risks of knowledge transfer that are considered for their economic values only may deserve more holistic attention. An obvious area of concern would be genetic engineering, now commonly applied for agricultural modification. Although both bodies have established safety regulation controls, China appears to be utilitarian in ready adoption of new technologies without much extended assessment beyond the sphere of applications, albeit with a few exceptions already on the agenda of concern on the global agenda (e.g. environments, climate change). In this regard, Europe appears to be more aware of issues beyond apparent economic exploitation with acts and practice along the Precaution Principle.