Abstracts Education

Uma análise sobre as ações de incentivo à inovação tecnológica no Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Norte de Minas Gerais: dificuldades e avanços.: An analysis of actions to encourage technological innovation at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Northern Minas Gerais: difficulties and advances

by Wagner Cavalcante Medeiros

Technological innovation presents itself as an alternative to leverage economic growth, for the generation of wealth and as an important tool to combat poverty and social inequalities. From the implementation of policies, practices and organizational innovations, it is possible to translate knowledge into growth in economic activity. In this scenario, the growing interdependence between universities (science and technology institutions), industries and government for the generation and transmission of knowledge stands out a condition called “triple helix”. By acting together, these institutions come to represent a key factor for economic growth and social development. However, the model widely disseminated in Brazil for the organization of technological innovation centers is still not able to satisfactorily meet the demands of scientific, technological and innovation institutions. The legislation that allowed the establishment of centers with their own legal personality was silent as to the existence of examples that can be analyzed and compared with the model of Technological Innovation Centers (TICs) constituted in Science and Technology Institutions (TICs). In the context of the Federal Institutes, especially in the North of Minas Gerais, there is a lack of know-how in the area of intellectual property, as well as a lack of qualified personnel. The legislative requirement of breadth of knowledge and degree of specialization and skills for carrying out the activities of a TIC is hardly met. In this context, the present research sought to identify the extent to which the Federal Institute of Northern Minas Gerais's Technological Innovation Center meets the purposes established when it was created and what are the main difficulties that stand in the way of service. The results expose an environment characterized by the lack of human and financial resources, which are established as significant obstacles to the proper management of intellectual property and technology transfer. Furthermore, it is still necessary to implement strategies to structure a qualified decision-making process in the selection of partner entities (associations and foundations). Given the distances between the current and desired scenarios for the NIT and, considering the identified reality, possible actions capable of suppressing or mitigating them are presented.