Strategies for the commerce of knowledge: practices of a R&D centre in Mexico

Abstract

In Mexico, as in other countries, a set of social, economic and political forces has been combined to encourage universities and R&D centres to transform itself to be pro-active in its administration of research programmes and to establish networks and contacts with companies. In this work we show how these centres are changing, under internal and external pressures. These include new paradigms of research, growing of commerce, administration and changes of knowledge as the result of the increase in the use of a set of policies, cientific and technological instruments. Also from the evolution of its own innovation activities and the economic needs where these centres are based. We analyse the trayectory of a R&D centre, with the aim to show how it has adaptated its activities to external conditions and how it has redefined its relation with society and companies. We argue that this transformations has contributed to modify the reference framework of centres and of its personal due to external pressures from clients and the very specificities of research.