TRIPLE HELIX IX
INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE
WELCOME ADDRESS
FROM “SABATO’S
TRIANGLE” TO THE
“TRIPLE HELIX”
JOSÉ MANOEL CARVALHO DE MELLO
VICE-PRESIDENT THA
FLUMINENSE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY, BRAZIL
South America
decades 1960 &
1970
Concept: Sabato
Triangle
Author: Jorge
Sábato
ex- ante concept
Context: Underdeveloped
region (South America)
Strategy: to construct a
vigorous science and
technology infrastructure
linked to the productive
structure of the society.
 Multiple and coordinate
actions of three vertices
of society: government
(G); the productive
structure (E), including
private and governmentowned companies; and
the science-technology
infrastructure (I),
including universities,
public and private R&D
centers
 Argentina and Brazil as
Sabato posited a set of
three types of
relationship among the
elements of the triangle:
intra-relations (within
each vertex), interrelations (within the
vertices) and extrarelations (with the
government directing the
two other vertices).
well as many other Latin
American countries were
under military rule.
 Authoritarian and
nationalist regimes - issues
of sovereignty and
autonomy;
 Adoption of policies that
would strengthen
technological capacities in
strategic areas such as
informatics,
telecommunications, the
defense industry, aviation
and nuclear energy.
 Some sectoral public
Sabato was surprised that
the government wasn’t
assuming a sufficiently
active role in S&T policy.
Indeed, it showed itself to
be incapable of
implementing the
prescribed triangles
despite having the means
to do so. Sabato called
this ‘La paradoja del
sector público’ (‘the
paradox of the public
sector’)
triangles were, however,
successfully
implemented in Brazil as
a convergence of
interests articulated by
government-owned
companies, involving
the government, the
productive sector and
public S&T infrastructure in agrobusiness, aerospace
and off-shore oil fields.
SOUTH
AMERICA
DECADES 1980 -2000
•
•
•
Democracy restoration
A more open and
competitive economic
environment.
This change of policy
stance towards
democratization and
decentralization
brought about new
forces that would
unleash the dynamics
underlying Brazilian
society.
 Significant power has
since been devolved to
the regional level with
municipalities and states
demanding a fair
distribution of S&T
resources and willing to
commit some of their
own to innovative
initiatives.
 In contrast to Sabato’s
From triangle to
triple helix
A transition of S&T policy
from a top-down
approach to a post-linear
model with inputs from
various sectors of
society, including
university, industry and
government at the
federal, state and
municipal levels, is under
way in Brazil.
triangle in which the
impetus to innovation is
expected to come from
government, the triple
helix model posits
multiple sources of
initiative arising from
each sphere individually
and in collaboration with
one or two others.
NEW CONTEXT
NEW IDEAS
NEW POLICIES TO DEAL WITH
NEW CONTEXT
POLICIES MORE CLOSE TO THE
TRIPLE HELIX MODEL
AN EX POST CONCEPT
UTILIZED AS AN EX ANTE
STRATEGY