The higher education sector and its role in research: Status and impact of international future-oriented technology analysis

In recent years, the higher education sector has increasingly been perceived as a key part of innovation systems at all levels of analysis, including national and regional, and through the eco-system which links large and small firms together and with their collaborators (Coombs and Georghiou 2002). The core functions of Universities, training and basic research, have been subject to external forces, some of which have already made their effects felt, while others are keenly debated as societal expectations of the sector change. These activities have been supplemented by a drive towards the Third Mission, relating Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to their socio-economic and cultural context. As with, what are in many cases long-standing institutions which are either in the public sector or rely heavily upon its funding, the sector has also felt the pressures of public sector reform in its managerial and accountability structures. Despite an experience of major changes such as massification of student access, technological change, funding models, specialisation of mission, growth of research activity and internationalisation in all respects, there is a continuing expectation that further changes are coming and hence an apparent need for Future-Oriented Technology Analysis (FTA) activity to help institutions and their stakeholders to go forward. © 2008 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.