Triple Helix, Innovative Entrepreneurship Culture and Local Development. A Case Study in the South of Italy

This paper intends to explore how the concept of triple helix in connection with the culture of innovative entrepreneurship may lead to local development. In these regards, by illustrating a case study undertaken in the South of Italy this paper brings evidence of a triple helix model that addresses the interactions between academy, industry and government relying on qualified human capital driving innovative entrepreneurship. By doing so, this paper will also tackle the question of whether, and if so, how the triple helix work in less advantaged regions. More specifically, the work discusses the case of the Euro Mediterranean Scientific Biomedical Institute (ISBEM), a scientific Institute that works as incubator of talents and promotes wealth in society by creating, diffusing and using knowledge. In a geographic area short of core centers that operates in society enhancing connections and relationships between the three helices of university-industry-government, ISBEM is a unique case in the attempt to elucidate the arguments of this paper. In this aim, the research method used is qualitative based on the collection and analysis of documentation and interviews with key informants. As such, the research design and the process of conducting the case study did not aim at generalizing the results of a single local practice, but at illustrating and revealing the virtuous relationship between the triple helix and the innovative entrepreneurship culture in the development processes of less advantaged areas.