Resumo

As a consequence of the competitive condition of contemporary society and the exponential advance of knowledge and innovation, it is necessary for Universities, important institutions that cooperate with the development of knowledge and innovation, to readjust their role in the accomplishment of their social function. It is in this context that the university, in addition to fulfilling its basic education and research missions, also has, currently, a third fundamental mission: to collaborate for economic and social development (Etzkowitz & Zhou, 2017; Centobelli, Cerchione & Esposito, 2019).

In this study, the research scope is directed to the Entrepreneurial University and its participation in this interface, belonging to the system of local innovation which in this research is characterized as an innovation ecosystem, classification resulting from the intrinsic characteristics that make up the innovation system of the region of Boston. The Boston ecosystem is internationally recognized for presenting an innovation center and global entrepreneurship largely based on knowledge, resulting from the largest concentration of colleges and universities in the world (Mashiter, 2018).

However, the contributions of these Entrepreneurial Universities to the innovation ecosystem are not clearly known, including companies, research centers, networks, start-ups, etc. The guiding question is: how do Entrepreneurial Universities contribute to Boston's innovation ecosystem? The general objective is to analyze how Entrepreneurial Universities in the region of Boston, USA, contribute to the local innovation ecosystem. This research is justified due to Boston's innovation ecosystem being recognized as one of the most active centers of global innovation.

This study also aims to contribute with academic managers who wish to implement programs and projects in educational institutions that are interconnected to the regional or national innovation ecosystem. The methodology used the qualitative paradigm, classified as a multiple case study and with data collection through semi-structured interviews, document analysis and observation. For analysis, categorical content analysis was used.

The results point to the following contributions by universities to the ecosystem: training of technologically qualified students; building an entrepreneurial mindset in students; research groups with a multidisciplinary character; collaborative research groups with industries and companies; research groups for governmental demands; competitions that include extra-university students; formation of start-ups with business model validation; contribution to economic and social development.

This study contributes by identifying the elements that make up an Entrepreneurial University in a joint analysis of six universities in the Boston region; by characterizing Boston's innovation ecosystem, which is a benckmarking for the university segment and by identifying the set of actions and infrastructures that connect Entrepreneurial Universities to the ecosystem.