The Role of Technology Centers as Intermediary Organizations Facilitating Links for Innovation: Four Cases of Federal Technology Centers in Mexico

This article presents a review of the discussion and debate around the intermediation functions carried out by technology centers (TCs), considered key organizations in the dynamics of national innovation processes based on collaboration between actors. I discuss the organizational roles and R&D strategies assumed by four Mexican TCs within the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) in order to encourage productive cooperation based on technology transfer and knowledge transfer. Grounded on this empirical referent, the present study analyzes critical structural factors in terms of organizational governance schemes, connections with regional innovation dynamics, and the national science-industry cooperation strategies behind the configuration of the analyzed TCs, which have determined their organizational action profiles.