Science park

Encyclopedia : S : SC : SCI : Science park

A science park is a property development designed for a concentration of high tech or science related businesses. (See also research park or technology park) Prominent examples include the Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan and the Cambridge Science Park in England. Two new science parks are currently under constuction in the West Midlands, one at Pebble Mill and one at the former Longbridge works on the outskirts of Birmingham.

The Cabral Dahab Science Park Management Paradigm, first presented by Regis Cabral as ten points in 1990, has been influential in the management of science parks around the world and lays down the following conditions for a property development to be considered a science park. It must:

Have access to qualified research and development personnel in the areas of knowledge in which the park has its identity.

Be able to market its high valued products and services.

Have the capability to provide marketing expertise and managerial skills to firms, particularly Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, lacking such a resource.

Be inserted in a society that allows for the protection of product or process secrets, via patents, security or any other means.

Be able to select or reject which firms enter the park. The firm's business plan is expected to be coherent with the science park identity.

Have a clear identity, quite often expressed symbolically, as the park's name choice, its logo or the management discourse.

Have a management with established or recognised expertise in financial matters, and which has presented long term economic development plans.

Have the backing of powerful, dynamic and stable economic actors, such as a funding agency, political institution or local university.

Include in its management an active person of vision, with power of decision and with high and visible profile, who is perceived by relevant actors in society as embodying the interface between academia and industry, long-term plans and good management.

Include a prominent percentage of consultancy firms, as well as technical service firms, including laboratories and quality control firms.

Original Sources

Cabral, R. and Dahab, S. S. (1993) 'Science Parks in Developing Countries: The Case of BIORIO in Brazil'. In Biotechnology Review No. 1: The Management and Economic Potential of Biotechnology, vol. 1, pp. 165-178.

Echols, A. E. and Meredith, J. W. (1998) 'A Case Study of the Virginia Tech Corporation Research Centre in the context of the Cabral-Dahab Paradigm, with Comparison to Other US Research Parks', Int. J. Technology Management, Vol. 16, pp. 761-777.

Cabral, R. (1998) 'Refining the Cabral-Dahab Science Park Management Paradigm', Int. J. Technology Management, Vol. 16, pp. 813-818.

Cabral, R (ed.) (2003) The Cabral-Dahab Science Park Management Paradigm in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas, Uminova Centre, Umeå, Sweden.

Cabral, R. (2003) 'Development, Science and' in Heilbron, J. (ed.), The Oxford Companion to The History of Modern Science, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 205-207.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.