This report was prepared at the initiative and at the request of the Technion Board and was intended to serve as background material for the purpose of formulating the Technion’s policy in the field of entrepreneurship. The report analyzes the objectives of a 21st-century technological research university and points to entrepreneurship as one important component in the realization of the university’s third mission, beyond research and teaching.
The report is based on a number of levels, including an analysis of the need and purpose of entrepreneurial activity on the campus in the context of the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem based on the experience of leading universities around the world, an analysis of management structures and policies for managing entrepreneurial activities on the campus, and an analysis and mapping of entrepreneurial activities in universities around the world, as compared with what is happening at the Technion.
The main insights and recommendations relate to a number of key aspects, including entrepreneurship as a component in the education of engineers and scientists, insights from the experience of leading universities, university policies to promote the subject of entrepreneurship, and patterns for the structure of the Technion’s activities, which relate to three facets: the faculties, the management, and the entrepreneurial discipline itself, as it relates to research in the field of entrepreneurship. In addition, the report also refers to the transfer and commercialization of technology, relations with industry, integration of entrepreneurship education into regular curricula, physical structure and presence at the Technion.
