This study explored global trend on new roles of higher education institutions for
regional innovation by analyzing the views of three major international organizations OECD,
UNESCO, and World Bank and the brief case studies of USA and Finland.
Methodologically, this study was conducted based on literature reviews and actual visit-and-interviews of the educational experts with OECD, UNESCO, and IIEP.
What the international organizations consistently agree is that during the decades, the role of higher education institutions has evolved from primarily a training
organization of a skilled workforce to a forefront forming human capital as well as creating a new channel for interactions with governments and society through
regional innovation movement that emphasizes partnership, collaborative networks,
economics of university research, technology transfer, university-business linkage,
industnal clusters, regional human resource development, and social capital. Within the structure of RIS where universities, research institutes, consulting companies,
governments, and local authorities collaboratively construct network system to create
economic profits and social cohesion, traditional universities continue
to reform themselves to get more innovative to meet their regional needs through especially
performing advanced research and providing training and community servlces.