A study of the Beijing Science and Technology Resource Platform

The distribution of science and technology resources in China has encountered a series of problems including, for example, scattered resources, unnecessary duplication and ineffective management. To facilitate access to these valuable resources, the Beijing Science and Technology Committee, a local government agency, established the Beijing Science and Technology Resource Platform (BSTRP) in 2009. BSTRP introduced market-oriented professional service companies as third parties acting in cooperation with suppliers and end users of science and technology resources. The aim of BSTRP was to create a win-win mechanism without dramatically changing the existing institutional framework or disturbing the basic interests of the participants. In this paper the authors report on the development of BSTRP and its progress to date. They also discuss the theoretical implications of the BSTRP model.