Bridging the Gap between Higher Education, Academic Research and Romanian Business Community

The paper explores the connections between higher education, academic research and Romanian business community in their technological activities. It is emphasized that the collaboration enables firms to learn about technological change, and it enhances their ability to deal with novelty. It refers to a recent forum for debating - Strategic Partnership between Academic Research and Romanian Business Community - organized at the University Politehnica of Bucharest which has revealed the importance of a successful collaboration of high levels between scientists, engineers and managers. Using two examples of highly successful technological collaborations CPRU (Human Resources Training Center) and AMCSIT (The Management Agency for Research, Innovation and Technology Transfer), it is argued that the linkage between higher education, academic research and Romanian business community provides a framework for understanding the imperative for collaborative research partnerships, particularly those involving government, university and industry actors.