An exploratory study into innovation hubs in Australian public universities: A public value perspective
Creators: name: Nnanna, Justina
Publisher: name: Southern Cross University
Year: 2023
Subjects: Australian public universities
Innovation hubs
Operational environment
Resilience

description: Innovation hubs within public universities in Australia have hitherto not been the subject of any detailed analysis, even though they are currently almost ubiquitous among the nation’s public universities. Over the past decade, these universities have initiated research collaborative schemes designed, primarily, to foster greater interaction between academia, government, and industry. Importantly, there has been a particular emphasis placed on enhancing engagement and impact, with such considerations being valued by policy makers keen to promote Australia as an innovative knowledge economy that is increasingly reliant on small-to-medium enterprise and start-ups.
description: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the operational structure of innovation hubs within public institutions and the services they provide, such as co-working spaces that enabled mentoring, education, co-presence, and workshops. In particular, the pandemic forced some innovation hub in public universities to discontinue operations owing to ongoing lockdowns, a low demand for some services, and social distancing, yet very little research exists that addresses how innovation hubs dealt with such a changing and indeed challenging operational environment.
description: This Master’s thesis examines how the innovation hubs of Australian public universities are proposing to create public value through education, mentoring, funding, assisting with commercialization, and providing a co-working space. It also examines how the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the operational environment of innovation hubs, the degree to which such disruption impacted them, how they have responded to these issues, and what sorts of strategies allowed hubs to stay operational. Two interconnected research articles are at the heart of this thesis and include a qualitative analysis of the mission statements made by hubs within Australian public universities to determine the kinds of public value propositions that have been advanced. Furthermore, a qualitative interrogation of hub managers and sectoral experts during and in the wake of the pandemic allowed a thematic analysis to be undertaken regarding how such hubs were able to keep functioning.
description: The results show that innovation hubs in Australian public universities are being used as part of the efforts of these institutions to differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded landscape in which ambitious statements pertaining to innovation are being utilized to demonstrate legitimacy. The results pertaining to the disruption caused by the pandemic highlight the importance of strategic collaboration for short-term operational responses, as well as the importance of staying operational in a disrupted environment in order to achieve long-term success and maintain relationships with key stakeholders. In addition, the findings can help hub managers to respond more effectively to a highly changing environment and take appropriate steps to ensure that the lessons of the pandemic are put to good use with respect to enhancing operational resilience.