Collaboration and shared resources in the Educational Technological Complex, Brazil

In the last decades, it has become increasingly more common the practice of sharing responsibilities and resources in the formulation and implementation of public policies. From this idea, the concept of networks in public... [ view full abstract ]

In the last decades, it has become increasingly more common the practice of sharing responsibilities and resources in the formulation and implementation of public policies. From this idea, the concept of networks in public administration, particularly in the field of management of science, technology and innovation, is gaining visibility. This research contributes to this discussion, aiming to carry out an interpretation of the established interorganizational relatioships in the Educational Technology Complex (CTE), located in the city of Campinas, Brazil. CTE is a campus that brings together five organizations: Public Research Institute (CTI - Information Renato Archer Center for Technology), Private Foundation (Facti - Supporting Training in Information Technology Foundation), Federal Institute of Education (Federal Institute of São Paulo), a Technology park (CTI Tec) and an assistive technology analysis development center (CNRTA - National Center for Assistive Technology). These organizations, to a greater or lesser extent, interact in everyday activities. A survey was conducted from an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together conceptual bases of multiple fields as Policy Analysis, Interorganizational Networks and Politics and Management Science, Technology and Innovation.

The data collected refer to the process of network formation, as well as to the links of sharing resources that indicate the interdependence between organizations. These links were divided into five categories, which generated five matrices, namely: 1) Financial resources, 2) Human resources, 3) Space resources and infrastructures, 4) Research projects, 5) Public Policy Projects. From these matrices a graph was drawn, showing the interrelationships between organizations and their intensities.

The results show that in fact there are daily inter-organizational interactions among the five organizations, even before the CTE designation was implemented. Another important issue in the literature that could be analyzed was the degree of formality versus informality of relations established in the complex. It is noted a significant degree of informality between them, that denotes an informal network which is in the process of institutionalization.The prominence of CTI's role in the network is also evidenced, as well as the real and potential benefits evidenced by the articulations of the different organizations, in view of their long-term sustainability.

The present paper fits very closely with the panel "Connecting the study of collaborations: integrating separate case studies into a collective knowledge base", as it offers a case study on collaboration, which will be discussed in an integrated way with other case studies, to build a broader understanding of the field.