Finalist

Innovation and Collaboration Space of the Year Award

Link By UMA

Finalist of the Innovation and Collaboration Space of the Year Award

"The connecting space between university talent and the entrepreneurial ecosystem"


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Summary

Link by UMA is the Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the University of Malaga (Spain) and was set up in 2015 with the aim of becoming a connector between the University and the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The University conceives the hub with the mission of generating entrepreneurial human capital and promoting behaviors oriented towards innovation, intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship in the university community.

Link by UMA supports entrepreneurs in each step of their journey, differentiating three main phases: Ideation, Maturation and Incubation. The goal is reached through being an innovation and entrepreneurship school, the place where new entrepreneurial initiatives arise, a meeting point between students, academics and other actors, an incubation space where new projects can mature, and a research center focused on entrepreneurship. The entire offer of activities, programs and services has been created thanks to an open innovation model taking into account a great diversity of partners. In this sense, linkers are everyone who adds value to the project.

The Hub provides a unique collaborative environment where training activities and social events take place, allowing the interaction between students, researchers, companies, investors, entrepreneurs, public agencies, consultants and mentors. The University of Malaga plays a mediating role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem developing a suitable context to the participation of external actors to foster innovation at the campus. The results of the implemented model have meant that the University has considered entrepreneurship as a strategic axis and a relevant element in the institutional identity.

Key People


José Ángel Narváez
Rector
University of Málaga



Felipe Romera Lubias
Chief Executive Officer
Andalusia Technology Park,  Málaga Tech Park



Rafael Ventura Fernández
Vice-President of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Vice-Rectorate for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship,  University of Málaga



Isabel Mª Abad Guerrero
Deputy ViceRector for Employability
Vice-Rectorate for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship,  University of Málaga



Antonio Peñafiel Velasco
Director of Employability and Entrepreneurship Service
Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Service,  University of Málaga



Ana Muñiz Fernández
Technician in Employability and Entrepreneurship
Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Service,  University of Málaga



Carmen Andrade García
Communications Manager at Link by UM
Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Service,  University of Málaga


Acknowledgements

We are especially proud of the impact on the specialised scientific literature, the management of entrepreneurship at universities in our country and recognition through awards that have highlighted our work. Link y UMA has been used as a case study in papers published in impact journals and focused on the development of the entrepreneurial university concept. Our collaborative model has allowed the University of Malaga to enjoy a leading position in entrepreneurship at a national level. The recognition of other universities is shown by the visits received, invitations to present our project in university forums and the coordination of working groups for the development of the entrepreneurial university. At local, regional and national level, Link By UMA has received awards recognising the work and outcome of the project.

Images

Link By UMA model

Engagement Actors

Spaces. Floors 1&2

Spaces. Floors 3&4

Strategic Objectives 1

Activities and programs

Sofia Martinez, impacting live

matias canales impact live

link 1

link 2

link4

link 3

link7

Sofia Martinez, impacting 2 live

link 9

ana rodriguez impact live

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

The creation and acceleration of entrepreneurial initiatives is a critical outcome of entrepreneurial universities. However, we highlight the result in people as well, we believe on accelerating those ones who will be willing and able to lead the social change. we are proud of people who learnt a lot and made us learn. Ana Rodriguez currently leads a startup accelerator in the city and plays a key role in Malaga's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“Doing my internship at Link By UMA was the best election of my life. I discovered the startup world, got the opportunity of joining to an startup as CMO and currently I am able to share my experience leading an accelerator space helping new entrepreneurs to growth. The best learning was to understand the power of bringing people together helping each other and the social nature of entrepreneurship”. Matías Canales is the CEO of Biofy, a startup in the energy industry. “I was just another engineering student, not well skilled to work in a team or face an audience. Thanks to my experience at Link By UMA I have been able to create create my start-up Biofy, winning numerous awards, and currently I represent my country in international committees on energy change and collaborate as an expert with the national government to design the future of entrepreneurship and education.

Sofía Martínez is PhD candidate at the University of Málaga, focusing her research on Entrepreneurial University. ”I met Link by UMA in the last year of my degree thanks to a internship in entrepreneurship. Before that I had never considered an academic career but I fell in love with the concept of university Link represents, a university more open to society, with greater impact, a true Entrepreneurial University. I entered the world of research, I was fascinated by its collaborative approach and its connections with companies and relationships with the ecosystem. I wanted to continue being part of this beautiful project and also to do research about it”

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

We have not lost the capacity to surprise during this time and we will continue on that path. One of the first lessons learned is that the introduction of changes that affect the context in which the collaboration between university and business take place has an immediate effect on the actor’s disposition to collaborate with the university's entrepreneurship strategy.

The permeability of the university and the design of new linkages is a critical task to facilitate the cocreation of value between the University and the ecosystem. The inhibitors or barriers that hinder the university-industry collaborations are of a weak nature if an environment of trust, commitment and fluid communication is generated. In this sense, the willingness to collaborate observed in the companies in our environment is remarkable.

Another lesson learned is the importance of designing a competitive and strategic model that facilitates the decision-making process. University of Malaga has differentiated itself by becoming an entrepreneurial university that has been studied in specialized scientific publications.

We also learned that the design of the project should be attractive for all the actors in the ecosystem. The definition of the entrepreneurial university model must fit all the expectations of the university's stakeholders. The management of the project has allowed us to learn about the importance of communication and its influence on the actor’s engagement and, in particular, on students participation. Another key activity of a collaborative project is the management of the partner community. The size of the project depends on the size of this community.

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

In 2015 we would not have been able to predict the evolution of Link By UMA during this time. It would be difficult to know how the project will evolve. The project has had an organic growth conditioned by the evolution of the community of partners and the performance of students and academics.

In the future it will change what we do and how we do it. However, it is important to preserve the why. Link By Uma was conceived because we believed that a mission of the University was to promote innovation and entrepreneurship at the campus and we believed that the best way to achieve this is through value co-creation relationships with the rest of the actors in the ecosystem. This why should be kept as a reference point to lead the growth of Link by UMA.

Furthermore, we believe that Link By UMA has two objectives to achieve in the future:
1. The international growth of the project. We want to network with universities in 2 other countries.

2. The greater impact on the culture of the University. Link By UMA should be an active focus of internal change in the institution.

KEY STATISTICS

+ 2.500

Visitors / year (university, pre-universty and society)

+ 3.100

Students per year participating in programs to generate new entrepreneurial ideas

+ 420

New entrepreneurial initiatives supported

+240

Initiatives In maturation phase

+ 50

Initiatives promoted by academics

+130

Academics involved

+1700

Training activities

+650

Conferences

+ 360

Workshops

+70

Incubated projects

+ 650

Entrepreneurs

+ 150

Collaborating entities

Triple E Awards

The Triple E Awards are a global recognition of efforts toward the quest for entrepreneurship and engagement in higher education. It is the first award to focus specifically on different dimensions of the universities' third mission. Implemented regionally, the Triple E Awards aim to foster change in universities and to emphasize their role in their communities and ecosystems.

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