The upcoming international Triple Helix Conference is the fifth one in a series of biennial conferences that started 8 years ago to analyze the interaction between University, Government and Industry and its influence on the economic development of specific regions.

The Conference, organized by Fondazione Rosselli, will be held in Turin, Italy, from 18 - 21 May 2005 and will deal with the Capitalization of knowledge and its cognitive, economic, social and cultural aspects.

Over 350 participants -academics, policy makers and practitioners- from the whole word will be brought together to discuss and interact on all issues related to the triple helix concept. The aim is to allow debate and exchange of ideas, methodologies and outcomes, in order to innovate and influence practice and policy making.

Click here to download the 5th Triple Helix theme paper, "Third Academic Revolution: Polyvalent Knowledge; the “DNA” of the Triple Helix" written by Riccardo Viale (Fondazione Rosselli, Turin) and Henry Etzkowitz (State University of New York, Purchase).

The Triple Helix conference series was launched in Amsterdam in 1996 with a meeting titled “A triple Helix of University-Industry-Government relations”. The triple helix model was discussed by a group of 80 researchers and policy analysts from 30 countries.

The second conference took place in Purchase, New York (January 1998) and dealt with "the future location of research". Over 160 delegates from Europe, Asia, North and South America attended it.

The third meeting, held in Rio de Janeiro (April 2000), was titled "the endless transition”. It’s theme was the relationship of science, industry and government and their role in creating the conditions for future innovation. A special focus was placed on the contribution of research in job creation and social wealth.

The fourth meeting was held both in Copenhagen, Denmark and Lund, Sweden (November 2002); the conference theme was “Breaking Boundaries and Building Bridges”, which reflected on the conference site: the bridge as a metaphor for boundary spanning interactions, linking the different national cultures and innovation systems. More than 200 participants convened for this meeting and over 150 papers were presented.

The Conference is basically organized through an open call for papers, with the addition of some eminent personalities, representing the three helices, who will be invited as speakers. The Conference program is currently “under construction” and will be defined after the submission of all papers.

The programme will be structured around 5 plenary sessions and 8 tracks, each one managed by a team of convenors. A track consists of 6 to 8 parallel sessions, made up of papers presentations, workshops and panels, and deals with one main topic. Each track will host approximately 20 paper presentations.