Since its inception, universities are centers of knowledge formation. In the classrooms, students develop their research, reasoning and learning skills, accompanied by teachers who seek to be a link with the outside world.In the age of knowledge, the houses of higher studies function more and more as a connector between the developments and research carried out and the needs of the market.While private universities were the first to create their entrepreneur clubs, public institutions appealed to their development and technology transmission secretariats to add value to the community."We are a node and we work with each of the projects that arrive to achieve this link and technology transfer", says iProUP Leandro Valentini, director of the Office of Linking and Technology Transfer of the UBA."After all, what we want to achieve is that all the knowledge that develops in the universities reaches society, we are in the middle and we try to link the parties," he adds.In 1988, the institution envisioned the future of the sector and the need to create bonds. For this reason, he created UBATEC, which functions as a legal bridge (through a public limited company) between the City Government, the Argentine Chamber of Industry and the Argentine Industrial Union.The object is to articulate the interests of the public and the productive sector organically. Today, this unit calls between 1,500 and 2,000 teams every two years and already brings together more than 12,000 researchers.The contribution of private universitiesAlong with the contribution of public institutions that push the ecosystem from their own centers, the private ones also detected the entrepreneurial potential.The Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE) is one of the pioneers in this regard. It has an area of entrepreneurs that has been working for 15 years and a club that consolidated a community of more than 1,300 people.This group carries out different activities, such as monthly chats, weekly meetings and advice to those who start their project. He also recently opened his coworking space, the first within a university in the city of Buenos Aires."We focus on the process of technical advice, entrepreneurs have the opportunity to change something, generate a critical mass and develop a culture to give value at the social level," explains UROP Entrepreneur Club Manager, iProup, Juan Artuso .The Technological Institute of Buenos Aires (ITBA) is another of the protagonists of this change. With a strong emphasis on its development community, the institution has courses to start a startup -which lasts 15 weeks-, as well as an incubation structure for projects at the Center for Entrepreneurs located at its Parque Patricios headquarters."We accompany them so that they can immerse themselves in this world," said Sebastián Mur, dean of the ITBA Graduate School.He adds that the accompaniment includes contact with agencies, the Government and other incubators that offer capital, beyond collaborating in the formalization of the ventures.For 2019, the ITBA closed an agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the United States. to add mentors, in addition to generating interaction and promoting a new 100K Latam, its competition for startups that had its first edition this year."At the beginning, we are trainers and, in the next stage, supporters", underlines Mur, who adds that the institution does not keep the equity (equity share) of the companies or provide them with money, but helps them raise funds and seed capitals.The important thing is that, both the ITBA and the UADE, began to change the mentality towards the community."Before, universities formed managers or managers, now they changed their focus to start creating new companies and generate social impact, our goal is to be able to work with all the careers so that there are more opportunities," Artuso concludes.In both cases, institutions do not close their own circles of students and graduates, but open their doors to entrepreneurs from different activities and possibilities, to add to the ecosystem.The role of the public universityThe UBA is not the only public institution that unites academic knowledge with industry. The national universities of San Martín (UNSAM) and Quilmes (UNQUI) have their own offices that function as a nexus between entrepreneurs and the market."We work in several lines, the knowledge generated within the university can be categorized and thus provide services from laboratories", tells iProUP Cintia Hernández, assistant in the Secretariat of Innovation and Technology Transfer of the UNQUI."Any company or person who wants to hire any of the services provided by the entrepreneurs of our institution can do so and manage it through the university," he adds.With less than three decades of life, the UNQUI has had its secretariat for 12 years. There they work in three areas of projects: creative, technology-based and traditional industries."We try to value or transfer the knowledge of researchers and generate windows for the academic world, they can come together to support them in the generation of enterprises and expand to the local community, where there are real needs," Hernández completes.Currently, the UNQUI works on a patent that protects the design of a system for biological control that gives advantages to the wood industry.The university works on the patenting of projects, to protect intellectual property and take them to a production stage.This support and linkage achieve the integration between technology and the real need of companies. In this way, the houses of high studies have a fundamental (and foundational) role for having incubated the researchers.How is this accompaniment? "It depends on the situation, in general, entrepreneurial training activities are carried out," says Hernández.And complete: "There, there is training for students and the external community, helping to identify funding sources and formulate initiatives for different lines, the important thing is to generate a dialogue with a mass of entrepreneurs".On the other hand, they are approaching companies to understand their requirements and help them define their strategic lines of innovation.On the other hand, Mara Alderete, coordinator of Technological Projects and Linkage of the Institute of Nanosystems of the UNSAM, developed a joint investigation with the CONICET and the company ADOX."We were all scattered and this worked as a way of linking." However, they have the first option of development licensing.This research is based on a product that can be applied on different surfaces and offers a coverage that acts as a "shield" to prevent the development of bacteria or fungi for 48 hours.Thanks to the interaction between ADOX, UNSAM and CONICET, a group of professionals was formed that managed to coordinate the interests of private capital with the needs and capacities of public institutions.With potential to be used in different establishments, a profitable and effective project was generated that works as an example of the scientific-technological link with a university development. "In this way, dynamism is gained and friction is avoided," says Alderete.From Argentina to the worldIn the age of communication and technology, the relationship of companies -both national and international- is a fundamental part of the growth of companies.For this reason, the UBA, the UNQUI and the USAM participated in Sinaptec 2018, an initiative organized by the Directorate of Science and Technology of the City, under the Ministry of Education and Innovation.The award consisted of a visit to Israel, in which they were related to research and development institutions, innovation centers and experts and leaders of the ecosystem of scientific and technological innovation."We are working to report strategies of science and technology, we have to generate an ecosystem where we can attract more to the private sector, work together and generate the agenda," explains Hernández.In this regard, it should be noted that the UNQUI secretariat has 150 projects, of which 70 are active and the rest have a higher degree of maturity."It is important to continue developing these ideas, we must make these tools known so that the teams know that there are people ready to assist them and know the principles related to intellectual property and technological links," Valentini adds.With a resilient gene from conception thanks to a constant formation in times of crisis, Argentines are ready to immerse themselves in the challenges involved in undertaking."We live in constant cycles of change and the bureaucratic issues are the ones that slow us down the most, we get used to the fact that nothing is easy and we can always find a way to solve it", adds Artuso."Promoting risk investments and private capital is vital to show the impact on society", concludes Valentini.Therefore, this ecosystem needs new financing tools to make the relationship between the university, the government and the industry develop the potential of the projects.