Identification The Role of Science and Technology Parks in Creating Innovation Ecosystem

Science and technology parks play a key role in Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization, policy tool for technology diffusion through entrepreneurship and for knowledge economy. Purpose of this study was to identify the role of science and technology parks in order to creating innovation ecosystem. The research method was mixed. In qualitative section, the statistical population consisted of experts in the fields of academia, industry and government. Participants were selected by purposive sampling from 20 participants. In quantitative section, population consisted of 440 individuals who were among the middle and executive managers of four domains of university, industry, government and intermediary institutions that were selected by stratified random sampling method. The sample size was 205 using Cochran formula. Data were collected in the qualitative section by semi-structured interview method and in the quantitative section by a researcher-made questionnaire. The thematic analysis method was used for qualitative data analysis and partial least squares method was used for quantitative data analysis. These factors explained about 90 percent of the changes in the innovation ecosystem. The results showed that the roles of science and technology parks in the ecosystem of university, industry, and government are three supportive, mediator and capacity building roles.