The Influence of Government-Private Sector Collaboration on Innovation in a Developing Knowledge Economy: The Case of Bahrain

Abstract

Knowledge and innovation have become the foremost driving strength of economic and social development worldwide. Globalization and the accelerated dissemination and transfer of new knowledge and innovations have affected all nations and regions, public and private institutions, and the lives and prospects of citizens in those nations. The Kingdom of Bahrain is one of those countries that has lagged behind the pace of the current innovations, and its leaders have realized that in order for Bahrain to remain in the forefront of the global economy, its government has to focus on building strategies and policies that will contribute in developing an innovation ecosystem in the country. Based on the perspectives of 22 participants and three Focus Groups, one each from private, semi-government, and government sectors that influence the economy of Bahrain and the reports and articles published regarding those sectors; (a) government, (b) education, (c) ICT, (d), finance, and (d) industry, the findings showed that the government and the private sector were taking progressive steps in collaboration to influence the innovation processes in the kingdom. While the results demonstrate that most of the participants are of the belief that the private sector should lead the collaboration efforts, the government institutions are the ones who have initiated the lead and are promoting the process. The findings also show that finance is the leading sector in innovation activities, while education and the big industries are still lagging far behind. As government and private institutions need to build their collaborative roles towards building an innovation ecosystem, internal frameworks are required to be devised as innovation strategies in the core of each organization’s business. The researcher has confidence that all stakeholders will recognize the efforts established to date in the works undertaken by the government and the private institutions to build a strong government-private collaborative initiative, and use the findings and recommendations of this study to modernize their activities to support the efforts undertaken to date. It is of vital importance for the private sector to take the role of producer of innovation in the potential forthcoming innovative accomplishments and to take the lead role in collaborative efforts, giving way to the government institutions to focus on drawing effective policies and regulations for these activities.