| Abstract |
Sustainable development and innovation are not new concepts in developed countries. Global Innovation Index and Global Competitiveness Index systematically rank in top list most developed countries of the world such as Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA, Japan etc. These countries are not simply developed, but they also take care on sustainable development. Referring to World Bank definition, sustainable development means "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1997). It is difficult to talk about sustainable development without explaining the contribution of 'Triple Helix' concept in this kind of development. In general, Triple Helix means a strong cooperation between University, Industry and Government. (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, 1998). But what happens in a post-transition and developing country (such as Albania) seems to be quite different. In a developing country these three pillars: University, Industry and Government, operates very independent from each other. Furthermore, in some cases, one of them may become an obstacle for two others. The main reason why this happens is related with cultural barriers that come from a long process of being in transition. The paper is a critical analysis, mainly based on literature review. At the end of the paper, there are given some recommendations how to foster the cooperation between these three pillars (university, business, government) in order to offset the negative role of culture in this cooperation, improve the performance of Albania in future Global Indexes and moves the general economy of the country towards sustainable development. Open Innovation Model seems to be a good possibility for organizations in Albania in order to go beyond barriers of culture and to strength their cooperation. |