University, innovation and society: Cuban higher education in the national system of innovation

Abstract

In this document we state that Cuban higher education exerts a prominent role in the national innovation system. It provides a high level education and trains the university graduates and most of the postgraduate training programs. It conducts a sizable portion of the national scientific research and innovation. Cuban higher education institutions are strongly associated to the main social priorities (education, energy, among others), those which frequently incorporate innovation and it is also responsible for the preparation of the leaders in the country. The concept of social pertinence is an important value of our higher education system, understood as the multiple relations that are built between the university and the environment, linkages, bonds, interactions in which both the university and society undergo profound transformations. We also show the significance of the process of "universalization of higher education” and its influence on innovation processes linked to local development.