Tertiary education and innovation in the Greater Bay Area

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the necessity of tertiary education in promoting innovations of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area by using cases from other well-developed bay areas. Design/methodology/approach The paper used cases from bay areas of the USA and Japan to discover approaches that have been used to strengthen collaborations between tertiary education and industries by innovations. Findings This paper found that bay areas in the USA and Japan have adopted or developed various approaches to enhancing collaborations between tertiary education and industries. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the well-established knowledge transfer offices in universities help scholars to discover the commercial value of academic findings and help business in reverse. In New York Bay Area, big corporations built research institutes for universities with considerable findings. In Tokyo Bay Area, corporations and universities have developed various internship programs for different levels of students and also provide funds for universities to conduct research works. Originality/value This paper analysed approaches that using by other well-developed bay areas through real cases, and suggested that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area should adopt these experiences in order to strengthen collaborations between tertiary education and industries to promote innovations.