Conhecimento e território: a Universidade Federal da Paraíba no desenvolvimento local

Abstract

The objective of this research is to study the importance of information and knowledge for local development, aiming to analyze the factors that make feasible or prevent the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), as an integral agent of the process of production and dissemination of information and knowledge, to enable the dynamization of the territory of Paraíba. The hypothesis is that the Federal University of Paraíba university acts in the dynamics of economicsocial development with information actions, through a fragile process of integration with the social, political and economic actors, wasting the potential for interaction and cooperation, fundamental for the construction of knowledge, in its search for the process of promoting local development. The theoretical basis for the hypothesis is structured in Raffestin (1993), who establishes the constitution of a territory through a relational perspective, of the multiple political, social and economic dimensions, and linking the neo-Schumpeterian approach of the innovative process with the discussion of Information Science to address the importance of information, knowledge and innovation as central elements of development. The concepts of the Information System of González de Gomez (1999, 2002, 2008,2012) are intertwined with Cavalcanti Filho's Arrangement and Production System and Local Innovation System (ASPIL) (2011, 2013), which supports discussion related to politics and power in the relationship among actors. The methodology used in this study is of qualitative approach based in the case study, on the analysis of documentary research, institutional database, as well as semi-structured interviews with internal and external actors of the institution. The results show that the institution has an Information System in which there is external and internal power structure to the institution. The external structure acts through its promotion, regulation and control of actions, while internally there is a culture of non-integration of strategic actors for the construction of institutional policies, making them act in an isolated way. The university has strategic potential to work with local actors, considering its institutional weight, formed by its information, research, teaching and extension actions, which are not structured in favor of the development of the locality. Concerning its relations with Local Productive Arrangements (APL), UPFB usually has informal partnerships, not as an important actor in the dynamics of APL. It is concluded that the Federal University of Paraíba can and should improve its relationship with the territory in which it operates, seeking to strengthen integration with external actors, through restructuring that may favor the creation, promotion and articulation of internal networks, as well as the involvement with external actors so that the institution will strategically cooperate with local development and will be recognized as an actor of territory.