Beyond the Triple Helix: An Infrastructure-Conditional Framework for Management Information Systems Innovation in Nigeria
TL;DR
The study proposes an infrastructure-aware Nigerian Triple Helix framework centred on open data governance, university-based MIS research, and intermediary institutions connecting research, policy, and implementation, contributing an empirically grounded extension of Triple Helix theory for resource-constrained digital economies.
Abstract
Why do some countries translate university research into scalable public systems, productive firms, and effective governance, while others struggle to move beyond isolated innovation? This conceptual, theory-building article addresses that question through the Triple Helix Model of university–industry–government collaboration, using Management Information Systems (MIS) as an interdisciplinary lens; it combines a targeted, non-systematic literature synthesis with a quantitative secondary-data case analysis, and develops an infrastructure-conditional perspective in which institutional collaboration is shaped by the digital and organisational conditions required for implementation. Evidence is drawn from China’s industry–education cities and enterprise artificial-intelligence ecosystem, India’s digital public infrastructure, and Nigeria’s emerging technology ecosystem. For Nigeria, six years of official regulator data (2020–2025) are analysed using an endpoint growth ratio, ordinary-least-squares trend estimation, denominator-harmonised regression, Durbin–Watson diagnostics, and out-of-sample validation. Realised annual broadband penetration growth reached only about 38% of the rate required to meet the national target, despite substantial growth in raw subscriptions; a two-year patent-filing comparison indicates this innovation gap is persistent rather than a single-year fluctuation. Triple Helix collaboration cannot be treated as an unconditional additive process: its effectiveness depends on infrastructure, institutional capacity, and mechanisms for translating knowledge into deployment. The study proposes an infrastructure-aware Nigerian Triple Helix framework centred on open data governance, university-based MIS research, and intermediary institutions connecting research, policy, and implementation, contributing an empirically grounded extension of Triple Helix theory for resource-constrained digital economies.