Evolution from Industry–University Cooperation to the Region–Industry–University Platform: A Longitudinal Case Study from Conceptual Design to Institutional Implementation

Purpose: Korea has repeatedly redesigned its regional industry–university cooperation system, moving from firm-level cooperation to a Region–Industry–University (RIU) collaboration system that incorporates local government as a formal party, and further to an incorporated RIU platform. This study traces the transition as a path running from conceptual design to institutional implementation, and asks whether the design intent has been realized in the organization that now embodies it.Methods: A design-based longitudinal case study was adopted, covering the seven years from the conceptual design proposed in 2019 to the organizational implementation completed in 2026. Five structural phases were established using participating actors, the definition of the university role, the coordination mechanism, the institutional form and the unit to which performance is attributed.Results: The conceptual design diagnosed the fragmented structure of traditional industry–university cooperation as a vicious circle, proposed a new industry–university–research collaboration system in which the university acts as orchestrator, and then placed local government at the centre of coordination. This framework is consistent with the design logic of the subsequent regional innovation platform and has taken organizational form in the Gimhae Human Resource Development Foundation.Conclusion: Realizing a conceptual design in organizational form does not by itself realize the design intent. Five implications are proposed: operationalize process indicators such as agenda provenance and deliberation lead time from meeting records; institutionalize boundary-spanner positions as a career track; reflect the consensus-platform function in organizational composition; preserve municipality-level implementation units during the supra-metropolitan transition; and audit periodically the fidelity between design and implementation.