Higher Education Institutions as Leverage for Backing up SMEs’ Efforts to Meet SDG 9

This article explores the current state of collaboration between higher education institutions (HEIs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), focusing on advancing the achievements of SDG 9. Using two bibliometric analyses, in Scopus and Web of the Science, this study examines resilient infrastructure, innovation, information and communication technology, and financial services as fundamental concepts within SDG 9’s targets to investigate how SMEs can contribute to meeting SDG 9 and what can be expected from higher education institutions to generate knowledge that supports SMEs’ efforts. The bibliometric analysis revealed trends and patterns that shape the state of the art regarding HEIs-SMEs collaboration for SDG 9. There is a subtle yet significant partnership between higher education institutions and SMEs centered around the key aspect of innovation within SDG 9. Even more significant is the insight into various mechanisms for strengthening knowledge transfer from higher education institutions to SMEs, as they substantially enhance the capabilities and skills of their workforce to innovate primarily through information and communication technologies. This suggests that higher education institutions emerge as strategic partners for SMEs to progress toward, if not all, some of the targets of SDG 9, which is essential for their sustainable future readiness.