Gonzalo LEÓN Catedrático de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Innovation strategies of technical universities in the global competition context Prof. Gonzalo León Center for Technology Innovation (CAIT) (Centro de Apoyo a la Innovación Tecnológica) Universidad Politécnica de Madrid 2
Research projects in univerrsities Universities are increasingly pressed from public administrations to assume higher levels of responsibility in the valorisation of results from research projects funded with public resources External public resources (i.e. open calls) Applied research project Internal resources and background assets Research Research results results What should be the best strategy for a given university? International technology markets with partners located everywhere 3
Institutional valorisation International partners Research projects National partners Key decision Analysis of potential commercialisation of results Academic valorisation Academic Publications Patents filing Industrial secret Open science model IP protection Dissemination Commercialisation of matured research results Commercial valorisation 4
From prototypes to products and services The usual results of an applied research project for technology development (when successful) is a prototype where concepts and applicability can be tested But the experience with prototypes cannot be directly extrapolated to reality: ü Limited functionality ü Poor performance ü Lack of scalability (e.g. large volume of data or users) ü Reduced feedback from users It is necessary to create (stable) prototypes in large-scale validation processes and demonstrators 5
Proof of concept Low TRLs Identified promising technology (usually protected) Project for technology maturation and/or product development High TRLs Mature technology for exploitation Market exploitation Interaction with the research group Interaction with interested firms Market analysis (international) Patent screening Technology watch Identification and cooperation with interested firms (cooperative development) Commercialization business plan Agreements with Interested firms ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PRE-COMERCIALIZATION 6
Support areas to exploit knowledge from R&D Protection strategy Specialised training and education Technology intelligence Excellence in the exploitation of results Research commercialisation (IP sales and licenses) Spin-off and start-up creation Support platforms for user experiences 7
Grupos de Research investigación Groups R&D structures Internal structures for knowledge exploitation Technology providers USA, Japan EU Centros de Research I+D+i Centres Public and private funding for R&D Evolution of internal structures in public universities (from extended functionality of OTTs to innovation centres or external entities) Knowledge exploitation Several ways of knowledge exploitation are possible depending on the source of funding and the ownership of research results 8
Horizon 2020 From the idea to the market Ambitious goal of H2020 which implies strong commitments from all participating stakeholder to become a reality Fundament al research Research infrastructure s Demonstratio n Prototypes Technology developmen t Innovation actions Funding instruments available for a broad range of activities Largescale validation Pilot plants Market absorptio n European and internation al market 9
Strategies for knowledge exploitation spin-off creation Evolution of internal structures (based on extended functionality of OTTs and external units) Spin-off from the entity Spin-offs with other entities Technology integration Joint-ventures with pre-existent enterprises Product Market access Commercialisation Broker enterprise Sales of IPRs Licenses to pre-existent enterprises Other technologies from external partners 10
Context of H2020 evaluation Proposal (includes the Exploitation and Dissemination Plan) Grant agreement Consortium agreement H2020 project execution Results H2020 rules Exploitation plans Individual or common decisions between partners to exploit some of the results of the project assessment 11
Exploitation in H2020 Dissemination and exploitation plan Project execution Results Partner 3 Results for industrial exploitation Results Partner 1 (open) Results Partner 4 Results Partner 2 Market Evolution (market and technology watch) Protection (co-ownership) Protection (ownership) licenses licenses Proof of concept Joint exploitation strategy licenses Single exploitation strategy 12
Conclusions To define an innovation strategy became a fundamental goal for technical universities When a large percentage of activities is related to applied research should be part of the institutional goals Usually, results are immature prototypes The development of proof of concepts is a key activity to be able to exploit the results There are many complementary ways to hit the international market: spin-off, licensing or joint ventures with other partners H2020 tries to offer a seamless support from the idea to the market Exploitation and dissemination plans 13
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