Horizontal flagship support activity: DANUBE INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP 1. RATIONALE As part of the Europe 2020 Strategy, the 'Innovation Union' flagship initiative sets out a comprehensive innovation strategy to enhance Europe's capacity to deliver smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It highlights the importance of knowledge and technology transfer from universities and other public research organisations to market actors as one of the way to achieve these goals. To support this, the, in collaboration with European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and Directorate-General for Enterprise, set up in 2011 the European Technology Transfer Offices Circle (TTO Circle), a network bringing together the technology transfer offices of major European Public Research Organisations. The TTO circle operates as a laboratory for the development and testing of new tools, methods and instruments to support technology transfer and the commercialisation of research results in Europe. The TTO Circle includes as members 25 among the largest research organisations in Europe (e.g. CERN, Fraunhofer, Max Planck, TNO, VTT, CEA, ENEA). When it comes to innovation, there is a great diversity between the various countries and regions of the Danube Region. Some of them are clearly among the top-performing areas in Europe. Others on the contrary lag behind. They are below the European average and, as shown by the Innovation Union Scoreboard, the gap is widening. The need to improve the efficiency of the Research and Innovation ecosystems of these countries and regions has therefore been identified as one of the important policy goals to be pursued within the EU Strategy for the Danube Region over the next few years. They could clearly benefit from the experience and skills cumulated over the years in the most innovative regions and a strengthened cooperation and exchange of experience both within the Danube Region and with external partners could be of great added value. Related priority areas of the EUSDR This horizontal support activity will contribute in a direct manner to the objectives of Priority Area 7 ('Knowledge Society') and Priority Area 8 ('Competitiveness') in the field of research and innovation. Policy context and related legislation: Innovation Union flagship initiative (COM(2010) 546) International partner organisations: European TTO Circle World Intellectual Property Organisation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development League of European Research Universities European Investment Fund
2. FLAGSHIP ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION The Danube Innovation Partnership (DIP) clusters its activities in three main pillars, all serving the objective of enhancing and accelerating technology transfer in the region. The 3 pillars aim at improving Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) as well as at fostering Technology Transfer (TT) activities. The DIP Strategy is built based on the challenges identified by a questionnaire disseminated to interested parties at the launch of the DIP during the Second Annual Forum of the EUSDR in 2013. The main challenges the region is facing according to the stakeholders are: great disparities among the Danube countries, lack of innovation culture, human resources and financial constraints. More specifically the stakeholders pointed the need of business-minded institutions as well as the need of funds. 3-PILLAR STRATEGY The DIP strategy is constructed on 3 main pillars: 1) Establishing, 2) Enabling and 3) Realising. Several initiatives are to be pursued within each of the pillars. The realisation of this strategy will be coordinated by JRC A.4 but many actors (EC Bodies, TTO Circle partners, H2020 participants and other external partners) should take part in the implementation. The goal is not to reproduce existing efforts by several bodies but to leverage upon them for a broader reach of the strategy. 2
PILLAR 1 ESTABLISHING: ESTABLISHING TTOs AND/OR OPTIMISING THE BUSINESS MODEL OF EXISTING TTOs This first pillar of the DIP Strategy has a twofold focus: a) the establishment of TTOs in lacking universities or countries in general and b) the optimization of the business models used in existing TTOs. 1. Reaching Danube Universities and PROs This work package aims at identifying all the relevant players in the Danube area and mapping their current status, competencies and weaknesses in terms of technology transfer in both EU, associated and neighbouring Member States. Once the players are identified, they can be clustered according to their TTO development phase. Two clusters should therefore be created: 1) Weak or non-existing TTOs, 2) Existing and relatively advanced TTOs. Partners: Rectors Group, TTO Circle, Steinbeis Audience: Universities and Research Centres in the Danube area 2. Establishing Thematic or cross-border TTOs As a first aim, JRC will collaborate with several actors and investigate whether the establishment of thematic or transnational TTOs in the Danube area is feasible and makes sense. At a later stage this WP can actually turn into the creation of such a TTO. Partners: ELI, Steinbeis, CERN, HEP TECH, H2020, TTO Circle, Smart Specialisation Network, Clustrat, EEN Audience: Universities and Research Centres in the Danube area 3
PILLAR 2 ENABLING: IMPROVING TTO OPERATIONS AND STIMULATING THE INNOVATION CULTURE This second pillar brings together initiatives aiming at improving the internal operations of a TTO in particular the professionalization of staff and the optimisation of practices. Having expert employees however is not enough to accelerate technology transfer. An innovation culture within the research communities needs to be cultivated as well to facilitate the mission of the TTO. Developing this culture is the second objective of this pillar. 1. Stimulating the Innovation Culture 1.1. PhD Award Each research organisation selects 1-2 excellent PhD projects per year and awards the researchers with a free 2-3 day workshop on entrepreneurship in a nice location along with other winners from different universities in the Danube region. Partners: Business School or independent speakers, HEP-TECH? Audience: TTO CIRCLE + Danube universities and research centres 1.2 Patenting Stimulation The idea behind this WP is to incentivise TTOs in the region to increase patenting within their organisations. A prize could be awarded to the best patented invention of the region. The prize would recognise innovation based on its high economic potential, strong technological impact, and impact on society. The award could be granted in the three categories related to the Scientific Support to the Danube Nexi, Water, Bioenergy and Air. The winners will receive a market or feasibility study on their technology and participate to the DIP Patent Award Ceremony. The DIP Patent Award Ceremony will feature the winners of the prize and will consist on a gala dinner where all the participants to the award will be invited. Partners: Company specialised in technological market studies Audience: TTOs 4
2. Improving TTO operations 2.1 TT summer school The JRC will organise every year or two in collaboration with WIPO, a summer school to deliver training to TTOs. The training shall cover topics from all three pillars and the audience will vary from TT professionals to Directors for a better reach. It will take place at the Danube area and should typically last for a week or a bit more., WIPO Partners: TTO Circle, WIPO, Serbian Intellectual Property Office 2.2 Sharing of Best practices The JRC managed TTO Circle has developed a format for regular meeting among its members at which technology transfer related challenges and best practices can be discussed. The outputs of these discussions among very advanced technology transfer offices could be shared with relevant stakeholders from the Danube region and similar exchanges organised among practitioners in the region. Partners: ASTP-Proton, TTO Circle, WIPO, DG RTD Audience: TTOs, TTO Circle 2.3 E-learning Module An e-learning module could rapidly be put at the disposal of innovation actors of the Danube region based on an e-learning module on IP management and technology transfer that was developed by JRC for scientists and researchers of organisations part of the TTO Circle. Audience: TTOs, TTO Circle 5
PILLAR 3 REALISING: STIMULATING TT ACTIVITIES The third pillar of the strategy focuses on facilitating TT transactions. Bringing together the industry with research, or in other words supply and demand is the best way to trigger TT activities. 1. Connecting Industry and Research There are several ways of establishing contact between the industry and academia. This WP explores a few of them. 1.1 Technology Transfer Centres The JRC will explore the potential of connecting academic institutions with local industry on the basis of the contract research stimulation model developed by the Steinbeis foundation. Partners: Steinbeis foundation Audience: Universities, PROs and Industry 1.2 Capacity building for Technology Transfer Investment Funds The Joint Research Centre has developed in collaboration with the TTO Circle and the EIF a proposal for a new financial instrument targeting the technology transfer process. Following an extensive development and analysis phase in collaboration with DG R&I, the new risk sharing instrument, that could operate with equity, quasi equity or loans, should be launched as a pilot under the financial instrument package of H2020 starting 2015. In parallel to the launch of the new instrument a capacity building measure covering those countries with less advanced technology transfer ecosystems will be launched by DG R&I as an indirect action under H2020 and will be implemented by a consortium of external contractors The JRC, in collaboration with DG R&I, will closely monitor the activities of this consortium and make sure that any synergies between its activities and the DIP are fully exploited. Partners: EIF, DG R&I Audience: Universities and research centres, innovation intermediaries, early stage investors. JRC CONTACT: Bernard Denis, Geraldine Joanny Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Unit, Joint Research Centre 6