Transcript An Innovation Policy

Peter Lindholm
Innovation Policy,
Innovation infrastructure
& commercialisation of
scientific results
Knowledge Economy Forum IV
Istanbul, March 2005
[email protected]
An Innovation Policy
An Innovation Policy (1)
AGREEING on such a policy is the key building block for
future success at a national level.
Generally speaking, the design of a policy is not over difficult.
It should focus on a vision of GDP growth spanning from
existing scientific potential and potential to be built.
It takes into account benchmarking indictors and maps the
reality of existing scientific and business « talents ».
An Innovation Policy (2)
What is more complex is that
– Policy-makers,
– R&D institutions,
– Research staff, and
– The business community
Develop a « sincere » consensus about becoming a
knowledge-based economy, or at minima, about
generating a significant part of the GDP from
knowledge.
An Innovation Policy (3)
Such an agreement is key, but not easy to obtain and implies
change management for each stakeholder:
• Policy-makers need to agree on spending in R&D and
innovation. Spending will have an effect only if they are
significant. This implies policy choices!
• R&D organisations and researchers need to accept playing a role
in economic development and introduce management systems
allowing the selection of R&D themes that serve economic
growth (incremental or brake-through technologies).
• The business community has to become more innovative, less
dependant from technologies bought from the shelf and start a
dialog with scientists.
An Innovation Infrastructure
An Innovation Infrastructure (1)
As for the Innovation policy, tools exist and are well known.
Some minimum elements will comprise:
• The legal and regulatory environment (including for IP),
• Innovation centres/ Commercialisation centres,
• Free Trade Zones of science,
• Spin-off programmes for technology-based companies,
• A series of public-private funds,
• Mechanisms dedicated to inward investments,
• Mapping of competencies,
• Etc etc.
An Innovation Infrastructure (2)
Some very much needed ingredients:
• It is a long-term business
• Key to everything are the competencies of staff in
charge
• Each infrastructure must have measurable targets
• PPPs are good vehicles but at early stages public
funding must be available
• It is not necessary to multiply the number of
innovation organisations
• A strict, independent monitoring (not audit) is
essential
Commercialisation of
Scientific Results
Commercialisation of science (1)
• Commercialisation has little to do with
scientific excellence, it is about money
• More than one Beneficiary (researchers,
institutions, local authorities, State)
• Commercialisation is about skills
• No magic “Graal” in this business
Value creation through the innovation lifecycle
R&D Organisations
Course of
exploitation
Capital inflow from
exploited research
> Spin-outs
> Start-ups
> Licensing
(added funds for further research)
Intellectual Property
“Archives” = Negative Inflow
Research Projects
Patent Exploitation
“A patent is an article of trade, not an academic award”
Systematic selection of ideas and inventions aiming to assess exploitability
Only inventions with believed potential to successfully compete on the market are supported
Out of these the most promising projects are singled out and concentrated upon
One reason is:
only 20% of all claimed patents are subject to Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) and are effectively in use.
25 % state of the art => no patent
5 % unrealisable
10 % other solution
10 % not marketable
30 % patentable but not in use

Exploitability is the decisive factor for activities. If an invention is not exploitable even on a longterm perspective there is no use to research its patentability.
Commercialisation of science (2)
• Evaluating the existing potential of
« objects » to be commercialised?
• Willingness of players to enter into a
strong commercialisation process
• Availability of resources and
competences to start the process
Necessary Ingredients (1)
A portfolio of many researchers to
ensure a permanent deal-flow of
innovations
Experience shows that a minimum
portfolio of 1 to 1,500 researchers is
needed to sustain a proper
commercialisation team
Necessary Ingredients (2)
A strong consensus between the
different stakeholders
Commercialisation of public research
is a complex process that often
« hearts » researchers’ culture.
Gaining support from researchers,
heads of departments, chancellors is
an absolute necessity
Innovation Evaluation
-
Innovation value is determined through a dual-screening process
Invention
1st
2nd
“rough” screening
“detailed” screening
- “Gut feeling”
Patent /
Exploitation
- Exploitation screening
Market research / Market studies
- Experience
- Early indicators
Research / Exploring potential industrial partners
Feasibility studies
Calculations
Determination of the price on the market
Survey and verification of exploitation possibilities
- Patentability screening
Patent research national / international
Determining the novelty value of the invention
Necessary Ingredients (3)
Agree on measurable targets
Turnover
Start-ups
Growth of existing companies
Joint-ventures
Research contracts
Necessary Ingredients (4)
Time
Time to find out what can be
commercialised and under which
form
Time to convince researcher to
participate actively in the process
Time to find customers
Time to close deals
Necessary Ingredients (5)
Attract Competences
Commercialisation implies a team of
efficient, fast, flexible and very
motivated individuals with intercultural skills
Need of enough people to cover all
commercial aspects
Capacities to speak to research teams
AND international companies
Necessary Ingredients (6)
Proactivity
Visit all R&D teams
Create trust
Maintain continuous links
Focus on group of R&D teams willing
and able to enter the process
Attract the other teams with a case by
case approach
Necessary Ingredients (7)
Being international
Benchmark research offers towards
other European teams
Establish links with customers based
on needs and not location
Create networks across the world
Necessary Ingredients (8)
Stop « Fairy Tailing »
The stock on the shelf is rarely of high
value
Other research teams do similar
things
Companies do not always look for
state of the art research, they search
for technologies immediately usable
Expected Outputs
Expected Outputs (1)
Increase GDP and Generate income for
Companies
Researchers
Research teams
Research Institutions
The investors (public & private of the
PPP)
Expected Outputs (2)
Developing Centres of Excellence
Based on market needs, favouring
the creation of new centres of
excellence in horizontal research
fields
Entering international programmes
(FP6 from EU, etc.)
Expected Outputs (3)
Develop an entrepreneurial spirit to
Help researchers becoming more
opened to the usage of their work
Favour the creation of a large number
of start-ups
Expected Outputs (4)
Facilitate the development of the
National Innovation System
Help firms able and willing to
access innovations
Help clarifying the dilemma between
basic research versus innovation &
technology
Expected Outputs (5)
Create a strong image
Helps attracting resources
Supports the growth and
competitiveness
Attracts demands from local and
international businesses