Post on 01-Apr-2015
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
KT Scotland Policy and Practice
Innovation Initiatives in Response to Economic Downturn in Ireland
22 April 2010
Dr Pat Frain, Director NovaUCD
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Building a Knowledge Economy
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1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008
Year
Hig
her
educ
atio
n re
sear
ch a
nd d
evel
opm
ent
as a
% o
f G
DP
OECD
EU27
Ireland
• Rapid economic growth – mainly driven by foreign investment – Tax, Labour relations, Educated workforce
etc
• Competition from low cost countries – Investment in University R&D for development of knowledge based economy
• HE spend on R&D has quadrupled in 10 years and is now in line with EU and OECD average
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Funding Collaborative Research and Knowledge Transfer
• Public Investment in University R&D – PRTLI, SFI • SFI – CSETs, SRCs
• EI – Innovation Partnerships, commercialisation grants, incubation facilities, TTSI, competence Centres, Vouchers
• SSTI - €30 M to strengthen University TTOs
• TT Project Managers• Legal and other operational costs• Patenting
SFI – Science Foundation Ireland EI – Enterprise IrelandPRTLI – Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions CSETS – Centres for Science Engineering and Technology SRCs – Strategic Research ClustersSSTI – Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
NovaUCD
• University Industry Programme at UCD 1988 - 2003
• NovaUCD launched in 2003 – purpose built centre - supportive environment - incubation facilities to assist innovators and entrepreneurs
• Vision: an international leader in the commercialisation of research and knowledge for the benefit of economy and society
• Investment: €11 million by public/private partnership
• Comprehensive KT support Programme
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
NovaUCD Innovation Income Contribution to Economy
• NovaUCD income for innovation €21.5 M
• Over $200 M in investment and realisations in UCD companies
• 800 jobs created by CCDP promoters
• 28 companies currently located in NovaUCD have 70 employees - 34 new jobs in 2010
Since 2003
• 50 companies located in NovaUCD Units (33% spin-out)
• 50 projects availed of desk space
• 70 projects completed CCDP
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Inventions/Patents 2005-2009
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10
20
30
40
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90
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
No. o
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Year
UCD Invention Disclosures(2005 - 2009)
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2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
No. P
atent
Filing
s
Year
UCD Patent Filings(2005-2009)
National
PCT
Priority
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Comparisons with US/UK Metrics
UCD 2009
UCD 2009€m Research income per metric
USA 2008€ m Research per metric
UK 07/08€m Research per metric
Invention disclosure
85 1.07 1.84 1.76
Priority patent application
25 3.66 1.96 3.36
Licence agreements
15 6.10 7.30 3.70
Spin-outs 7 13.09 62.24 29.1
Research income
91.6
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Economic Downturn
• R&D Funding – SFI and EI limited budget cuts - EI focus on industry led activities, Innovation Partnerships, competence Centres, Vouchers
• TTSI Funding - Development of TT profession – uncertainty due to short-term contracts
• Other TT Funding
• Patent funding reduced to 75%
• No Commercialisation Grants (Proof of concept, Technology Dev.)
• Shortage of seed funding for start-ups – current VC funding is focused on development funding
• No commitment to fund Wet Lab Space
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Innovation Initiatives in Response to Economic Downturn
National Initiatives
• Innovation Task Force – March 2009
• Review of Supports for Exploitation of IP from HE Research (To be published in May)
University Initiatives
• University Alliances
• Training
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Innovation Task Force March 2009
“Building the innovative or “ideas” component of the economythrough the utilisation of human capital – the knowledge, skills and creativity of people – and the ability and effectiveness of that human capital to translate ideas into valuable processes, products and services”
Ecosystem to increase job creation and start-ups:• Entrepreneurs and enterprises• Investment in R&D• Education system, particularly HE• Finance, in particular risk capital• The tax and regulatory environment• Public policy and institutions
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Innovation Task Force – Key KT Recommendations
• Update SSTI 2014-2020 to R&D spend of 3% of GDP
• More effective and efficient approach to identifying and accessing IP from publicly funded research
• Increase support for start-ups and scaling
• Develop high quality physical infrastructure
• Develop role of education in innovation
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Review of Supports for Exploitation of IP from HE Research – May 2010
Objective Determine to what extent the current national IP arrangements
for publicly-funded research are suitable and effective.
Some issues addressed include:• Strengthening of National Policy and
Guidelines
• Appropriateness of existing TT support measures including decentralisation, power of TTO to close deals, clarification of agency approaches, etc
• TTO commercialisation strategies, targets/metrics etc
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Alliances and Training
• Alliances under development UCD/TCD, UL/NUIG, DCU/RCSI/NUIM
• Training – wide range of courses for unemployed for individuals and companies (Entrepreneurship, ICT, etc)
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
UCD-TCD Innovation Alliance
Vision / Mission Partnerships between UCD-TCD, government agencies, the
business sector and the national/international venture capital community to form a world class innovation and enterprise ecosystem.
Facilitate the creation of sustainable jobs in next 10 years by:• Training future innovators & entrepreneurs
• Creating new spin-out companies
• Development of new Irish and international spin-in companies
• Supporting the recruiting new FDI while sustaining existing MNCs
• Supporting indigenous Irish knowledge and technology based SMEs and large enterprises
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Alliance Programmes
• Innovation Academy / Modules / Projects
• Innovation Laboratory / Space / Tools / Environment
• NovaUCD and Joint Venture
• IP management / TT / Seed funding
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Challenges for TTO
• Decreasing resources
• Pressure to demonstrate return on investment in R&D – managing expectations - impact on economy
• Negotiating IP agreements for collaborative research – Increasing effectiveness of strategic partnerships - partnerships vs. start-ups
• Achieving consistency in government strategies (Conflicting objectives, State Aid, rates, charitable status)
• Aligning KT strategies of Senior management and TTO
NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre
Thank You
Dr Pat Frain, e: pat.frain@ucd.ie t: 00-353-1- 716 3710
w: www.ucd.ie/nova