NovaUCD The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre KT Scotland Policy and Practice Innovation...

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


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


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

• 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 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


Inventions/Patents 2005-2009

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10

20

30

40

50

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90

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

No. o

f disc

losur

es

Year

UCD Invention Disclosures(2005 - 2009)

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20

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50

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

No. P

atent

Filing

s

Year

UCD Patent Filings(2005-2009)

National

PCT

Priority


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


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


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


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


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


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


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)


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


Alliance Programmes

• Innovation Academy / Modules / Projects

• Innovation Laboratory / Space / Tools / Environment

• NovaUCD and Joint Venture

• IP management / TT / Seed funding


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


Thank You

Dr Pat Frain, e: [email protected] t: 00-353-1- 716 3710

w: www.ucd.ie/nova

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