THE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER FUNCTION: A CHALENGE FOR BULGARIAN UNIVERSITIES

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THE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER FUNCTION A CHALENGE FOR
BULGARIAN UNIVERSITIES

• Lilyana Pavlova, Ludmila Ivancheva
• Center for Science Studies and History of
  Science,
• Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

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The technology transfer a definition

• An intermediary activity, related to organization
  and management of the selection, adapting, and
  transfer of products of applied research, new
  technologies, and applied scientific knowledge in
  general, from research institutions or
  universities to the business and industry
  enterprises.

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The technology transfer could be performed by

• direct university-industry collaboration
• operating with patents and licenses
• creating spin-off companies

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• The technology transfer is a significant
  component of the national innovation systems (in
  functional and structural aspect).
• It needs to be strengthened by creating new TT
  institutions, concentrating resources and
  competences in order these activities to be
  improved and intensified.

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• According to some surveys, TT infrastructure of
  Bulgarian universities is poorly developed,
  although we indicate some progress in the last
  years.
• Enhancing the process of institutionalization and
  extending the TT activities is of crucial
  importance.
• At the same time it is a real challenge for our
  university system.
• Abreast of the governmental support, more
  bottom-up initiatives should be put forward in
  this respect.

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• In 2006, while 95,8 of 25 inspected universities
  had research laboratories, only 29.2 of them
  were equipped with some TT units or innovation
  offices.
• Implementing the measures of the National
  Innovation strategy, during last two years an
  important structural transformation happened (in
  a lot of cases with a financial assistance of
  PHARE Program Bulgaria).

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They were built Centers for entrepreneurship or
TT offices at

• Russe University Angel Kanchev
• Technical University Varna
• Technical University of Gabrovo
• Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
• South-West University of Blagoevgrad

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They were built Centers for entrepreneurship or
TT offices at

• Veliko Tarnovo University Cyril and Metodij
• University of Forestry Engineering Sofia
• Technical University Sofia, Plovdiv subsidiary
• Nicola Vaptsarov Naval Academy Varna
• Burgas University Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov
• Agricultural University Plovdiv

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An example of a new built TTO

• Technology Transfer Office to Russe University
  Angel Kanchev
• The project is implemented with financial support
  of the European Union (PHARE 2005 Programme
  Project BG 2005/017-353.10.06). The total amount
  of the project grant is 41 510.
• The TTO is opened on April 17, 2008.

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Main activities and services

• Marketing investigations for finding new business
  partners among representatives of SME
• Establishment of direct contacts with SME
• Offering of innovative products ready for setting
  in production
• Seminars, workshops
• Evaluation of the needs of the companies
  concerning innovations

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Main activities and services

• Identification of new business projects and
  research outcomes with commercial potential
• Research and evaluation of the market potential
• Building of stable connections between inventors
  and their partners
• Creation and support of relevant databases

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• Regarding their TT function, the universities can
  profit by more active collaboration with external
  institutions, specialized in providing of
  technology transfer services, such as GIS
  Foundation, European Innovation Center
  Bulgaria, High-technology business incubators,
  etc.

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Some appropriate activities of GIS Foundation

• Building of transfer centers on concrete research
  and technology problems and innovative
  competitive products
• Identification of interesting results of applied
  research and assisting of their commercial
  realization

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Some appropriate activities of GIS Foundation

• Consulting and expert assistance in the field of
  innovations and technology transfer
• Investigations and analyses of the innovation
  needs of SME
• Performing of international technology transfer

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European Innovation Center Bulgaria

• It belongs to a network of 72 similar structures
  in Europe. EIC works as an intermediary in the
  transfer of technologies and innovation between
  Bulgarian institutions and companies and their
  possible partners from EU countries, as well as
  from Island, Israel, Norway and Switzerland.

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Some appropriate activities of European
Innovation Center Bulgaria

• Automatic Matching Tool this means targeted
  electronic dissemination of offers and
  applications for modern technologies, and of
  information about forthcoming business activities
  (days for cooperation, industry fairs,
  conferences, meetings, etc.)
• Sector meetings for representatives of
  enterprises from same branches and experts from
  research institution and universities, where they
  discuss actual problems of TT

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High-technology business incubator Varna

• It aims at creating of a proper innovative
  environment for development of SME in the field
  of high technologies.
• HTBI Varna is an example of best practice in
  technology transfer and innovations.

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It integrates the efforts of

• regional authorities
• research sphere
• NGOs
• business representatives from the region.

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SUMMURIESED FINDINGS

• For last two years we have indicated a process of
  gradually building up of the missing before
  cells of the national innovation system TT
  offices, which are its most important
  intermediary component.
• However, the creation of new innovation products
  and technologies is still underrated by Bulgarian
  scientific organizations and universities
  compared to activities as research and education.
• The applied research projects, attained industry
  realization and commercialization, are a little
  part only.
• But all academic institutions (and not only in
  Bulgaria) have nowadays an additional mission
  to raise the competitiveness of the economy
  therefore, the developing of the TT function
  becomes a significant challenge for the whole
  academic society.

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SUMMURIESED FINDINGS

• Most of the companies have not an advanced
  innovation policy and fixed plans for investments
  in knowledge and new technologies.
• On this stage, the main academic contacts with
  the business and industry are related to
  consulting and education.
• The universities use on a large scale modern
  information technologies, providing a wide range
  of dissemination of the information about their
  products.
• Well developed is the practice to present the new
  products and technologies at specialized markets
  and fairs more than a half of the universities
  use this forms of presentations.

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• The effective functioning of todays universities
  as an important elements of the national
  innovation system requires activation of the TT
  and commercialization of the research outcomes.
• The technology transfer activities at the
  universities need to be institutionalized and to
  follow a flexible and adaptive towards the
  changing environment innovation strategy.
• In this respect, a good idea is to be established
  two types of units centers dealing with the
  industry property rights, and offices, engaged in
  the real TT activities.
• The TT offices are the most important part of the
  intermediaries in the innovation process, and
  therefore they need special attention.

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• The efforts should be directed to identification
  of more potential users of research products,
  technologies and services, and to establishment
  of intensive long-term relations with them.
• Participating in the existing and initiating of
  new innovation clusters and networks at national
  and international level could be very beneficial.
• The TT function can be further developed,
  diversifying the forms of popularization of new
  products and technologies one step shops,
  information campaigns, open doors, etc.

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

• The entrepreneurial culture of the researchers
  and students should be raised by appropriate
  entrepreneurship training.
• The spin-off companies are very perspective form
  of commercialization of knowledge and
  technologies, and their establishment must be
  stimulated.
• On national (policy) level, efficient measures
  must be taken to provoke the SMEs to be more
  innovative and to look more actively for new
  research products and technologies.

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• Thank you for your attention!
• pavlovalili_at_yahoo.com
• livancheva_at_yahoo.com