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Management in modern production technology transfer. Transfer of innovations (technologies)

Management in modern production technology transfer. Transfer of innovations (technologies)

Technology transfer is an important and integral part of the innovation process. State laboratories, research institutes, universities are puzzled by the applied technological use of their research.

In the modern world, the strategy for the survival and development of society and countries is based mainly solely on the desire for leadership in various fields of activity. To create new models, prototypes, technologies and products, as well as their transformation in the modern world, the term “innovation” is used, which has many definitions.

Technology transfer is the main form of promoting innovation from the development stage to commercial implementation.

Schematically, technology transfer can be represented as (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 - Scheme of technology transfer

This concept includes all sorts of ways to turn an idea into a commercial product: the transfer of patents, technical documentation, the exchange of scientific developments, the creation of joint ventures, etc. .

At the present stage of development of the world economy, technology transfer serves as one of the sources of economic independence, since it provides economic entities with strategic opportunities in the development of the domestic market and new growing industries, borrowing and adapting the achievements of more developed countries, embedding in the transnational infrastructure of world markets. Taking into account the potential of each economic entity, its own approach to technology transfer should be developed in relation to the organization of production and innovation policy.

The concept of “technology transfer” (TT) appeared on the territory of the states that form the Eurasian Economic Union, not so long ago and is directly related to the reorientation of the economy towards market relations in most areas of activity. Often it is used in conjunction with such a concept as “commercialization of technologies”, although in a deep sense the scope of these concepts is not the same.

The concept of "commercialization of technologies" implies the obligatory commercial use of technology, i.e., use with the obligatory derivation of benefits. The question of who and how directly uses the technology is not the main one in commercialization (the authors of new technologies and developments themselves can deal with commercialization).

The difference between transfer and commercialization can be explained as follows:

- commercialization of technology implies mandatory profit and is not necessarily associated with the involvement of third parties (which, under the optimal transfer scheme, should become specialized organizations - technology transfer centers);
- technology transfer involves the mandatory transfer of technology to an organization (legal entity) that carries out its industrial development, although this may not necessarily be associated with making a profit when using technology (for example, when using TT in education, health care or for the protection of environment) (Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2 - Chronology of stages of technology transfer

There are several definitions of technology transfer. Most often, technology transfer is understood as the dissemination of technological knowledge of an applied nature, as a rule, production methods, progressive ideas, models, algorithms, as well as innovative products within an industry, between industries, regions or between countries.

Technology Transfer Centers (TTCs) play one of the key roles in the national innovation system, accelerating the advancement of scientific developments in the industry, primarily those created with the use of budgetary funds.

The main tasks of the technology transfer center are:

- creation of an optimal organizational structure capable of facilitating the transfer of technologies for the purpose of further commercialization;
- involvement of scientists, employees and students in the creation of fundamentally new intellectual solutions, providing them with assistance in the protection and commercialization of intellectual property;
- improving the quality and volume of research conducted on orders from production structures;
- facilitating the adoption of technologies by companies through participation on contractual terms, in the creation of new companies based on these technologies, through licensing and commercialization;
- attraction, retention and support of competent personnel necessary to achieve the strategic, operational and business goals of the center's participants.

Types of activity of the technology transfer center: examination and selection of projects with commercial potential; conducting patent research, including the determination of patent frequency; Preparation various kinds documentation on the protection of intellectual property (patents for inventions, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks and service marks, computer programs, databases and technologies integrated circuits) and know-how; preparation of technological packages and legal documentation; implementation of technology transfer to individuals and legal entities on the basis of relevant agreements; monitoring and examination of objects of intellectual property; provision of legal advice to patent holders in case of violation of their rights and unfair competition; provision of marketing, engineering, implementation, consulting, information, advertising, intermediary services in various areas Sciences; conducting scientific research, including under contracts, for the performance of scientific research work; development of innovative educational programs; participation and organization of seminars, conferences, exhibitions; assistance in attracting investments in the formation of projects and programs aimed at achieving the goals and objectives of the center; assistance in the development of international relations and international cooperation; formation of a database of intellectual property objects.

Sources of formation of funds of the technology transfer center: funds received from entrepreneurial and other income-generating activities; funds received from the implementation of technical developments, patents; funds received from other sources that do not contradict the current legislation.

The effectiveness of CTT activities should be determined by the results achieved in accordance with the prepared business plans for technology transfer. Nevertheless, several key criteria for assessing the activities of the CTT can be identified:

1) income received from commercialization (by types of income);
2) the amount of attracted funding for research and development from additional sources;
3) the number of new companies created based on the technologies of the university/research institute;
4) number of patent applications filed/number of patents received.

Figure 1.3 - Description of technology transfer processes

When implementing technology transfer from the transfer centers, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the transferred technology, the form and type of transfer, the strategy followed by a particular small and medium-sized business (SME), as well as the tools used by the technology transfer center (Figure 1.3).

The transfer of innovations in an enterprise is a continuous flow of all types of innovations, covering all participants in the innovation process and penetrating the entire system of relations between them, based on intra-organizational and inter-organizational relationships.

Successful technology transfer up to the stage of product commercialization involves a constant multi-level exchange of information. The use of modern information and telecommunication technologies simplifies and makes possible the process of exchange and perception of not always formalized and formulated ideas.

The process of technology transfer is a rather complex formation, consisting of many different types of objects (subsystems and elements). It is arranged and organized in a certain way. Any component that makes it up, upon closer examination, turns out to be a system with its own elements and connections. Many of them simultaneously act as elements of other system formations.

A particularly important fact is that in the commercialization of developments, a focus on the needs and requirements of the market is of great, if not decisive, importance (various marketing information, including on the priorities for the development of domestic science and technology, on the development of industries National economy consumption, exports and imports of goods), investor requirements (investment priorities, requirements and conditions for the provision of investments by potential investors, including state and non-state commercial, foreign and international funds and programs), requirements of specific buyers of new developments, technologies, goods and services. transfer innovative technological labor input

Thus, today, in order to occupy a worthy place in the world economy, the country needs a strategy based on the current level of development of science and technology. The degree of their development and use is currently determining the solution to the problems of security and economic growth.

Technologies and scientific and technical products have become a factor contributing to the implementation of the geopolitical and geo-economic interests of states.

Today, the traditional technology transfer scheme does not work to its full potential: for its further development, business from universities needs not so much R&D results as competent people involved in specific tasks of the industry

Executive Director of Argus-Spektra Mikhail Levchuk, Head of the Innopraktiki Department Alexey Odinokov and Head of Rospatent Grigory Ivliev Discuss Barriers to Technology Transfer at SPIEF’17

Photo: photo.roscongress.org

TO As soon as humanity is about to embark on a new technological shift, business representatives, politicians and even ordinary citizens begin to vying to talk about the importance of technology. The technological agenda suddenly finds itself in the focus of attention not only of professional parties, but also of key economic and political forums.

It is this phenomenon that we observe today in the example of the concepts of the "third industrial revolution", "industry 4.0", other techno-visionary developments of various "thought factories" and individual thinkers. Astonishingly quickly they began to incorporate into government programs, business strategies and the media agenda. Such a rapid inclusion of the technological agenda requires not only verified definitions, solutions at interdisciplinary interfaces, but also the systematization of forecasts for the very near future, as well as the rapid strengthening in the minds of scientists, businessmen and politicians of the idea that something needs to be done about this new global phenomenon.

Blockchain

Distributed data storage technology, when using which all information about transactions (actions between parties) is stored in the form of hashes, digital fingerprints. Any change in the original information will lead to a change in the hash, which means that the fake will be noticeable. The hash stored in the system is practically impossible to fake, since it is linked with other transactions by cryptographic methods into a block that also stores information about the previous block. To create each of the blocks, significant computer resources are required. And to replace them - just colossal computing power, since it will be necessary to recalculate all the blocks in the chain.

It is known from history that such situations arise in the mature phase of a new techno-economic wave, when, gaining momentum, it begins to go beyond the boundaries of research organizations, innovative companies, new sectors, involving the entire economy and even society in its movement. The last SPIEF was a vivid confirmation of this: new technological terms (“blockchain”, “digitalization of industry”, “Internet of Things” and others) sounded from the high stands. At plenary sessions and round tables, the idea of the “technological imperative” was repeated more than once economic development Russia - without the development, implementation and scaling of new technologies, we are doomed to lag behind developed economies, the competitiveness of national business and the standard of living of the population will fall. Usually, forums of this level are expected only to have a general framework, a message urbi et orbi, and the details of how to implement the strategy outlined in broad strokes are left to narrower professional events. It is one thing to announce a new technological revolution and quite another to answer the questions, where to get new technologies - on the global market or develop it yourself? If by ourselves, then who will do it - universities, institutes, start-ups or industrial companies? How will the process of technology transfer and scaling go, how can the regulator moderate it? There was also a place for discussion of these professional issues at the last SPIEF.

Need a vice-rector for industry

First, the head of Rospatent Grigory Ivliev outlined the general situation with the process of protecting and transferring rights to technologies in Russia: “If in a number of developed countries - technological leaders the creation of an intellectual property object and its transfer from one entity to another, for example, from a research center of a large business corporation or from yesterday’s start-up venture investment fund is a dynamic process, then in Russian Federation we have not seen any significant progress in this direction over the past ten years. Despite a significant increase in investment in R&D, the number of patents that have been transferred from one entity to another in one form or another has remained virtually unchanged. The main reason is that since 2007 the patent activity of Russian applicants has practically not increased, and the number of patents in circulation has not increased in our country.” Meanwhile, a patent is the most convenient and affordable way to protect technology for its subsequent transfer. Rospatent promises to make the patenting process even more convenient and efficient - and so the short time for consideration of applications will be further reduced, it is planned to introduce a new information system that will allow technology brokers to monitor the global patent landscape in real time and improve the quality of decision-making on a purchase or sale of a particular technology.

The total number of patents in Russia is practically not growing

Another representative state institution - Vadim Kulikov, First Deputy Director General of the Agency for Technological Development, said that, despite the sanctions, it is still possible to find the technologies necessary for the Russian economy on the global market, you just need to be able to correctly contact the owners of the technologies themselves, and cited a successful case of the agency’s search for technologies for liquefying natural gas in USA.

The participants of the discussion were more interested in another question: how will communications between all parties of technology transfer be built in Russia? In world practice, as a rule, universities are the moderators of this process. As the ex-Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the head of the Russian Venture Company Alexander Povalko, in universities, communications with industry should be handled by competent people. “The key mistake is that we set the task of technology transfer to the wrong people. We take young guys and say: “Now you are engaged in technology transfer”. Where should he run, with whom? He walks around companies in traveling salesman mode and says: “We have such technologies.” But there are no connections, there is no authority, and there is no result either. It is necessary to change this part both in corporations and universities, to focus on people who are professionally included in the markets, to work with them. It seems to me that the main reserve for increasing the effectiveness of technology transfer is to reorient this work as much as possible to those people who would not just want to do it, but can do it.”

In the discussion around the figure of the person responsible for technology transfer at the university, the idea arose of the position of “Vice-Rector for Industry”, which could be applied for by an experienced specialist familiar with markets, industry, and technologies, who would receive appropriate authority from the rector and more I spent part of my time not at the university, but at enterprises. Rector of Innopolis University who spoke next Alexander Tormasov said that there is such a person at his university and that he is “in the fields” all the time, in particular, he does not leave business all the days of the forum. But the main problem of establishing technology transfer from university to industry, from the point of view of the rector, is that, for example, the team that created a university startup cannot freely dispose of intellectual property - the university also claims a part of it and income from its commercialization. Moreover, the university management has its own view on the prospects for the further movement of a startup in the market.

Head of the Department of Design and Innovation at ITMO Nina Yanykina told how her university solves this problem: “We fixed by the decision of the academic council the distribution of income from the use of intellectual property within the university in the ratio of 30 percent to the university - conditional overhead costs, 30 percent - to the laboratory where the object of intellectual property was created, 40 percent - to the authors. And this measure is designed to encourage professors, including young researchers, to have closer interaction with industry in order to transfer the results of intellectual activity to the real sector.”

Representatives of business joined the discussion of this issue within the framework of the round table. The hall was attended by the heads of several of the most interesting companies in terms of technology transfer, representing a medium-sized fast-growing technology business.

Business places an order for demanded technologies

National champions approached the issue systematically. Executive Director of Argus-Spectra Mikhail Levchuk proposed to analyze what technologies Russian business needs today and which of them it is not able to develop on its own. Then it would be possible to aggregate this information, build a rating and launch an online exchange mechanism: private business and the state jointly make decisions on financing the purchase or development of certain technologies in demand. The model can, according to Mikhail Levchuk, be tested on the participants of the National Champions project. “Today, there are privileged industries, which are actively infused with state money, which can afford to bring the technology in its entirety. But if we want to achieve a massive effect, so that thousands of companies can take advantage of this, we need to create a transparent tool when I come in and say: “Guys, here I am one hundredth of a percent wanting to use this technology.” If there are ten thousand people like me, it will become clear that this technology needs and can be localized in Russia.”

Internet of Things

This is the concept of a computer network of physical objects (“things”) equipped with embedded technologies for interacting with each other or with the external environment, considering the organization of such networks as a phenomenon that can rebuild economic and social processes, excluding the need for human participation from part of the actions and operations.

CEO of Biocad Dmitry Morozov said that in the face of increased technological competition, standard methods of technology transfer generally do not work well. It will take too long to create according to the traditional scheme "university laboratory - technology transfer center - industry". “In the pharmaceutical industry, to make ready-made dosage form- four years. While you will be conducting this technology transfer for three or four years, your product will most likely go out of patent. I'm not looking for technology in universities, but for people. Technology itself becomes obsolete very quickly. We need to look for people who are able to reproduce technology. Do not copy - maybe at the first stage and copy in order to learn - to understand, or something, but further improve and create new ones. Without constantly improving the technologies that we have, there will be nothing. You will always fall behind, you will always be catching up."

The general director of another national champion, the Center for Speech Technologies, agreed with Dmitry Morozov Dmitry Dyrmovsky. In IT, technological renewal is happening even faster than in the pharmaceutical industry: “Last year we introduced a biometric multimodal platform to the US market, this solution was unique, and this year four or five similar solutions have appeared. Therefore, we do not have time for a traditional transfer. We need people in universities who can develop technology. We draw on this potential in universities, in particular, using the mechanism of basic departments - we have a department of speech information systems at ITMO University.” Dmitry Dyrmovsky also complained that, thanks to grant support, scientists at universities feel too comfortable. “It is very important to think over the rotation mechanism so that there is a transfer of scientists from universities to specific companies for a certain period of time, so that they work in the real sector, in real industry, and understand where they need to develop. We would like them to work together with us in the real sector,” he stressed.

The idea arose of the position of “vice rector for industry”, which could be applied for by an experienced specialist who is familiar with markets, industry, and technologies, who would receive the appropriate authority from the rector and spend most of his time not at the university, but at enterprises

In general, the participants of the round table agreed that the list of issues raised is long, but nevertheless not complete. It requires regular discussion and clarification. To establish a permanent dialogue between the state, universities and companies, a communication platform should be created.

As Grigory Ivliev said at the end of the round table, there is already a specific example of solving this problem. “I am glad that today we can see in practice one of the examples of cross-border communication. We are talking about the National Association of Technology Transfer Process Participants (NATT) being created, which will be able to take into account the interests of all participants in this process,” he specified.

According to the head of the department for intellectual property management at Innopraktika, a member of the board of NATT Alexey Odinokov, the established association plans to pay special attention to the selection of innovative training programs and building an ecosystem that will allow for the comprehensive and systematic formation of professional competencies necessary for work in the field of technology transfer. It is the development of such competencies both in educational and scientific organizations and in industrial companies that will make it possible to count on a significant increase in the efficiency of technology transfer.

Digital industry

This term is over ten years old. Previously, it was understood as a set of application systems that were mainly used at the stage of technological preparation of production, namely, to automate the development of programs for CNC machines, to automate the development of technological processes for assembly, to automate tasks related to planning jobs when programming robots , and for integration with shop floor systems (or MES systems, Manufacturing Execution System) and ERP resource management systems. IN last years, in connection with the emergence of new breakthrough technologies, this term has received a broader interpretation. And today it means, first of all, the use of digital modeling and design technologies for both the products and products themselves, and production processes throughout the life cycle. In fact, we are talking about creating digital twins of the product and its production processes.

National Champions

As part of the transition to project management in federal executive bodies in June 2016, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia launched the project "Support for private high-tech leading companies" ("National Champions").

The project is based on world practice, which shows that the creation of large corporations or leaders in individual industries on a global scale extremely rarely occurs without state support and in recent years, attention has been steadily growing abroad to the topic of actively stimulating the accelerated development of fast-growing technological and innovation-oriented medium-sized businesses.

The goal of the project is to ensure the outstripping growth of domestic private high-tech export-oriented leading companies and the formation of Russian-based transnational companies on their basis.

The project participants are at least 30 private high-tech companies with revenues from 500 million to 30 billion rubles.

The project will end in December 2020. It is expected that among its results there will be a fourfold increase in the volume of high-tech exports of at least 15 companies - participants of the project, the achievement of at least two companies of the project on sales of at least $ 1 billion per year, as well as the achievement of at least 10 companies of the project on sales of not less than less than $500 million a year.

The transfer of innovations is the transfer of scientific and technical knowledge and experience for the provision of scientific and technical services, the application of technological processes and the production of products.

It is necessary to take into account the difference between the concepts of the transfer of R&D results and the commercialization of R&D results.

Commercialization implies its mandatory application and transformation into a product. Transfer is the initial stage, the stage of technology transfer.

Innovation promotion methods: vertical and horizontal. With the vertical method of promoting innovation, the entire innovation cycle is concentrated in one organization with the transfer of results achieved at individual stages of innovation activity from department to department. The horizontal method is a method of partnership and cooperation, in which the leading enterprise is the organizer of innovations, and the functions for creating and promoting innovative products are distributed among the participants. A necessary component of the horizontal method of promoting innovation is technology transfer.

Technology transfer: commercial and non-commercial transfer.

Non-commercial technology transfer is most often used in the field of fundamental research and takes place in the form of free distribution of scientific and technical information (scientific and technical and educational literature, handbooks, reviews, standards, patent descriptions, catalogs and prospectuses, etc.); international conferences, sessions, symposiums and exhibitions; training and training of scientists and specialists free of charge or on the basis of parity reimbursement of expenses by the parties. Such a transfer is usually accompanied by small expenses (especially foreign exchange) and can be supported both through the state line and on the basis of company and personal contacts.

Commercial transfer applies to industrial property objects (patents for inventions, certificates for industrial designs and utility models), with the exception of trademarks, service marks and commercial names, if they are not part of technology transfer transactions; know-how and technical experience in the form of feasibility studies, models, samples, instructions, drawings, specifications, technological equipment and tools; consulting and training services; technical and technological knowledge.

Ways to implement technology transfer: research contracts; technical and analytical services; consulting services; license agreements; joint ventures; learning programs; design services; additional funding for research; formation of new "spin-off" companies.

2. Organization of technology transfer in the USA

One aspect of technology transfer is to ensure the interaction of American universities with industry. Here, several problems are revealed that are relevant for Russian conditions:

The contract for the technology to be transferred should be clearly articulated: in practice, most of the problems faced by universities or research institutes working with industry appear because at the very beginning the scope and amount of work to be done were not clearly defined. At the same time, it is necessary to reach an agreement not only at the level of the company's management, but also with the performers directly related to the development of technology and its transfer;

It is necessary at the initial stage to decide who owns the intellectual property rights: an industrial company, a research organization, or they are somehow divided. It is often more profitable for a research organization to transfer the rights to an industrial company and receive annual payments ("royalties") for the use of intellectual property;

The contract should clearly state the stages of work and the end dates for each stage, as well as the end point of the work.

Most US universities use two contracting methods:

Conclusion of a contract between an industrial organization and a university. In this case, part of the contract amount (usually 25%) is allocated to the university to support current activities and pay support staff. The rest goes to research and development, including fees research work teachers;

Conclusion of a contract between an industrial organization and a specific teacher. Most American universities allow faculty one day a week to do consulting or other personal work. Within this framework, the teacher may enter into a contract directly with an industrial organization. However, there are many restrictions on such work - for example, usually a teacher can only advise the company, but not use the equipment and other facilities of the university.

The US Air Force Laboratories often use a method to quantify the transfer potential and commercializability of technologies.

Within the framework of this method, points are given according to various criteria for assessing the potential of transfer and commercializability, which allows choosing the most promising technology from these positions.

Table 1 - Matrix for assessing the potential of technology transfer and the potential for its commercialization

S - the sum of points according to this criterion; T - total score

The transfer potential is determined by the following criteria:

1. Is the degree of preparedness of technology for transfer sufficient?

2. Is there an organization capable of assisting in the development of the technology or its transfers?

3. Is the technology promising from a market point of view?

4. How long is the commercial development of the technology?

5. Who will be the actual or potential buyer of the technology or license?

Commercialization potential

1. What is the cost of commercial technology development?

2. What type of technology is being developed - stable, fruitful or changeable? Is it possible to get a family of products or applications based on this technology?

3. Is the market ready for the technology?

4. What are the competitive advantages of this technology?

5. Has industrial development of this or similar technology been carried out or is being carried out at the present time?

For each indicator, a specific scoring system is used (0 - 5 or 0 - 10). The points are then added together to visually demonstrate the result and focus primarily on the position with the maximum amount received. If an audit is conducted not in one laboratory, but in several, the corresponding quantitative indicators are summarized.

If necessary, the matrix can be complicated by additional categories - the potential for obtaining financing, the potential for significant sales this product, the potential for other gains for the organization.

It should be kept in mind that a high technology transfer score does not necessarily guarantee a technology that will lead to commercial success. The scoring system indicates only the most likely successful technology; innovation activity is still highly risky.

The process of bringing technology to market is very complex. Methods for promoting technologies to the market must be flexible and easily responsive to changing conditions. In many cases, personal contacts of developers, informal contacts and participation in meetings and conferences play a huge role.

A database-only approach to technology transfer is rarely successful. The failures associated with this approach are determined by the following barriers:

The level of technological culture - researchers do not imagine the real needs of the industry or do not know how best to present their capabilities in order to attract the attention of the industry;

Features of the innovation process: Innovation is not a linear process, while industry often seeks to solve new problems or achieve commercial goals without a clear idea of which technology to use.

The way to overcome these barriers is personal contacts, as well as the involvement of intermediary firms that are able to organize such contacts and are ready to introduce new ideas in order to meet market demand.

Technology transfer needs to be assessed in terms of how to adapt the technology to market conditions. This is done by the following methods:

- "brainstorming" with the help of trigger questions. The purpose of trigger questions is to identify potential areas of application of this technology. The following questions may be asked:

- Did any of the members of the expert group or their employees work in the industry? In what sector of the industry? Could the proposed technology be of interest to this industry sector?

- Is it possible to make the developed product (or technology) cheaper? Who might be interested in this product, process or service at a lower price?

- Who else uses similar technological processes? Are they interested in expanding the range of their products?

- What are the key quality or unique benefits of this product, process or service? Who might be interested in any of them?

- Does the proposed product or technology provide significant environmental benefits? Who might be interested in this?

Round table meetings. The main requirement is that prior to the start of a specific round table meeting, experts must sign a non-disclosure agreement on the information received, thus making it possible to freely and confidentially discuss relevant ideas;

Organizing Open Days. "Open days" provide an opportunity to familiarize large quantity customers and potential customers with the opportunity presented by the research organization, as well as with its staff, to convince industry representatives of the feasibility of using the experience or services available in this laboratory;

Presentations. Presentations, arranged for specialists from leading industrial concerns, are a way to demonstrate the achievements of a research organization to decision makers, serve as the basis for creating strong links with industry, with intermediary organizations in the field of technology implementation.

In the development of technology transfer in the United States, the negative experience of defense technology enterprises in the UK in the late 1980s was largely taken into account.

Example. Defense Technological Enterprises was established with the aim of commercializing technologies and its approach was that the technologies developed by the firm (in the form of equipment, sensors, etc.) must be implemented in the form of licenses. The firm then focused its efforts on finding patentable intellectual property and failed, and after five years of substantial financial outlay, was closed.

The main erroneous postulates of the firm "Defence Technology Enterprises":

1. Technologies developed in the laboratories of defense organizations are at a stage close to the commercialization of the product.

In reality, available military technology: may exist as a finished military product that has higher performance and a disproportionately higher price than its commercial counterpart; may be only at the stage of proof of concept, or contain secret components, or not be patentable. There may be a situation when the developer of this technology has other priorities than assistance in preparing a license for the implementation of technology in the civilian industry.

2. Industrial workers are willing to engage in new technologies that come from sources unknown to them.

Most licensing agreements are signed after the parties have worked with each other for a certain amount of time, or if there are long, good informal personal contacts.

3. Significant licensing profits can be made over the next 3 to 5 years.

4. The various institutions of the defense complex will willingly devote time and other resources to promote the work of the Defense Technology Enterprises firm.

For details see tutorial, item 2.4.4.

Technology Commercialization Assessment (Technology Audit) - Dr. Alistair Brett, General Manager of the International Technology Incubator Program

Technology transfer is one of the main elements of the process of using the country's scientific potential. Unfortunately, in recent years, it is foreign companies that have been finding new forms of development of qualitatively new products. The methods and forms described in the article belong to the heritage of the international community, however, they have no restrictions on their use in Russia.

inventions: what's the difference?

First of all, let's agree that innovation and innovation are one and the same. Most sources indicate that innovation is akin to innovation and is synonymous with it. At the same time, both of them are distinguished by the presence of additional value in a product, service, technology ... Innovation is often defined as an introduced innovation, that is, an invention or improvement applied in practice with a certain effect.

Thus, an invention, in order for it to become an innovation, must be implemented, applied in some sector of the economy. This process is called transfer or commercialization.

What is the essence of technology transfer?

The essence of the concept of "technology transfer" is the transfer of research results (inventions) for some use. If the use implies an economic benefit for the owner of a new product or service being introduced into practice, then such a process is called commercialization. Our article deals only with the commercial introduction of innovations, so the concepts of transfer and commercialization are synonymous in this context.

The forms of capitalization of innovations can be contracts for the purchase of a patent, the creation of new companies or start-ups, various transfer centers are often used).

General principles of commercialization of scientific discoveries

It consists in giving a product or technology properties that will allow it / her to be used in practice with commercial effect.

For many years science has been developing in our country - in different directions, under different leadership, fulfilling different strategic tasks - however, at all times, special attention has been paid to the application of the results of scientists' work in various sectors of the economy. Transfer (commercialization) of technologies involves several stages:

Identification of priority areas for a new product.
Market assessment of priority areas for potential implementation.
Calculation of the economic efficiency of implementation.
Exploring possible negative consequences from the commercialization of innovation.

Consider the most popular forms of technology transfer.

Patenting

A patent is a document that certifies the exclusive right to the object in respect of which it is issued. At the same time, the invention itself must meet three key requirements:

Novelty (has no taxes).
Ingenuity (not obvious and required research to create).
Utility (can be applied in any branch of the national economy).

A special examination checks the object for compliance with these requirements and, in case of a favorable outcome, issues a certificate to the applicant.

Franchising

Franchising is one of the most popular methods of spreading new technologies in the modern world. It is distinguished by the preservation of the brand and the overall business model by the company buying the franchise. The main advantage of this method is that a ready-made business is purchased with effective methods management, sales experience and image.

However, the buyer remains dependent on the franchise owner. For example, suppliers are already determined by the owner of the technology for the user, new markets are often closed to the latter, regulatory requirements and internal documents are also not subject to change.

joint venture

Innovation and technology transfer can also take place within a joint venture. Such an organization relies on an agreement between two parties to conduct business together. Risks and costs are shared among all participants in the enterprise, which increases the efficiency of innovation dissemination.

However, the divergent interests of all beneficiaries can hinder the adoption of strategically important and urgent (operational) decisions. is also difficult in such an enterprise due to varying degrees financial and managerial participation in the business.

A joint venture for the implementation of inventions into practice often includes foreign assets, which, as a rule, are responsible for the innovativeness of the technologies used, new approaches to management. The domestic part of the founders in most cases is responsible for marketing the national market, analyzing the characteristics of the conjuncture, and local political risks. In this situation, the distribution of profits becomes a particularly complex process.

Direct Technology Acquisition

The simplest and most common method of introducing innovation into practice is the purchase of a product (technology). This method differs from franchising in the absence of obligations in a specific direction of using the purchased technology, the use of a specific management approach, brand, brand. At the same time, the buyer does not receive any skills to work with a new product/technology, and the implementation process often occurs with many errors and delays.

Foreign investment

Employees of foreign companies often visit developing countries in search of new markets and cheap labor. The country in this situation receives all the benefits of owning new technology and opportunities for a new round of development of their research activities. New jobs appear in the recipient country of innovation, and taxes are paid here. Despite this, it is necessary to take into account the indulgences and benefits provided by the state to a foreign innovation corporation.

Innovation management

Technology transfer can also occur through specific individuals holding certain positions in the top management of the company. To do this, they usually hire a foreign manager, “poaching” him from a developing innovative company. A technology patent can reduce the effectiveness of this method to zero, but nevertheless it takes place quite often.

You can “buy” not only the manager, but the entire company. This leads to entering new markets - thanks to the presence of a team capable of developing a qualitatively new product or service. Among the risks of this method, the overpriced sale price prevails (due to the possession of the secret of the innovative product by the majority of its employees).

Invention Commercialization Centers

Technology Transfer Center is an organization that is focused on generating income from the use of the results of scientific research conducted in public scientific organizations and private companies.

Such centers are often called start-ups - new small innovative enterprises formed on the use of inventions and other innovations.

The main functions of such a center:

Technical (scientific) - assessment of scientific potential, conclusion of partnership agreements, support of relations with innovation developers.
Marketing research.
Legal assistance to organizations implementing innovations.
Project management.
Administration;.
Kadarmy management.

Stages of creating a technology commercialization center

At the first stage of the creation of the center, the strategy of the organization being formed, its capabilities, risks, and the main goal are determined.

The first stage includes the definition of several key aspects:

The strategic task of the center (for whom the organization works, what problems it intends to solve, how).
Significant environment (potential clients, partners, customers, opponents).
External obstacles (whether the economic and political situation in the country/region is conducive to the creation and functioning of the center).
Internal potential of the organization (financial, material, human resources).

The answers to these questions lie in the technology transfer center and fill its main sections:

Business plan.
Marketing strategy.
Commercialization plan.
Workforce Development Plan.
Personnel training plan.

The second stage involves the formation of the organizational structure of the enterprise. At the same time, special attention should be paid to the diverging interests of the participants and the presence of external factors. At the same stage, the market is analyzed, the founders, clientele and organizational legal form center (its capabilities in the political and economic system of the region).

Basic conditions for the formation of technology transfer centers

Technology Transfer Center can be established by any organization and individuals, but most often the ideologists of such enterprises are:

1. Research organizations (research institutes, universities) - performers of work.

2. Authorities (usually regional and local) - promoting the development of technology commercialization in the respective region.

3. Private companies - business interests.

Market valuation can be carried out in three ways:

Regional direction.
International level.
Thematic concentration.

Technology transfer is, of course, the main task of any commercialization center, but there are two main areas of activity for such organizations:

Consulting - auditing, patenting, business planning, marketing, investment management, etc.
Creating and maintaining a high-tech business - searching for promising technologies, selling unique products.

The transfer of innovative technologies can be carried out with the help of an organization or center of any legal form: a division of an existing organization, a consortium, a commercial or non-commercial entity etc.

Development of technology transfer in Russia and abroad

The main conditions for ensuring commercialization are:

Reforming and simplifying the research sector of the economy in order to increase its dynamism and focus on innovative needs.

At the moment, such a reform is taking place, which ensures the transfer of technologies in Russia, guaranteeing GDP growth and new solutions to problems and tasks in various sectors of the economy. At the same time, various research institutes are being closed and merged, new innovation centers with specific functions in the overall process of the country's innovative development are being created.

Giving state research institutes and universities new legal statuses.

This is one of the most important aspects of the functioning of the technology transfer system, which is aimed at implementing the tasks of introducing new developments into practice. To this end, technology transfer networks are currently being created in Russia, which allow for the cooperative implementation of a qualitative reorganization of modern industry and other sectors of the national economy.

Implementation of a system for analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of research.

At the moment, there are many methods for evaluating the effectiveness of innovations based on economic approaches and mathematical modeling. At the same time, it is extremely difficult to take into account external factors affecting the industry in which implementation is supposed to be carried out.

Stimulation of international scientific and technological cooperation.

The exchange of experience has always been welcomed in the development of knowledge-intensive industries. Today there are associations and unions of scientists from different countries which not only implement international technology transfer, but also largely determine the course of development of world science.

Increasing the absorptive capacity for innovation in small and medium-sized companies.

The creation of innovations and the introduction of innovations in private business is underdeveloped due to the lack of sufficient information on the benefits of applying innovations, as well as due to the lack of qualified consulting services.

In conclusion, it should be noted that international methods of technology transfer combine existing forms of business development, only taking into account the specifics of innovation.