From BIK to TIK by
academic/industry networking:
Activities of NMP Networks of
Excellence
Patrick Navard
MINES Paristech/CNRS/Armines
Centre de Mise en Forme des Matériaux – CEMEF
Sophia Antipolis - France
Coordinator of the NMP European Polysaccharide
Network of Excellence (EPNOE)
Version 0.5
Outline
I
Innovation: a missing link between
academic research and industrial
exploitation
II NMP Networks of Excellence approaches
III Conclusions
I
Innovation: a missing link between
academic research and industrial
exploitation
What is innovation ?
Innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved
product (good or service), or process, a new marketing method, or a new
organisational method in business practices, workplace organisation or
external relation.
Firms innovate to improve performances (new or better products, lower
costs, ..).
Organising innovation is a pre-condition for technical innovation.
We will focus here on R&D driven innovation coming from academic
institutions but the approach is also valid for large companies active in
different not-connected sectors.
The missing link between academia and industry
Academic research
More than 1.4 million
researchers
in EU-27
Study on mobility patterns and career paths of EU
researchers 2010
Many tools to perform these tasks
•Legal
•Standardisation
•Technology transfer agencies
•Clusters
•Business nurseries
•Networks
•etc……
Proposal for two new notions
Basic Innovative Knowledge (BIK)
Transferable Innovative Knowledge (TIK)
Basic Innovative Knowledge (BIK)
• Not simple research results
• Importance of novelty and breakthrough
• Can be fully or empirically understood
BIK is what scientists are looking for.
Basic Innovative Knowledge: three possibilities
1. Not identified or dormant.
2. Publication in the best possible journal
3. Can be transferred to industry
as a Transferable Innovative Knowledge
Basic Innovative Knowledge (BIK)
Transferable Innovative Knowledge (TIK)
Basic Innovative Knowledge: three possibilities
1- Not identified or dormant.
Very common
2- Publication in the best possible journal
The most profitable attitude for a scientist.
3- Identified as potentially transferable to industry
as a Transferable Innovative Knowledge
Why to bother doing this??
Scientists are evaluated on their scientific performances:
1. Invitation as key-note lecturers
2. Number and quality of publications
3. « h » factor, number of citations, etc..
Basic Innovative Knowledge (BIK)
Transferable Innovative Knowledge (TIK)
Basic Innovative Knowledge: three possibilities
1- Not identified or dormant.
Very common
2- Publication in the best possible journal
The most profitable attitude for a scientist.
3- Identified as potentially transferable to industry
as a Transferable Innovative Knowledge
but why to bother doing this??
Scientists have no direct interest in transfering knowledge:
1. Time consuming
2. Patenting is complicated
3. No recognition by scientific community
4. Very low chance to earn money
Basic Innovative Knowledge (BIK)
Transferable Innovative Knowledge (TIK)
Basic Innovative Knowledge: three possibilities
1- Not identified or dormant.
Very common
2- Publication in the best possible journal
The most profitable attitude for a scientist.
3- Identified as potentially transferable to industry
as a Transferable Innovative Knowledge
Why to bother doing this??
How to help identifying it?
Transforming (BIK) into (TIK), where are the blocking points ?
Dormant knowledge: to wake up dormant knowledge needs strong, close
connection of the inventors or a given dormant knowledge with other stake
holders able to identify its interest. Segmentation of research knowledge,
lack of areas of trustiness are some factors hampering this wake up.
Publications: No incentive to use this potentially Transferable Innovative
Knowledge by lack of evaluation of the obstacles by political instances.
Transferable Innovative Knowledge: all the legal, administrative and
technical aspects are in place in most EU countries for favoring the
transfer of a TIK to a company.
What are the actions taken by NMP Networks of Excellence for
helping innovation ?
II NMP Networks of Excellence approaches
Networks of Excellence
Networks of Excellence
FP6 instrument aimed at combating fragmentation in a certain area by
integrating a critical mass of resources and expertise.
Creation of more than one hundred of such Networks.
A few networks manage to survive by creating a common structure (mainly
of non-profit association type), durable and financially self-sustained.
NMP
• EPNOE (polysaccharides)
• PI (piezoelectric materials)
• eCAM (catalysis and magnetic nanomaterials)
• KMM-VIN (knowledge-based multifunctional materials)
Activities of NMP Networks of Excellence
Basic Innovative Knowledge:
1- Not identified or dormant.
2- Publication in the best possible journal
3- Identified as potentially transferable to industry
as a Transferable Innovative Knowledge
Activities of NMP Networks of Excellence
Basic Innovative Knowledge:
1- Not identified or dormant
2- Publication in the best possible journal
3- Identified as potentially transferable to industry
as a Transferable Innovative Knowledge
• Strengthening of the area of trustiness
• Innovation correspondent in each partner’s institution
• Listing of knowledge and expertise seen as being without interest by
authors
• “Brain-storming” and “waking up” sessions with academic and
industrial specialists of specific areas
Activities of NMP Networks of Excellence
Basic Innovative Knowledge:
1- Not identified or dormant
2- Publication in the best possible journal
3- Identified as potentially transferable to industry
as a Transferable Innovative Knowledge
• NMP Networks of Expertise are used to work with industry (in 2009,
EPNOE academic partners had 270 R&D projects with industry for a total
budget > 26M€)
• But it is not changing the evaluation modes of scientists.
Activities of NMP Networks of Excellence
Basic Innovative Knowledge:
1- Not identified or dormant
2- Publication in the best possible journal
3- Identified as potentially transferable to industry
as a Transferable Innovative Knowledge
- Breaking discipline barriers and expanding to new industrial sectors
- Identifying industrial needs through surveys and visits to
companies
- Identification of European and International companies that might
need specific service (joint projects, consultancy for companies, focused
training courses and dedicated workshops, patent and IP brokerage,
valorisation of research results)
- Communication on available TIK present in the NoE
- Organization of workshops
- Common databases
III Conclusions
BIK
to
TIK
• Networks of Excellence are strongly engaged in innovation activities.
• They are novel organisation able to bring together academia and
industry
• They are also active in other areas (basic research, education)
• NoE’s had to invent new ways and behaviour for organizing network
activities in a sustainable, long term manner.
www.epnoe.eu
Centre de Mise en Forme des
Matériaux
www.cemef.mines-paristech.fr