Technology Transfer organisations - a view

Lets start with the simple straightforward facts and see where they lead us!

Technology Transfer organisations within Universities play a critical role in supporting technology transfer from academia to industry and have developed in the UK over the last 20 years to an effective and efficient set of organisations. However the most effective approaches are wider than the simple methods of IP identification , patenting and realising value via licensing and company creation. For example the expertise in IP identification and exploitation generated by bodies such as ISIS and Imperial Innovation is fantastic but is only part of the story.

I've discussed before than IP realisation on is not the major part of an Academic offering and the better and wider thinking organisations have taken on the role of optimising general engagement with industry. The routes include direct contact, skills development for, and with industry and the creation of longer term partnerships that involve joint resource investment and exploitation by the best people. Working with various Universities over the past 6 years engaging them with UKTI and supporting their international engagements it is clear that looking at a range of Universities such as Kings College, Exeter, Hertfordshire, Coventry, and Salford get the overall idea. Which is that engaging with the external world not only supports the greater UK offering but also ensures impact of academics and staff is much greater. I should add that other Universities also have their areas of excellence and the government line that the UK University sector is world beating has to be recognised.

Within the 160 UK Academic Institutions there exists a healthy competition and a wide variety of different strategies, strengths and strategic industry links. The one trend that I really support given such a large and healthy set of bodies is cooperative approaches, especially overseas. Honourable mention here of SetSquared and the West Midlands Universities. The development of real partnerships has to deal with the academic arrogance seen in long established Universities. This may be justified in brilliance of minds, where I wouldn't try and compete!, but certainly offers a one way route to increasing irrelevance.

Recently in a number of places I've been putting forward the idea that in London we have the leading Academic City of the World, bar none! Lets hope that there are enough people with vision and drive to make more of that fact for the benefit of the UK as a whole.

As background the key organisations in this area include PraxisUnico, Auril and the wider group body of the Institute of Knowledge Transfer. My concern is that as bodies they focus on the process identification, protection and exploitation of IP neglecting the wider offering that Universities can provide. Although that is tempered by the many individually brilliant and effective people, sometimes stymied by the academic hierarchy.