Zbornik 24. mednarodne multikonference • INFORMACIJSKA DRUZBA Zvezek E Proceedings of the 24th International Multiconference INFORMATION SOCIETY Volume E I S S 0 S I 14. mednarodna konferenca o prenosu tehnologij 14th International Technology Transfer Conference Urednika • Editors: Špela Stres, Robert Blatnik 7. oktober 2021 Ljubljana, Slovenija • 7 October 2021 Ljubljana, Slovenia • http://is.ijs.si Zbornik 24. mednarodne multikonference INFORMACIJSKA DRUŽBA – IS 2021 Zvezek E Proceedings of the 24th International Multiconference INFORMATION SOCIETY – IS 2021 Volume E 14. mednarodna konferenca o prenosu tehnologij 14th International Technology Transfer Conference Urednika / Editors Špela Stres, Robert Blatnik http://is.ijs.si 7. oktober 2021 / 7 October 2021 Ljubljana, Slovenia Urednika: Špela Stres Center za prenos tehnologij in inovacij Institut »Jožef Stefan«, Ljubljana Robert Blatnik Center za prenos tehnologij in inovacij Institut »Jožef Stefan«, Ljubljana Založnik: Institut »Jožef Stefan«, Ljubljana Priprava zbornika: Mitja Lasič, Vesna Lasič, Lana Zemljak Oblikovanje naslovnice: Vesna Lasič Dostop do e-publikacije: http://library.ijs.si/Stacks/Proceedings/InformationSociety Ljubljana, oktober 2021 Informacijska družba ISSN 2630-371X Kataložni zapis o publikaciji (CIP) pripravili v Narodni in univerzitetni knjižnici v Ljubljani COBISS.SI-ID 86127875 ISBN 978-961-264-224-2 (PDF) PREDGOVOR MULTIKONFERENCI INFORMACIJSKA DRUŽBA 2021 Štiriindvajseta multikonferenca Informacijska družba je preživela probleme zaradi korone v 2020. Odziv se povečuje, v 2021 imamo enajst konferenc, a pravo upanje je za 2022, ko naj bi dovolj velika precepljenost končno omogočila normalno delovanje. Tudi v 2021 gre zahvala za skoraj normalno delovanje konference tistim predsednikom konferenc, ki so kljub prvi pandemiji modernega sveta pogumno obdržali visok strokovni nivo. Stagnacija določenih aktivnosti v 2020 in 2021 pa skoraj v ničemer ni omejila neverjetne rasti IKTja, informacijske družbe, umetne inteligence in znanosti nasploh, ampak nasprotno – rast znanja, računalništva in umetne inteligence se nadaljuje z že kar običajno nesluteno hitrostjo. Po drugi strani se je pospešil razpad družbenih vrednot, zaupanje v znanost in razvoj. Se pa zavedanje večine ljudi, da je potrebno podpreti stroko, čedalje bolj krepi, kar je bistvena sprememba glede na 2020. Letos smo v multikonferenco povezali enajst odličnih neodvisnih konferenc. Zajema okoli 170 večinoma spletnih predstavitev, povzetkov in referatov v okviru samostojnih konferenc in delavnic ter 400 obiskovalcev. Prireditev so spremljale okrogle mize in razprave ter posebni dogodki, kot je svečana podelitev nagrad – seveda večinoma preko spleta. Izbrani prispevki bodo izšli tudi v posebni številki revije Informatica (http://www.informatica.si/), ki se ponaša s 45-letno tradicijo odlične znanstvene revije. Multikonferenco Informacijska družba 2021 sestavljajo naslednje samostojne konference: • Slovenska konferenca o umetni inteligenci • Odkrivanje znanja in podatkovna skladišča • Kognitivna znanost • Ljudje in okolje • 50-letnica poučevanja računalništva v slovenskih srednjih šolah • Delavnica projekta Batman • Delavnica projekta Insieme Interreg • Delavnica projekta Urbanite • Študentska konferenca o računalniškem raziskovanju 2021 • Mednarodna konferenca o prenosu tehnologij • Vzgoja in izobraževanje v informacijski družbi Soorganizatorji in podporniki multikonference so različne raziskovalne institucije in združenja, med njimi ACM Slovenija, SLAIS, DKZ in druga slovenska nacionalna akademija, Inženirska akademija Slovenije (IAS). V imenu organizatorjev konference se zahvaljujemo združenjem in institucijam, še posebej pa udeležencem za njihove dragocene prispevke in priložnost, da z nami delijo svoje izkušnje o informacijski družbi. Zahvaljujemo se tudi recenzentom za njihovo pomoč pri recenziranju. S podelitvijo nagrad, še posebej z nagrado Michie-Turing, se avtonomna stroka s področja opredeli do najbolj izstopajočih dosežkov. Nagrado Michie-Turing za izjemen življenjski prispevek k razvoju in promociji informacijske družbe je prejel prof. dr. Jernej Kozak. Priznanje za dosežek leta pripada ekipi Odseka za inteligentne sisteme Instituta ''Jožef Stefan'' za osvojeno drugo mesto na tekmovanju XPrize Pandemic Response Challenge za iskanje najboljših ukrepov proti koroni. »Informacijsko limono« za najmanj primerno informacijsko potezo je prejela trditev, da je aplikacija za sledenje stikom problematična za zasebnost, »informacijsko jagodo« kot najboljšo potezo pa COVID-19 Sledilnik, tj. sistem za zbiranje podatkov o koroni. Čestitke nagrajencem! Mojca Ciglarič, predsednik programskega odbora Matjaž Gams, predsednik organizacijskega odbora i FOREWORD - INFORMATION SOCIETY 2021 The 24th Information Society Multiconference survived the COVID-19 problems. In 2021, there are eleven conferences with a growing trend and real hopes that 2022 will be better due to successful vaccination. The multiconference survived due to the conference chairs who bravely decided to continue with their conferences despite the first pandemic in the modern era. The COVID-19 pandemic did not decrease the growth of ICT, information society, artificial intelligence and science overall, quite on the contrary – the progress of computers, knowledge and artificial intelligence continued with the fascinating growth rate. However, COVID-19 did increase the downfall of societal norms, trust in science and progress. On the other hand, the awareness of the majority, that science and development are the only perspectives for a prosperous future, substantially grows. The Multiconference is running parallel sessions with 170 presentations of scientific papers at eleven conferences, many round tables, workshops and award ceremonies, and 400 attendees. Selected papers will be published in the Informatica journal with its 45-years tradition of excellent research publishing. The Information Society 2021 Multiconference consists of the following conferences: • Slovenian Conference on Artificial Intelligence • Data Mining and Data Warehouses • Cognitive Science • People and Environment • 50-years of High-school Computer Education in Slovenia • Batman Project Workshop • Insieme Interreg Project Workshop • URBANITE Project Workshop • Student Computer Science Research Conference 2021 • International Conference of Transfer of Technologies • Education in Information Society The multiconference is co-organized and supported by several major research institutions and societies, among them ACM Slovenia, i.e. the Slovenian chapter of the ACM, SLAIS, DKZ and the second national academy, the Slovenian Engineering Academy. In the name of the conference organizers, we thank all the societies and institutions, and particularly all the participants for their valuable contribution and their interest in this event, and the reviewers for their thorough reviews. The award for lifelong outstanding contributions is presented in memory of Donald Michie and Alan Turing. The Michie-Turing award was given to Prof. Dr. Jernej Kozak for his lifelong outstanding contribution to the development and promotion of the information society in our country. In addition, the yearly recognition for current achievements was awarded to the team from the Department of Intelligent systems, Jožef Stefan Institute for the second place at the XPrize Pandemic Response Challenge for proposing best counter-measures against COVID-19. The information lemon goes to the claim that the mobile application for tracking COVID-19 contacts will harm information privacy. The information strawberry as the best information service last year went to COVID-19 Sledilnik, a program to regularly report all data related to COVID-19 in Slovenia. Congratulations! Mojca Ciglarič, Programme Committee Chair Matjaž Gams, Organizing Committee Chair ii KONFERENČNI ODBORI CONFERENCE COMMITTEES International Programme Committee Organizing Committee Vladimir Bajic, South Africa Matjaž Gams, chair Heiner Benking, Germany Mitja Luštrek Se Woo Cheon, South Korea Lana Zemljak Howie Firth, UK Vesna Koricki Olga Fomichova, Russia Mitja Lasič Vladimir Fomichov, Russia Blaž Mahnič Vesna Hljuz Dobric, Croatia Klara Vulikić Alfred Inselberg, Israel Jay Liebowitz, USA Huan Liu, Singapore Henz Martin, Germany Marcin Paprzycki, USA Claude Sammut, Australia Jiri Wiedermann, Czech Republic Xindong Wu, USA Yiming Ye, USA Ning Zhong, USA Wray Buntine, Australia Bezalel Gavish, USA Gal A. Kaminka, Israel Mike Bain, Australia Michela Milano, Italy Derong Liu, Chicago, USA Toby Walsh, Australia Sergio Campos-Cordobes, Spain Shabnam Farahmand, Finland Sergio Crovella, Italy Programme Committee Mojca Ciglarič, chair Bogdan Filipič Dunja Mladenič Niko Zimic Bojan Orel, Andrej Gams Franc Novak Rok Piltaver Franc Solina, Matjaž Gams Vladislav Rajkovič Toma Strle Viljan Mahnič, Mitja Luštrek Grega Repovš Tine Kolenik Cene Bavec, Marko Grobelnik Ivan Rozman Franci Pivec Tomaž Kalin, Nikola Guid Niko Schlamberger Uroš Rajkovič Jozsef Györkös, Marjan Heričko Stanko Strmčnik Borut Batagelj Tadej Bajd Borka Jerman Blažič Džonova Jurij Šilc Tomaž Ogrin Jaroslav Berce Gorazd Kandus Jurij Tasič Aleš Ude Mojca Bernik Urban Kordeš Denis Trček Bojan Blažica Marko Bohanec Marjan Krisper Andrej Ule Matjaž Kljun Ivan Bratko Andrej Kuščer Boštjan Vilfan Robert Blatnik Andrej Brodnik Jadran Lenarčič Baldomir Zajc Erik Dovgan Dušan Caf Borut Likar Blaž Zupan Špela Stres Saša Divjak Janez Malačič Boris Žemva Anton Gradišek Tomaž Erjavec Olga Markič Leon Žlajpah iii iv KAZALO / TABLE OF CONTENTS 14. mednarodna konferenca o prenosu tehnologij / 14th International Technology Transfer Conference ...... 1 PREDGOVOR / FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................. 3 PROGRAMSKI ODBORI / PROGRAMME COMMITTEES ..................................................................................... 4 ZAHVALE / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. 12 Technology Transfer Fund - Central Eastern European Technology Transfer (CEETT) platform / Leban Marijan, Stres Špela ......................................................................................................................................... 13 Software Protection and Licensing Challenges in Europe: An Overview / Fric Urška, Stres Špela, Blatnik Robert .......................................................................................................................................................................... 19 European Guiding principles for knowledge valorisation: An assessment of essential topics to be addressed / Stres Špela, Pal Levin, Trobec Marjeta ............................................................................................................ 23 Digital Innovation Hubs and Regional Development: Empirical Evidence from the Western Balkan countries / Ćudić Bojan, Stres Špela ................................................................................................................................. 30 Technology Transfer as a Unifying Element in EU Projects of the Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation / Odić Duško, Stres Špela ............................................................................................................................... 31 Proof of Concept cases at the Jožef Stefan Institute in 2020 and 2021 / Trobec Marjeta, Stres Špela .............. 36 European Industrial Strategy - a great opportunity to strengthen the role of technology transfer offices / Pal Levin, Podobnik France, Stres Špela ............................................................................................................... 41 Knowledge generation in citizen science project using on-line tools: CitieS-Health Ljubljana Pilot / Ftičar Jure, Pratneker Miha, Kocman David ........................................................................................................................ 45 Overview of National Sources of Finance and Supports Available to Spin-Out Companies from Public Research Organizations / Žunič Vojka, Klanjšek Gunde Marta ....................................................................................... 49 Application of 3D printing, reverse engineering and metrology / Dedić Remzo, Stojkič Željko, Bošnjak Igor ..... 53 Towards the Market: Novel Antimicrobial Material / Lutman Tomaž, Vukomanović Marija ................................. 57 Technology Transfer in Belarus / Uspenskiy Alexander, Uspenski Aliaksei, Prybylski Maxim ............................ 62 DODATEK / APPENDIKS .......................................................................................................................................... 65 INTRODUCTION AND AIM OF THE CONFERENCE .......................................................................................... 66 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................................... 70 INTRODUCTION TO THE ITTC CONFERENCE AS A WHOLE .......................................................................... 71 OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAMME .................................................................................................................... 73 WELCOME ADDRESSES ..................................................................................................................................... 76 ROUND TABLE: THE FUTURE OF KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IN SLOVENIA AND EU ................................... 79 PITCH COMPETITION: BEST INNOVATION WITH COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL .............................................. 92 Course of the competition................................................................................................................................. 93 Abstracts of the competing teams and their technologies ................................................................................ 97 Real-time fluorescence lifetime acquisition system – RfLAS ...................................................................... 98 Tomappo OptiGarden – healthy, sustainable and nutritious vegetable garden planned in a few clicks... 101 Novel surface finishing procedures for medical devices, especially vascular stents ................................ 104 Superhydrophobic coatings with dual action: corrosion and antibacterial/antiviral protection .................. 106 Cutting Tool Life Estimator ........................................................................................................................ 108 Award announcement Best innovation with commercial potential ................................................................. 110 Award announcement: WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy ....................................................................................... 111 Keynote speech: PoC funding of research spin-offs ...................................................................................... 113 Keynote speech: CEETT Platform – Central Eastern European Technology Transfer Platform ................... 115 Paper presentations: scientific papers on technology transfer and intellectual property ............................... 117 Opportunities arising from publicly funded research projects / presentations of successful scientific projects ................................................................................................................................................................... 119 Award announcement: WIPO Medal For Inventors ........................................................................................ 121 Research2Business meetings (R2B meetings) .............................................................................................. 123 Connecting high-school education system with academia: Presentations of selected research topics from Jožef Stefan Institute and proposals for cooperation.......................................................................................... 124 The Conference closing .................................................................................................................................. 126 CONFERENCE CEREMONY......................................................................................................................... 128 Overview of the Conference Ceremony .................................................................................................... 129 Indeks avtorjev / Author index .............................................................................................................................. 131 v vi Zbornik 24. mednarodne multikonference INFORMACIJSKA DRUŽBA – IS 2021 Zvezek E Proceedings of the 24th International Multiconference INFORMATION SOCIETY – IS 2021 Volume E 14. mednarodna konferenca o prenosu tehnologij 14th International Technology Transfer Conference Urednika / Editors Špela Stres, Robert Blatnik http://ittc.ijs.si 7. oktober 2021 / 7 October 2021 Ljubljana, Slovenia 1 2 PREDGOVOR / FOREWORD Spoštovani državni sekretar prof. dr. Mitja Slavinec, spoštovani državni sekretar gospod Simon Zajc, spoštovani najvišji predstavniki javnih raziskovanih organizacij, spoštovani udeleženci, lepo pozdravljeni in dobrodošli na 14. Mednarodni konferenci za prenos tehnologij. Today we are gathered technology transfer experts, researchers, students and post-graduate students with entrepreneurial ambitions, established and future entrepreneurs, innovators and representatives from governmental institutions and policy-making organizations. Najlepše se zahvaljujemo soorganizatorjem, spin-out partnerjem, programskim partnerjem, promocijskim partnerjem, ter partnerjem, ki so podprli dvostranske sestanke med podjetji in raziskovalci. Za podporo se zahvaljujemo tudi Ministrstvu za izobraževanje, znanost in šport in Slovenskemu podjetniškemu skladu. Začetni del konference, pozdravni nagovori in okrogla miza bodo potekali v slovenščini, nadaljevali pa bomo v angleščini. The event, except the pitching section, is being recorded and will be made public in the next days. The welcome addresses and the round table will be held in Slovenian, later sections will be in English. Po pozdravnih nagovorih bomo začeli z okroglo mizo o prihodnosti prenosa tehnologij v Sloveniji in Evropi s častnimi gosti. Spremljali bomo tekmovanje raziskovalno-podjetniških ekip, ki se potegujejo za naziv najboljše inovacijo iz javnih raziskovanih organizacij, nato razglasitev nagrade Svetovne organizacije za intelektualno lastnino WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy. Vzporedno se bodo odvijali vnaprej dogovorjeni posamični sestanki med raziskovalci in podjetji. Osrednjo temo konference, premagovanje izzivov financiranja v t.i. dolini smrti, nam bosta predstavila spoštovana gosta: Matthias Keckl, managing partner sklada Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer in Natalija Stošicki, direktorica Oddelka za naložbe in evropske programme, SID banka. Nato bodo uveljavljeni strokovnjaki iz Slovenije in tujine predstavili znanstvene prispevke o prenosu tehnologij in intelektualni lastnini ter izbrane raziskovalne projekte. Vzporedno bo izvedena še sekcija za šole, pred zaključkom konference pa bomo razglasili tudi prejemnika nagrade WIPO Medal for Inventors. Program je, kot vidite, res bogat, saj se dotika množice aktivnosti, pri katerih smo v pisarnah za prenos tehnologij osrednjega pomena. Organizacijski odbor 14.ITTC / Organizing Committee of the 14.ITTC 3 ORGANIZACIJSKI ODBOR, PARTNERJI IN SPONZORJI / ORGANIZING COMMITTE, PARTNERS AND FINANCERS The main organizer of the 14th ITTC Conference is Jožef Stefan Institute. The organizing committee: Dr. Špela Stres, MBA, LLM, Jožef Stefan Institute Robert Blatnik, M. Sc., Jožef Stefan Institute Marjeta Trobec, M. Sc., Jožef Stefan Institute The scientiffic programme committee: Niko Schlamberger, President of Slovenian Society INFORMATIKA Doc. Dr. Tamara Besednjak Valič, Faculty of Information Studies in Novo Mesto Prof. Alexandru Marin, University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest The 14th ITTC Conference is organized in collaboration with the International multiconference Information Society (IS2021). 4 The 14th ITTC Co-organizers are: Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Faculty of Information Studies Novo mesto The 14th ITTC Programme partners are: Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds Slovenian association of technology transfer professionals (SI-TT) The 14th ITTC Spin-out partners are: Slovene Enterprise Fund 5 SID Bank (SID – Slovenska izvozna in razvojna banka) The 14th ITTC Research-to-Business meetings partners are: SRIP - Smart Cities and Communities partnership The Research-to-business meetings at the 14th ITTC Conference were co-organized in collaboration with the Enterprise Europe Network partners: Innovation Center of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade Fundació Universitat-Empresa de les Illes Balears (FUEIB) MIR Foundation Development agency of the Republic of Srpska 6 Area Science Park Business Incubator Novi Sad The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce KVK KOSGEB Ankara Ostim (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization EU and Foreign Relations Department) The 14th ITTC Associated partners are: University of Ljubljana National Institute of Biology National Institute of Chemistry 7 University of Maribor Agricultural Institute of Slovenia University of Primorska The 14th ITTC Promotion partners: University of Belgrade GIS – Transfer Center Foundation Scientific Research Centre Bistra Ptuj Centre of Excellence for Integrated Approaches in Chemistry and Biology of Proteins (CIPKeBiP) 8 Development Centre Novo mesto SAŠA inkubator SIS EGIZ SRIP Health – Medicine SRIP hrana Podjetniški inkubator Vrelec RDA Koroška - Regional Development Agency for Koroška University Industry Collaboration Centers Platforms of Turkey 9 Razvojno informacijski center Bela krajina 10 The Conference is co-financed by: Consortium for Technology Transfer Enterprise Europe Network R2B meetings are organized and co-financed in the frame of the Enterprise Europe Network (contract number 880148). Slovene Enterprise Fund The event is co-financed by the Slovenian Enterprise Fund and the European Union, namely from the European Regional Development Fund. It is implemented on the basis of the program "Substantive support of recipients of funds (SMEs) in the period from 2018 to 2023", within the Operational Program for the Implementation of European Cohesion Policy in the period 2014-2020. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The editors and organizing committee of the Conference would like to express cordial thanks to all who helped make the 14th International Technology Transfer Conference a success. We would like to acknowledge the valuable contributions to the members of the SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME COMMITTEE: Niko Schlamberger, President of Slovenian Society INFORMATIKA Doc. Dr. Tamara Besednjak Valič, Faculty of Information Studies in Novo Mesto Prof. Alexandru Marin, University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest for their contribution to the scientific programme and review of the scientific contributions and selection for publication in this Conference proceedings. Our special thanks go to the EVALUATION COMMISSION MEMBERS: Dr. Jon Wulff Petersen from Plougmann Vingtoft Matthias Keckl from Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) Nina Urbanič from Slovene Enterprise Fund Gregor Klemenčič from Deep Innovations for their evaluation of written technology commercialization proposals and selection of winning teams, authors of inventive technologies with the best potential for commercialization of the technologies, developed at Public Research Organizations. We are particularly grateful to the members of the EVALUATION COMMISSION: Alojz Barlič from Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) Matthias Keckl from Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) Nina Urbanič from Slovene Enterprise Fund, for their evaluation and selection of the awardees of the WIPO IP ENTERPRISE TROPHY and WIPO MEDAL FOR INVENTORS 12 Technology Transfer Fund - Central Eastern European Technology Transfer (CEETT) platform Marijan Leban Špela Stres Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation Jožef Stefan Institute Jožef Stefan Institute Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana Marijan.Leban@ijs.si Spela.Stres@ijs.si ABSTRACT Venture Capital (VC) is usually available to start-ups or other This article describes the importance of technology transfer young companies that show potential for long-term growth. funds in financing the transition of discoveries from the laboratory to the market, which is called bridging the commercialization gap or the “valley of death”. Presented is the newly established Central Eastern European Technology Transfer (CEETT) platform, the first multinational technology transfer investment platform ever introduced in the European Union, as well as its importance and expectations in the protection of intellectual property and technology transfer from public research organizations (PROs) to industry in Slovenia and Croatia. KEYWORDS Technology transfer, venture capital, proof of concept, technology transfer fund, commercialization gap, valley of death, Central Eastern European Technology Transfer platform, CEETT Figure 1: Commercialization gap [4]. 1 INTRODUCTION On the other hand, there is a lack of funding to develop laboratory Much of what is used today was born in a laboratory — but how discoveries to prototypes suitable for the market because this step did it develop from research to a product that can be bought? is risky for investors. Between the laboratory and the market is a Technology Transfer (TT) funds commercialise promising commercialization gap (Figure 1) that has to be bridged to research, allowing it make that crucial step from the prototype successfully put the discovery on the market as a product or world into the commercial space. Technology transfer (TT) can service. be broadly defined as the process of converting scientific findings from research organisations into useful products by the commercial sector [1]. TT is also known as “knowledge transfer or knowledge sharing” [1], the process whereby an enterprise converts scientific findings from research laboratories and universities into products and services in the marketplace [1]. This understanding is adopted for the purposes of the present article. The transformation of scientific findings into products can take place through a number of means, in particular through the collaboration between research organisations and industry, the licensing of intellectual property rights, the creation of start- up businesses or university spin-out companies. Although Technology Transfer seed investments in Europe are in the radar of some investors, academic research is often considered to be 'too new' or 'too high-risk' to be transferred out Figure 2: Technology readiness levels and the “valley of of the research laboratory and financed by the traditional death” [5]. investors [2]. New discoveries and technologies may not realize their potential unless they become attractive to industry or The journey of new technology from research to downstream investors, so the aim of the European Investment commercialization goes through a number of technology Fund (EIF) [3] is to play an important role. readiness levels (TRLs). The latest version of the scale from 13 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia M. Leban et al. NASA includes nine TRLs and has gained widespread Investment Fund (EIF) [3] remains a crucial player, often taking acceptance across governments, academia, and industry. The the role as lead investor. The EIF is a specialist provider of risk European Commission adopted this scale in its Horizon 2020 finance to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) program. across Europe. It is part of the EIB Group. EIF’s shareholders are the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union, Academia tends to focus on TRLs 1–4, whereas industry prefers represented by the European Commission, and a wide range to work with TRLs 7–9, rarely 6. Therefore, TRLs 4–6 represent of public and private banks and financial institutions. EIF carries a gap between academic research and industrial out its activities using either its own resources or those provided commercialization. This gap, show in Figure 1 as the commercialization gap, is colloquially referred to as the by the European Investment Bank, the European Commission, technological “valley of death” (Figure 2) to emphasize that by EU Member States or other third parties. By developing and many new technologies reach TRLs 4–6 and die there. offering targeted financial products to EIF’s intermediaries, such as banks, guarantee and leasing companies, micro-credit 2 TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER FUNDS providers and private equity funds, EIF enhances SMEs access Venture capital (VC) funds are pooled investment funds that to finance. manage the money of investors who seek private equity stakes in EIF also seeks to support financially sustainable Technology startups and small- to medium-sized enterprises with strong growth potential. These investments are generally characterized Transfer structures or funds. These intermediaries typically as very high-risk/high-return opportunities. Although invest into projects or start-up companies, at proof of concept investments of VC funds in start-ups are risky, investments in (PoC), pre-seed, seed, post-seed to A & B rounds, where the development of technology between TRL4 and TRL 6 are even companies can be financed further by the normal Venture capital more risky. As a result, VC funds with private equity / Private equity investor. The EIF have become one of the main participation do not typically invest in bridging the “valley of European investors providing guidance and cornerstone funding death”. So, special technology transfer funds are needed to to players in this emerging market segment. Between 2006 and financially support the development of discoveries from TRL 4 2018 the EIF alone invested an amount of about EUR 1.7 billion to TRL6. in 38 TT funds throughout Europe [6]. While the market is more advanced in the Nordic countries and Western Europe, two TT Technology transfer still remains a rather political investment funds have recently been established in Germany in cooperation field, but one that offers economic opportunities with a growing with the Fraunhofer Society and the Max Planck Foundation, potential for commercialization. Even though private investors respectively. The number of TT funds funded by the EIF [3] become more and more interested in this field, the European between 2006 and 2020 is shown in Table 1. There are very few other TT funds in Europe not funded by the EIF (if any). Table 1: Technology Transfer (TT) Funds funded by the EIF by country and year of start of funding. 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 sum France 1 1 3 3 1 2 1 12 United Kingdom 1 1 1 2 1 7 Italy 1 2 1 2 6 Belgium 1 1 1 1 1 5 Netherlands 1 1 1 3 Turkey 2 3 Germany 2 3 Sweden 1 1 2 Norway 1 1 2 Portugal 1 1 Spain 1 1 Ireland 1 1 Finland 1 1 Switzerland 1 1 In terms of best practices, the most relevant somehow are IP team/first time funds, and both good examples of how a fund Venture [7] in UK and CD3 [8] in Belgium. Another very should collaborate with the research institutes). interesting is Innovation Industries [9] in Netherlands. Of the Italian ones that the EIF funded through ITAtech [10], each is 3 CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPEAN quite interesting, especially because they have been funded through a similar initiative (and the only one such initiative at the TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (CEETT) moment). Particularly interesting would be Sofinnova Telethon PLATFORM [11] (Sofinnova is one of the most important VC firm in Europe, In July 2021, the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the and the strategy is focused on rare and genetic diseases), or European Investment Bank Group, the Slovenia’s national Progress Tech Transfer [12] and Eureka [13] (both first time promoter bank, SID Banka, and the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) signed an agreement 14 Technology Transfer Fund - Central Eastern European Information Society 2021, 7 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Technology Transfer (CEETT) platform Coloured columns show countries’ performance in 2019, usin g the most recent data for 27 indicators, relative to that of the EU in 2012. The horizontal hyphens show performance in 2018, u sing the next most recent data, relative to that of the EU in 2012. Grey columns show countries’ performance relative to that of the EU 2012. For al years, the same measurement methodology has been used. The dashed lines show the threshold values between the performance groups. Figure 3: Slovenia's innovation performance fell in 2012/18 (source EIS [17]). on establishing a regional technology transfer platform, Central technology transfer office (TTO) in Slovenia at public research Eastern European Technology Transfer - CEETT platform [14], organizations (PRO or JRO in Slovene). In January 2015, Dr from research institutions to the economy, amounting to at least Špela Stres, the head of the CTT, was invited to an “ad-hoc 40 million euros. The scope of the EIF’s SEGIP (Slovene Equity meeting on the design of the EC's pilot Technology Transfer Growth Investment Programme) and CROGIP (Croatian Growth Financial Facility (TTFF)". As the only representative from the Investment Programme) mandates has been expanded to include EU13 countries, together with 14 colleagues from more the support for business applications of Slovene and Croatian innovative and open environments in Western Europe, she academic research via a commitment to a technology transfer participated in the final stages of creating the Technology fund operating in the two countries. The resulting joint initiative Transfer Financial Facility pilot, from which Invest EU later is the first investment programme under the Central and Eastern grew and the participation of the European Investment Fund with European Technology Transfer (CEETT) initiative, to which SID various actors in Europe in the creation of the Proof of concept Banka contributed an additional EUR 10 million to SEGIP, (PoC) funds. They all shared the opinion that the European HBOR contributed additional EUR 10m to CROGIP and the EIF Commission's initiative to finance the technology transfer of made further EUR 20 million available for investment. Thus, the research results from universities and other public research total available funding amount indicatively represents EUR 40 organizations to the economy and society is crucial for the million. development of processes linking excellent and prioritized science and knowledge transfer to the economy and society. The CEETT will invest in venture capital funds and finance innovative technological research projects and the protection of 3.1.1 Why is such a Proof of Concept (PoC) Fund measure the intellectual property of universities and research institutes in urgently needed? Slovenia and Croatia. It will also fund the commercialisation of The strong European, Slovenian and Croatian research success is scientific achievements and research projects. currently not translated into innovation due to the lack of breakthrough innovations that create new markets. Two financial This is the first multinational investment platform for technology gaps (2 “valleys of death”) prevent innovations: transfer ever launched in the European Union. The EIF estimates 1) The transition from laboratory to enterprise and that the universities and research institutes in Slovenia and 2) Scale-up (growth) for high-risk innovative start-ups. Croatia targeted by the platform will generate more than 350 patent applications and 100 spin-off companies in the next five In addition, many national and local ecosystems have been years [15]. established, but they are fragmented and unconnected. In addition, not all PROs (JROs in Slovene) and all talents Investment in innovation and technology transfer will be key to (especially not women and young people) are systematically the long-term sustainable green economy, job creation and global involved in innovation processes. It is at least partly due to such competitiveness of the European Union. a situation that e.g. Slovenia's innovation performance decreased in the period 2012–2018 (Figure 3). Slovenia fell 6 places (for an 3.1 Benefits of the platform from the point of extra place in 2019) and went from strong innovators to moderate view of the research organization followers. The trend shows an even more worrying picture, as Slovenia is only slightly below average in terms of results, but The Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) at the with the most negative trend of all EU28 countries (Figure 4). Jožef Stefan [16] is the largest and the most experienced 15 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia M. Leban et al. Figure 4: Performance and trend of EU members in the field of innovation – Slovenia is slightly below average with the most negative trend (source EIS [17]). Meanwhile, Croatia is positioned slightly worse than Slovenia, growing companies, European, Slovenian, Croatian gazelles, is but its development innovation trend is average compared to the absolutely necessary. EU28. 3.1.2 What are the benefits of the Proof of concept (PoC) fund In the case of Slovenia, therefore, it is not so much a matter of for a research organization? deteriorating the absolute situation as of not improving it. The The easiest way to answer is the Jožef Stefan Institute’s (JSI) main issue of Slovenia lies in its diminishing innovation capacity example. Today, there are over forty companies operating from 2021-2019, where Slovenia’s position has dropped from directly based on JSI technology and knowledge. As early as Strong innovators to Moderate innovators (source: European 2010, the JSI adopted detailed procedures that prevent conflicts Innovation Scoreboard [17]). Even though the public R&D of interest and encourage researchers on their entrepreneurial expenditure remains at the EU average, the Slovenian scientists path. JSI has had an internal PoC fund for more than 20 years, overproduce with 155 % in number and 105% in highly cited the and the fund is not financed from the budget, but exclusively EU average. On the other hand, the product/process innovation from royalties. However, there are certainly many more and the number of SMEs innovating in house is at 80% of the EU examples that could / should be supported on their way to the average, IPR, in particular patenting issues place Slovenia at 93 market than can be financially supported by public research % of the EU average, which all results in the sales of new market organizations themselves. At JSI alone, around 30 technology and firm products at 84% of the EU average. The main solution offers have been identified that are currently waiting for a clear for this issue is to push for scientific knowledge, created and interest from the economy, or to be internally developed with the collected at the Public Research Organizations (PROs), to be help of the PoC fund to the extent that they can be marketed used in the national economy and increase its competitiveness. It independently. There are even more such offers of research is expected that the CEETT platform will play a very important results at all four universities and public faculties, as well as 17 role in reversing the negative innovation trend into a positive one. public research institutes in Slovenia and all public research institutions in Croatia. Therefore, following the example of 48 However, the funding gap for scaling up highly innovative similar European funds established in previous years, intended startups and SMEs in significant, as US venture capital specifically for cases from public research organizations, a multi- investments in the period from 2016-2020 were 4-5 times higher million PoC fund, which will be established by SID Bank than in the EU (source: Invest EU, Pitchbook) and the number together with HBOR and the European Investment Fund (EIF), and market value of “unicorn” companies (those valued at over is urgently needed. 1 EUR billion) in Europe (according to CB Insights [18] in It is crucial that a significant share of funding will also go to the January 2021) is 3-4 times smaller than in North America and pre-incorporated phase, ie projects that are still within the PROs Asia. And Slovenia lags behind Europe. There are not as many and are preparing to spin off into new start-ups. And it is this risk, spin-outs in Europe and in Slovenia as there are in the USA or the investment in the pre-incorporated phase of bridging the Asia, neither per capita nor per researcher, because there is no valley of death, that is key to the successful transfer of career path that would enable a return to the PRO, because there knowledge from public research organizations into practice and is no PoC fund and because in Slovenia failure is punished with separates it from other instruments available. ridicule and do not reward with a smile [19]. Therefore, the establishment of interconnected, integrated instruments that enable the growth of technology and researchers with it, in fast- 16 Technology Transfer Fund - Central Eastern European Information Society 2021, 7 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Technology Transfer (CEETT) platform 3.1.3 What are the direct benefits of the new fund for research time, development will raise the quality of life in the conditions organizations? of a rapidly aging society based on digitalisation and in the face The new platform will also offer funding in the early stages of of intensified climate change. TRL development, which will enable a smooth transition of projects from the research environment to the market. Funding 4 CONCLUSIONS will be open to all innovators in any priority area. The platform will act as a path finder for advanced research into new Establishment of a regional technology transfer platform, technologies and enable the growth of TRL, which is essential Central Eastern European Technology Transfer - CEETT for the transition from the laboratory to the commercial platform, the first multinational investment platform for environment. The platform will also provide access to business technology transfer ever launched in the European Union, promotion services (coaches, mentors, companies, investors and intended for Slovenia and Croatia, is a great opportunity for knowledge partners). It will further enable the development of a technology transfer from public research organization to vision for breakthrough, portfolio management and integration industry in both countries. The established technology transfer with ecosystems, and crowd-sourcing of other investors. The fund will enable the public research organizations to bridge the PoC fund will give teams from public research organizations commercialization gap or the “valley of death” and to improve enough time to come up with technology according to market the successful rate of technology transfer from the academia to needs, to decide on their further research and business path, to industry. regulate intellectual property relationships, to establish The successful operation of CEETT will require an appropriate relationships that will reward both those who will remain manager with experience in the field of venture capital researchers at the parent organization and those who will also investments and cooperation between research organizations operate within new start-ups. and companies. In addition, he will have to be aware of the specifics of Central Europe region, especially Slovenia and 3.1.4 Could public research organizations cope without the Croatia, as well as the specifics of public research Proof of Concept (PoC) fund? organizations in both countries. In 2015 it was and still is the opinion that there is enough money. That there is certainly no shortage of money to move from ACKNOWLEDGMENTS research to the economy. This is partly true. It really isn’t just money that is lacking and really the most proactive and skillful Special thanks for the establishment of the CEETT platform go can find money in any country, in any situation, despite all to the entire team of SID Bank for perseverance and, above all, obstacles, as long as they are persistent enough. This is called tireless proactivity in establishing the fund. Thanks also go to entrepreneurship. As Professor Howard Stevenson, the godfather colleagues Dr Tony Raven of the University of Cambridge, Paul of the study of entrepreneurship at Harward Business School, put Van Dunn from the Catholic University of Leuven, colleagues it, entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity beyond from the Technical University of Copenhagen, colleagues from resources controlled. Entrepreneurs need to show significant the Fraunhofer Institute in Frankfurt and many others, without progress in raising funds, and time alone is consuming available whom Slovenian investment in the establishment of the system funding. would not be possible. But the goal of society that funds research and development through gross domestic product is not just to fund excellent REFERENCES inventions and then place them at the start of a mountain trail that [1] J. Darcy, H. Kraemer-Eis, O. Debande, D. 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[19] Špela Stres, Presentation of the benefits of the platform from the point of [15] EIF, SID Banka and HBOR launch a new €40 million investment view of the research institution, speech at the signing of the joint platform to support innovation, scientific research and the protection of agreement between EIF, SID Bank and HBOR on the establishment of intellectual property in Slovenia and Croatia, Available from: Central Eastern European Technology Transfer (CEETT) platform, https://www.eif.org/what_we_do/guarantees/news/2021/eif-sid-banka- Ljubljana 26 July 2021. 18 Software Protection and Licensing Challenges in Europe: An Overview Izzivi na področju zaščite in licenciranja programske opreme v Evropi: pregled stanja Urška Fric Špela Stres Robert Blatnik Knowledge and Technology Center for Technology Transfer Center for Technology Transfer Transfer Office and Innovation and Innovation Faculty of Information Studies in Jožef Stefan Institute Jožef Stefan Institute Novo mesto Jamova cesta 39 Jamova cesta 39 Ljubljanska cesta 31 A 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia 8000 Novo mesto, Slovenia spela.stres@ijs.si robert.blatnik@ijs.si urska.fric@fis.unm.si ABSTRACT KLJUČNE BESEDE With the transition of innovation to the digital sphere, software Programska oprema, patenti, zaščita in izkoriščanje pravic intelektualne lastnine, izzivi, Evropa. has become an important part of contemporary inventions and creations and it is also an extremely important part of intellectual property – in Slovenia and in Europe. The software protection in 1 INTRODUCTION the European Union – that is, in Europe – not considered fully arranged. Computer scientists face a number of challenges when Computers are part of almost every area of contemporary life it comes to exploiting intellectual property rights in software. and they are becoming more advanced every day, with The field therefore offers many opportunities for further work. In increasingly small gadgets performing increasingly complicated this paper, we discuss software and focus mainly on the tasks. Consequently, the number of new inventions seeking challenges computer scientists face in protecting and licensing patent status in the field has been rising steadily. In fact, patent software in the European innovation arena. applications for computer-based inventions display one the highest growth rates across all patent categories arriving at the KEYWORDS European Patent Office (EPO). A thorough examination process Software, patents, protection and exploitation of intellectual awaits all new applications in this field. The crucial aim is to property rights, challenges, Europe. distinguish between legitimate technological innovations which contribute to the overall technological progress and straightforwardness and inventiveness of computer-implemented POVZETEK inventions. [1] S prehodom inovacij na digitalno področje je programska Over the last decade there has been an intense debate over oprema postala pomemben del sodobnih izumov in stvaritev, the extent to which software should be the subject to patent hkrati pa predstavlja izjemno pomemben del intelektualne protection as opposed to copyright protection for a program. lastnine – tako v slovenskem kot evropskem prostoru. Stanja na Different understanding applies to the US, Europe and the rest of področju zaščite programske opreme v Evropski uniji oz. v the world. Many companies in the software industry are Evropi s pravnega vidika še vedno ne moremo obravnavati kot apprehensive of the perceived difficulty of defining the scope for povsem dorečenega, prav tako pa se znanstveniki na področju software patent. Inappropriate scope definitions can result in računalništva soočajo s številnimi izzivi, ko gre za izkoriščanje legal proceedings involving large fees where plaintiffs have the pravic intelektualne lastine iz programske opreme. Področje zato advantage of patent ambiguity. Others feel equally strongly that narekuje številne priložnosti za nadaljnje delo. V prispevku the software industry needs strong software patents. [2] obravnavamo programsko opremo, pretežno pa se posvečamo Currently, software that does not demonstrate a technical izzivom, s katerimi se znanstveniki na področju računalništva contribution can only be protected by copyright, which does not soočajo pri zaščiti in licenciranju programske opreme v protect ideas. The appearance of a command line or graphical evropskem inovacijskem prostoru. interface can be protected as a registered design, whereas a patent for computer or mobile application can be granted if a technical ∗Article Title Footnote needs to be captured as Title Note contribution is demonstrated. Under EPO rules, if this criterium †Author Footnote to be captured as Author Note is fulfilled software must be connected to the hardware. [3] Part Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or of the reason for the lack of appropriate legal instrument is that classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed such inventions are very specific and proving their technical for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must contribution and industrial applicability can be challenging. [3] be honored. For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s). In order for computer scientists to successfully market software, Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia © 2021 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). the Public Research Organization (PRO) system needs to provide 19 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia U. Fric et al. the motivation and reward computer scientists for it. The present ownership of a newly developed technical solution or creation state of European innovation arena contains nothing to motivate that is autonomously created, enabled or co-created by a computer scientists in this respect. program. Methods of resolving the question without stifling The current situation calls for a study to identify the most critical innovation potential are subjects of intense debate and points in order to update some of the legal bases, to address this accelerated activity at the EPO [7]. area more clearly and to resolve the issue of rewarding computer scientists (described in this document with the focus on software), also in terms of Technology Transfer Office (TTOs) 3 SOFTWARE AND EXPLOITATION OF role. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS 3.1 Software Licensing Process 2 SOFTWARE IN THEORY AND PRACTICE Intellectual property is an essential tool for protecting the The European Patent Convention stipulates in Article 52(2) value created by software. As a general rule, almost all software (c) that programs for computers are not regarded as inventions is protected, including the smallest libraries and subroutines. [4]. European Patent Convention in this Article excludes Intellectual property rights are divided into economic and moral computer programs from patentability. It is important to rights. [8] emphasize the distinction between "software patents", which are Economic rights give the holder the right to exploit the work excluded according to the aforementioned Article, and and prevent others from using it without consent, and are aimed "computer-implemented inventions", which are accepted by EPO at economic gain. The right to use can be granted by license. [5]. Exclusive license allows the holder to exclude others from using Software that does not demonstrate a technical contribution the intellectual property in question and, if it is transferable, it can only be protected by copyright which does not protect ideas. allows the holder to grant third parties the rights to use it. A The appearance of a command line or a graphical interface can license is a permission granted by the licensor to the licensee to be protected as a registered design, whereas a patent for computer use an identified asset under certain conditions. In doing so, the or mobile application can be granted if a technical contribution licensor may determine at their discretion the extent of the is demonstrated. Under EPO rules, if technical contribution is exclusive intellectual property rights granted in respect to the successfully demonstrated the software must be connected to the asset (and, conversely, the rights it reserves for itself). Moral hardware. [3] rights include the right to authorship, the right to publish the Although the European Patent Convention excludes work anonymously or under a pseudonym, and the right to "computer programs" from patentability to the extent that a integrity of the work. In most countries (including all EU patent application relates to a computer program "as such", this countries), copyright protection lasts throughout the author's is interpreted to mean that any invention that makes a non- lifetime and extends 70 years after their death. [6] obvious "technical contribution" or "solves" a "technical As we have seen above, software is very specific as far as problem" in a non-obvious way is patentable, even if the intellectual property is concerned – it can be protected by several technical problem can be solved by running a computer program. types of intellectual property rights ranging from pure creations [6] of the mind to technical inventions. But a whole new level of The problem of strictly classifying software similar to a complexity arises from intangible nature of software, variety of literary work arises when one considers that computer programs uses and different means of creating value from software. As a have other elements that are usually not protected by copyright. consequence, the means of creating value from software can vary Software is not just a literary expression – lines of code have a considerably depending on the exploitation scheme chosen and function that does not depend on their grammatical construction. associated ecosystem to which the use of software in question is Issues related to protection of additional elements of computer directed. Nevertheless, licensing plays an essential role in programs have created a perceived need for software creating value through management of intellectual property patentability. Today, the three largest patent offices in the world associated with software development. Business models are – in the EU, US and Japan – allow patenting of certain software, formalized in a contract, usually in the form of licensing although there are differences in the criteria they use when agreements which impose specific rules of use on third parties accepting applications. In the US, all new and non-obvious who intend to exploit the software. Figure 1 shows some typical software that produces a useful material and tangible result is software licensing models. [6] eligible for patent protection, whereas in Europe the technical contribution of the invention must be defined as described above (also applies to Slovenia). These discussions led to the widely accepted principle that computer programs should be protected by copyright, while apparatus using computer software or software-related inventions should be protected by patent. [6] Protecting and obtaining intellectual property rights in fast- growing areas such as artificial intelligence is a particular challenge. Artificial intelligence provides entirely new Figure 1: Classification of typical software licenses approaches to creation of intellectual property. Questions arise as to the eligibility of patent protection, authorship and rights 20 Software Protection and Licensing Challenges in Europe: An Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Overview Free and open-source software rights include use, inspection 2. Node licensing, where the license can be used by multiple and modification, and distribution of modified and unmodified users, but on the same device rather than at the same time. copies. They typically allow it to be used for any purpose without 3. Site licensing (licensing for use on a dedicated website), restriction. When the code is reviewed and modified, it requires where the software may be used by multiple users on that the modified code is made available again under the same multiple devices in a specific area or company, but the conditions. The rights also allow distributing modified and number of users may be limited. 4. Network licensing (floating licensing), where the same unmodified copies of the software. When free and open-source software may be used by multiple users at the same time, software is modified, derivative works are created, and when but a central server authorizes access to the application. [6, various components of the software are assembled, composite 9, 10, 11] parts of the underlying components are created. When Component A and Component B are assembled and Component 3.2 Management of Intellectual Property Rights A is also modified, Component C is created, which is both a for Software derivative work of Component A and a composite work of Managing intellectual property in software requires the Component B. Different economic rights may arise from the use strategic and complementary use of different types of intellectual of open-source and free software. Free software derives from property. Exploitation and licensing strategies need to be licenses granted by the Free Software Foundation, while open- carefully considered, taking into account all associated costs and source software is defined by the Open Source Initiative, which market opportunities. Two basic issues should be addressed in has a more business-oriented approach. We consider the the assessment and planning process [6, 12, 13]: following types of such licenses [6, 9, 10, 11]: 1. Why was the software created: was it intended to generate 1. Academic licenses are extremely open, permissive licenses income through licensing to end users or was it developed which allow licensees to perform, modify, and distribute as part of a scientific project without an exploitation derivative works without restrictions, although licenses for strategy in mind? Even if we focus only on the technical derivative works may lead to new licensing terms, including proprietary ones. Such licenses are generally accepted in challenges of R&D, we should not neglect the long-term academia. benefits of protecting intellectual property not only from a 2. Contextual licenses allow licensees to use, modify, and revenue perspective but also in light of reusing the distribute derivative works, provided that the derivative or developed software in future applications. composite works are distributed under the same license. 2. How was the software developed: which are our own Specific form of such license is called a "Copyleft license" components, what have we obtained from elsewhere, and, if which is the practice of granting the right to freely distribute obtained from elsewhere, under which licenses? and modify intellectual property with the requirement to Developing from third-party components can result in legal preserve the same rights in derivative works created from challenges as the individual licenses of different third-party that property. The main advantage of such license is to ensure joint investment, as no derivative or major works can software may not be compatible. be licensed under another license. They allow the original Derivative works based on academic license software licensor to be granted the same rights in the derivatives as components may be re-licensed under the same type of license or those originally acquired by the original code licensees. upgraded to contextual or reciprocal licenses which are 3. Reciprocal licenses are very complex as licenses of major compatible. If necessary, contextual licensing code can be re- works using an unmodified version of the original licensed by reusing the same license, upgrading the license to a component under a contextual license are not limited by the newer version that remains in the same contextual field, or original license and derivative product containing a switching to reciprocal licenses. It is not allowed to embed free modified component must be released under the same and open-source software in proprietary software. However, it is license. Many different types of contractual relationships or possible to combine copyleft-licensed software without contractual sets of rules can be derived from proprietary licenses, copyright and some contextual rights (e.g., LGPL). [6] all of which typically require a financial contribution from the However, if the software is protected exclusively by end user. Exceptions are: copyright it is possible to easily circumvent all prior rights as long as we have access to the source code: the same idea can 1. Freeware, where the software is available free of charge but simply be implemented in another source code. As previously any modification of the code is prohibited. 2. Shareware, where the user is free to use the software for a explained: copyright does not protect the idea, only its expression. limited period of time or with limited functionality, but in A new implementation of the code is the only legal way to order to gain access to the full unrestricted version an convert academic or reciprocal software code into proprietary additional license must be obtained. code and sell and license it under the rights granted by copyright All proprietary licenses prohibit modification of the law. software, impose strict conditions of use and usually do not allow access to the source code. Typical models for proprietary licenses are: 4 CONCLUSION 1. End-user licensing where the license can be used by a The situation of software in the European innovation arena specific user while sharing with other users is not allowed. can still be considered as neither resolved nor uncertain in legal However, the license can be used by the same user on different devices. terms, thus raising a number of open questions and opportunities for further work. 21 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia U. Fric et al. TTOs are deeply involved in the work of organizations where [2] Stephen Jonson. 2015. Guide to Intellectual Property. What it is, how to inventions and creations take place. Their expertise primarily protect it, how to exploit it. The Economist in Association with Profile Books Ltd. And PublicAffairs, New York. helps computer scientists who create software evaluate which [3] Urška Fric and Nina Tomić Starc. 2021. Computer-Implemented problem they are solving and based on that make an informed Inventions and Computer Programs – Status Quo in Slovenia and EU. Informatica, 45, 5 (Aug, 2021), 667–673, DOI: decision on how to protect intellectual property using copyright https://doi.org/10.31449/inf.v45i5.3468 or patent. In view of the above, TTOs can contribute to a [4] European Patent Office. 2007. European Patent Convention (EPC 1973). constructive decision-making process regarding the future of https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/html/epc/1973/e/ar52.html [5] European IP Helpdesk. 2020. Copyright or Patent – how to protect my software protection and rewards for computer scientists by Software? https://www.iprhelpdesk.eu/news/copyright-or-patent-how- participating in (open) public debates and presenting real-life protect-my-software [6] Urška Fric, Nina Tomić Starc, Špela Stres and Robert Blatnik. 2021. examples of scientists developing software in PRO. Programska oprema in vprašanje nagrajevanja raziskovalcev. In Modrosti In order to ensure successful marketing of software, the PRO iz inovacijskega podpornega okolja v JRO za upravljalce inovacijskega system needs to provide the motivation and a rewarding sistema, Špela Stres, Eds. Ljubljana: Institut 'Jožef Stefan' (IJS), Novo mesto: Fakulteta za informacijske študije v Novem mestu (FIŠ) Ljubljana: mechanism for scientists for their enterprise. Kemijski inštitut (KI), Ljubljana: Kmetijski inštitut Slovenije (KIS), It is good to remember that any invention that implements a Ljubljana: Nacionalni inštitut za biologijo (NIB), Koper: Univerza na Primorskem (UP). non-obvious "technical contribution" or "solves a technical [7] European Patent Office. 2020. Digital Conference. 17–18 December 2020. problem" in a non-obvious way may be patentable, even if the https://www.epo.org/news-events/events/conferences/ai2020.html [8] European IPR Helpdesk. 2014. Fact Sheet IPR Management in Software same technical problem can be solved by running a computer Development. program. Consequently, program code in which technical effect https://iprhelpdesk.eu/sites/default/files/newsdocuments/Fact-Sheet-IPR- (even if in a non-obvious way) constitutes a technical Management-in-Software-Development.pdf [9] Andrew Morin, Jennifer Urban and Piotr Sliz. 2012. A Quick Guide to improvement is patentable by its very nature. The trade secret Software Licensing for the Scientist-Programmer. PLos Computational segment is also important, since disclosure of program code Biology, 8, 7 (Jul, 2012), 1–7, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002598 without a suitable proprietary license or any license at all may [10] Daniel Gull and Alexander Wehrmann. 2009. Optimized Software result in commercial damage. By combining the technical effect Licensing – Combining License Types in a License Portofolio. Business of the software code with the trade secret effect, it is possible to & Information Systems Engineering, 4, 2009 (Jan, 2009), 277–289, DOI: 10.1007/s12599-009-0063-2 register the software code example as an invention and, [11] Carlos Denner dos Santos Jr. 2017. Changes in Free and Open Source consequently, ensure a reward for computer scientists. Software Licenses: Managerial Interventions and Variations on Project Attractiveness. Journal of Internet Services and Applications, 8, 11, (Dec, We therefore propose that regular reflection among computer 2017), DOI: 10.1186/s13174-017-0062-3 scientists within PRO is facilitated on new, marketable software [12] Goh Seow Hiong. 2005. Open Source and Commercial Software. An In- depth Analysis of the Issues. code, that verification is introduced to any technical contribution, https://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/wipo_ip_cm_07/wipo_i and that invention based on software code is registered p_cm_07_www_82575.pdf accordingly. TTOs play a key role in this respect, as their specific [13] Carlo Daffara. 2011. Open Source License Selection in Relation to Business Models. Open Source Business Resource (Dec, 2011), expertise contributes to the proper assessment and registration of https://timreview.ca/article/416 service inventions as well as to the wider popularization of software commercialization (also protected and registered in this way). At the same time, the proposed method allows computer scientists working in the field of software code development to be rewarded for their work. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS / ZAHVALA The operation is partially co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Slovenia. The operation is implemented under the Operational Program for the Implementation of European Cohesion Policy for the period 2014–2020, priority axis 1 Strengthening research, technological development and innovation. Operacijo delno sofinancirata Evropska unija iz Evropskega sklada za regionalni razvoj in Ministrstvo za izobraževanje, znanost in šport Republike Slovenije. Operacija se izvaja v okviru Operativnega programa za izvajanje evropske kohezijske politike v obdobju 2014–2020, prednostne osi 1 Krepitev raziskav, tehnološkega razvoja in inovacij. REFERENCES [1] Daniel Closa, Alex Gardiner, Falk Giemsa and Jörg Machek. 2011. Patent Law for Computer Scientists. Steps to Protect Computer Scientists. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heilderberg, Dordrecht, London, New York. 22 European Guiding principles for knowledge valorisation: An assessment of essential topics to be addressed Špela Stres Levin Pal Marjeta Trobec Center for technology transfer Center for technology transfer Center for technology transfer and and innovation and innovation innovation Jožef Stefan Institute Jožef Stefan Institute Jožef Stefan Institute Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia spela.stres@ijs.si levin.pal@ijs.si marjeta.trobec@ijs.si ABSTRACT form. However, some new aspects have arisen and are further Knowledge transfer is a complex mechanism of providing the addressed in this paper - for example, state-aid issues connected society with benefits arising from all segments of publicly to the intellectual property right (IPR) issues. financed research. Knowledge transfer is also an important To conclude, the idea of further networking between innovation mechanism to advance and improve technology transfer as its support stakeholders needs to be put forward, particularly part (as technology is only one of several research outputs [1], regarding Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). In the coming [8]), and a reason to analyse the current situation in the field. years, EEN plans to pay more attention to the field of KT, as KT This paper has three different parts. In the first part, models of is essential for raising the competitiveness of the European knowledge and technology transfer will be discussed, including economy. In this context, the presented proposal of topics that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) need to be addressed within new European Commission model of operation, as it was the basis for the development of the recommendations will be mutually beneficial in developing new European Innovation Council (EIC) of Horizon Europe internal strategies of EEN and KTOs as well. It would be of utmost management operation in which the author of this paper was importance to establish a fruitful collaboration between KTOs involved. The model is essential also for the future development and national EEN offices to assure full in-depth support to of EU Knowledge Transfer Offices (KTOs). Given its high researchers and SMEs alike in this TRL challenging exercise in budget and added operational and substantive value related to between the worlds of academia and industry, in particular given Program Managers, the EIC in a way represents the largest - a the EEN's core values (Fig.6). kind of umbrella - KTO in Europe, which should integrate many small, different and unique European KTOs into one whole. KEYWORDS Therefore, it is recommended in this paper that each European Knowledge valorization, knowledge and technology transfer, KTO reviews and understand the previous DARPA / ARPA-E knowledge transfer office, innovation, public research models and/or the European EIC model. They should use it as a organization, industry, key performance indicator, licensing, framework for adaptation of operations based on its legislation collaborative research, funding, spin-out, spin-off, intellectual and the specificities of the industrial and public sector so that property, models, technology readiness level, networking. each KTO becomes a comparable element of the whole at the European landscape. 1 MODELS OF KT: DARPA AND THE EU In the second part, a brief review of the knowledge transfer KTO WAY (KT) literature of the past 15 years will be done, given the KT profession's prevailing state of mind. A lot has been done during The formal organizational models of KTOs in the EU are ranging this time in KT development and attempts to evaluate the from internal KTOs, through institutionally owned enterprises to operation of KTOs. It turns out that there are different national national, either network-based or private regional entities. This environments, so the way KTOs operate may differ slightly from contribution will focus on an internal model of operation of a KTO to KTO. Nevertheless, there are common points in the KTO. pipeline of all KTOs, namely the KPIs represented in this paper The goal of any innovation intermediary should be to increase (Table 1), which are not limited to KTO results only (e.g. patents the deal flow, increase the number of deals, and increase the filed, license and R&D agreements), but rather act as indicators impact of those deals. The Defense Advanced Research Projects of the quality of the KTO activities. The represented Agency (DARPA) and the Advanced Research Projects Agency- nomenclature of KPIs should help set up a uniform path that Energy (ARPA-E) in the US became hands-on innovation European KTOs are supposed to follow to achieve the results. agencies to achieve such a goal. This required innovative internal In the third part, specific segments of the Commission procedures, a new risk-taking mindset and tailor-made Recommendation on intellectual property management in management. Its operating concept is to be hands-on, thus knowledge transfer activities and Code of Practice for involving the activities of a group of people in many segments, universities and other public research organisations [1] will be very similar to a proactive KTO. This concept is embedded in a touched upon. These documents are still relevant in their present set of questions known as the "Heilmeier Catechism", attributed 1 23 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Š. Stres et al. to George H. Heilmeier, a former DARPA director (1975-1977), them to the market. To support breakthrough innovations, the EU who crafted them to help Agency officials think through [2], KTOs must themselves be an organizational breakthrough in evaluate and manage proposed research programs for maximum Europe. The main components for achieving this endeavour are impact. By being proactive in managing the innovation side of centred on the creation of challenge- and thematic-driven the financed projects, DARPA and ARPA-E could successfully pipelines in each of the KTOs, high rejection rate in the operate their model for breakthrough innovation. acceptance of the cases to the portfolio, active portfolio The DARPA proactive model of operation is also present in the management of cases, transition activities that bring new work processes of the European Innovation Council (EIC), with solutions to the market and KTO personnel who binds all of this its important new feature, the Programme Managers. As Europe's together into complementary practices (see Fig.2). It is crucial to flagship innovation programme to identify, develop and scale up understand that DARPAs results show that this is the right way, breakthrough technologies and game-changing innovations, EIC and it should be investigated how such a proactive system could has a budget of €10.1 bil ion to support game-changing be set up in an environment like ours. innovations throughout the lifecycle from early-stage research to Proof of concept, technology transfer, and the financing and scale-up of start-ups and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With its Programme managers and support staff, it can be considered the largest KTO in Europe. The synergies and similarities of KTOs with EIC should be looked into. The EIC builds (and so should the EU KTOs) on active pipeline management (see Fig.1), combined with Proof of concept funding related to a well-defined pipeline of case management. The management is done by highly skilled professionals, combining technical and commercial acumen through a well- defined interface, expanding far beyond the current average Figure 2: The need for highly skilled personnel in the KTO public relations activities of the European KTOs [3]. to active pipeline management, combined with Proof of concept funding related to the pipeline [4] 2 STATE OF THE ART IN KT IN THE EU 2.1 A literature review For almost 15 years now, the Knowledge transfer flow has been discussed: on the operational and top policy levels. In this section, a discussion about the essential works in this field is given: »Communication (2007)« [5], »Recommendations (2008)« [1], »A composite indicator (2011)« [6], »Knowledge economy (2020)« [6], »Performance indicator system (2021)« [8]. The KT topic was brought into the open by the »Communication« [5], co-signed by the Slovenian commissioner for research Janez Potočnik) in 2007, just before when Kevin Cullen from Glasgow University designed his KT flow in 2008 Figure 1: From Horizon 2020 to Horizon Europe: Active (Fig.3). Moreover, Kevin's KT flow has been used ever since: in Portfolio Management of funded projects [3] A comparison the »Recommendations« in 2008, later shown in the 2011 EC between Future Emerging Technologies (FET) calls in Report »A Composite Indicator« and also in the new 2020 Horizon 2020 as a predecessor of European Innovation »Knowledge« report. Council (EIC) calls in Horizon Europe The view on the KTO role in connecting research to the economy The goal of any KTO in Europe should not be to copy the (and its vehicles) has not changed since 2007. To observe this, a DARPA/ARPA-E or the EIC model. However, it should instead comparison between Fig.3 [6] and Fig.4 [7]) can be made. The be to translate a known useful model into their context flow is divided into Research Outputs, KT Channels/Activities, considering the Horizon Europe rules, the national legislation Users/Economic Activity and Impact. The segments are not and the current national/regional/local research, development surprising because the division represents the flow-through of and innovation culture. Only in this way can the innovation knowledge in the KT system, as described already in 2008. intermediaries, the KTOs, create their own unique identity in the However, the perception of the KT community has changed for European landscape for supporting breakthrough innovations – the better in the meantime. It has at least changed in terms of the create the EU KTO way. involvement of a KTO in different KT vehicles. In 2013 the Board members and Vice Presidents of the European Association Developing the unique EU KTO way is challenging and of Technology Transfer Professionals (ASTP) even at this necessary. It will comprise novel practices supporting the premier knowledge transfer organization's top-level, we could development of breakthrough technologies and actively bringing barely discuss the inclusion of Key Performance Indicators 24 European Guiding principles for knowledge valorization: What has changed since 2008? Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia (KPIs) on software and contract or collaborative research and recognized profession. Scientific research, critically endeavours to the KT pipeline in the yearly Metrics report of analyzing the processes within KTOs, their success and fail European KTOs. Most of the time, negative comments regarding factors, and a rigorous scientific approach to monitoring trial and the importance of indicators other than licensing deals came from error knowledge transfer practices within the KTOs is needed to people working in biotech or medical technologies focused improve the EU KTOs. public research organization (PRO) environments connected to university hospitals in Western Europe. As these had a prevailing licensing deal flow at the time, primarily with the pharmaceutical industry, their interest in widening the scope of the KT vehicles was limited. Figure 4: Knowledge Transfer: from research to impact [7] 2.2 The role of the missing KT KPIs The goal of any innovation intermediary is to increase the deal flow, increase the number of deals, and increase the impact of those deals. To achieve such a goal, DARPA and ARPA-E in the US became proactive, hands-on innovation agencies. In Europe, given the Knowledge Transfer Metrics [7], in 2020, the authors Figure 3: Model of knowledge transfer within the focus on defining the KT indicators in four quadrants, including innovation ecosystem [8] Internal Context, Environment, Activity, Impact – trying to assess the inputs and the outputs of the KT system (Fig.5). In However, gradually through the years, an understanding has effect, apart from the Activity indicators, the proposed metrics arisen that as there are many different national environments, observes the enabling factors - the success factors of the KTO's there are many different economic situations, with diverse pipeline from the outside of the KTOs (which they have little technological absorption capacity from the industry, requesting influence over). On the other hand, it observes the final impacts and even demanding different vehicles to achieve actual KT. of KTO's operations on society (which are very distant from Thus, we recognized that there are indeed many different today's perspective). However, it does not focus into great detail vehicles, and as KTOs are the primary activity-focused linkage on the internal procedures and pipelines directly under the KTO's between the Public Research Organizations (PROs) and the influence. Thus, such enabling indicators have a role in industry, they should be appropriately put into the KTO practice. evaluating the level of the KTOs possible maximum results, not Many KTOs, in particular in the Eastern and Southern parts of the quality of its operations. Europe, but also such prominent ones as Cambridge Enterprise, started to empower any one of the KT vehicles (including The KT profession is clearly labelled as inefficient throughout contract and collaborative research and services), which bring Europe, which is also confirmed by the fact that the results for the global/national/regional/local economy, society Recommendations of 2008 are now being urgently reviewed by and the PRO itself. In this way, the perception of the role of a the European Commission, but seeking remedies outside the KTO in the innovation flow system remained the same community, not taking responsibility for its actions. In order to throughout the last 15 years (if we compare the figures presented improve the operation's quality, it is not enough to assess what is in 2011 [6] and in 2020 [7], they are essentially the same), but outside of the KTO's reach (internal PRO's context, the understanding and the focus of KTOs rightly shifted from environment). Moreover, it is not enough to claim that [7] the patenting and licensing to other vehicles of KT as well. However, KTO impact is long term, we cannot measure it right now, we even though progress has been made, the KT community is still shall see what happens long-term—neglecting evaluations of the struggling to define the KPIs of the KT operations completely internal KTO procedures and their efficiency results in the fact [8]. This shortcoming is an echo of the under-developed research that the profession is not advancing as fast as it should. activity in the field of KT. The results are indeed dependent on the enabling factors, but are The level of research activity in and on KT is still relatively low essentially determined by the actions taken by the KTOs [9]. in the EU. Primary sources as Joint Research Centre (JRC), TTO Thus, to improve the quality of the KTO operation in Europe, it Circle and ASTP mainly focus on producing success stories and is necessary to set up process KPIs to monitor KTO processes incomparable status reports, which lack the in-depth definition of and evaluate their quality. The focus should be paid to measuring KPIs to allow for fair and holistic assessment of the KT system the efficiency of the KT process, using Detailed Activity or in the EU. As important as success stories, networking and Process KPIs, organized as a funnel, and, on this basis, address workshops in the field of the KT profession are, these are not the shortcomings in the effectiveness of KTOs. The focus should enough to professionalize the activities and create a full-pledged be given to KTO's internal operation, evaluating the KTO 25 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Š. Stres et al. activity in detail: analyzing the deal pipelines, making them to researchers, Active marketing: number of offers prepared for professional, flow-through, and improving KTOs' performance selected companies, Number of received expressions of interest- by understanding the interdependence of the processes KTOs based on active marketing, Spinout Business Plans prepared, carry out. Internal Proof of Concept projects approved, financed and managed and others ... Table 1: The proposed nomenclature of KT Key Performance Indicators Description of KPI/Result (al counted in Number of, unless where specified) Cases accepted for processing in KT Number of patent applications filed Office with full examination First meetings with researchers - Opinions on continuation of IP inventors protection Assessments of the state of the art Passive Marketing: Preparation and publication of Technology Offers Market assessments/analysis Submitted expressions of interest First meetings with companies Active marketing: number of offers Figure 5: Input and Output KT Indicators: the four (company visits) prepared for selected companies quadrants [7] Participations of licensing team Active marketing: number of offers sent To monitor the activity within a KTO's pipeline is the only way member in 1st meetings with to selected companies companies to observe the points where the activity goes awry. In the »Knowledge economy« report, the valuable parts of the Second meetings with companies Active marketing: no. of received expressions of interest indicators are shown under the Activity part in the quadrant, focusing on the final KTO results only. However, it is not Participations of licensing team Signing of Non-disclosure agreements member at 2nd meetings with analyzed how the results were obtained. The KTOs are stuck with companies the KT indicators – they indicate the temperature in the KT Third meetings with companies Negotiations conducted system. However, they do not analyze what is going on and how the impactful factors are connected. The problem is similar to the Participations of licensing team Cooperation agreements (R&D member at 3rd meetings with contracts) signed difference between measuring water temperature in a glass and companies understanding the physical processes behind heating the water. Identified topics at meetings with Licensing agreements (licensing From the measured water temperature, it might be concluded that companies for potential col aboration Contracts) signed the fact that we are based in tropical climate influences its heating with PRO research teams on the stove, but not how. Likewise, from observing the lower Collaboration topics from meetings with Amount covered by R&D Contracts than desired KT results, it might be concluded that the only companies identified by licensing team (EUR) members reason for the unsatisfactory performance of the KT in Europe is the too low percentage of the GDP spent for the KTO or the Meeting minutes from the 1st, 2nd Amount covered by licensing Contracts and/or 3rd meeting with the company (EUR) R&D. To support breakthrough innovations, the EU KTOs must themselves be an organizational breakthrough in Europe. Supplementations by licensing team New Companies in col aboration with member, of minutes from the 1st, 2nd the PRO (via R&D and licensing Moreover, to achieve that, we should focus on the KT process and / or 3rd meeting with the company agreements) and understand it. We must focus on internal KTO operation, Collaboration topics disseminated to Consultings on Access to financial internal technology transfer sources (Tenders, VCs, Commercial evaluate the KTO activity in detail and set up KPIs to monitor it. coordinators and published in the Loans) We must analyze the deal pipelines, make them professional, suitable PR publications (counting by flow-through, and improve our performance by understanding company visit) our processes. Col aboration topics disseminated by Spinout First meetings on spinout licensing team member to PRO creation How can we establish process focused KPIs to evaluate the Researchers (counting by company visit) efficiency of KTO operation? The efficiency of the innovation Individual Advisory Supports delivered Spinout Business Plans prepared management system in a country can be evaluated through the to companies share of successful commercialization of patents and secret Individual Advisory Supports delivered Spinout documentations for the know-how originating from PROs. The commercialization to researchers establishment of the spinout prepared for consideration by PRO involving KTOs occurs through new company creation, IPR licensing and sales, and direct R&D collaboration. These are the Invention disclosures at PRO / decision Signed contracts for the establishment to acquire the invention by PRO of spinout companies results of the KT process (but not the impact). Nevertheless, there are many other processes KPIs, which enable us to monitor the Author: Š. Stres in collaboration with selected members of efficiency of the KTO process: for example, the number of Center of Technology Transfer and Innovation, 2020 (M. Market assessments/analyses, Identified topics at meetings with Trobec, F. Podobnik, L. Pal) companies for potential collaboration with PRO research teams, Setting up and active monitoring of the entire funnel of KTO Number of Individual Advisory Supports delivered to KPIs may turn out especially advantageous for young KTOs that companies, Number of Individual Advisory Supports delivered have been just established. The "case-by-case" process from 26 European Guiding principles for knowledge valorization: What has changed since 2008? Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia preparation to protection and marketing and hopefully should continuously be published before setting a contract with conclusion of license and R&D agreement can take a very long a specific entity to distort the market's competition. Need to time (on average at least 12 - 30 months), and much work has to publish the TOs to assure state aid and fairness in terms of be done before the final results are earned. During this time, well- competition laws. established and internationally recognized KPIs might become extremely useful - justifying the existence of such young KTOs Synergies: Look into possible synergies with European to the management authorities and tracking/evaluating their Innovation Council (EIC), Enterprise Europe Network .. from operations. Verified and standardized international KPIs, operational, not political or networking point of view. KTOs therefore, illustrate whether the KTOs are on the right path to should capitalize on the existing financing available and the their goals or not. existing support networks available. With the process KPIs of KTO operations, we can set complete Broader view on IPR: Registration of models, trademarks, metrics for the Key KT Activities of KTOs. Such metrics are printed circuits, new plant sorts, software should be encouraged. presented in Table 1, The nomenclature of KT. These metrics Copyright implications should be addressed, as software is part allow for the intertwining of contract and collaborative research of the Copyright legislation. Recommendations should be given in countries where this is necessary, with actual licensing and on how to award researchers for software commercialization and sales of industrial property (nationally or internationally) and define incentives in different countries (as the legislation in some spinout creation. Every country has a specific distribution of countries excludes copyright from the rules on awarding particular KT Activities and results (final contribution measured researchers in case of commercialization of copyright). much later on by Economic Impact). The efficiency of these Diversification of KT Activities: Wherever only licensing is efforts measured by KPIs may differ throughout the countries, mentioned as a vehicle; this should be remedied with other but the KPIs themselves, the nomenclature, and the results available KT vehicles. The difference between spinouts and remain the same everywhere: Number of disclosures, Number of spinoffs should be introduced. The specific knowledge and licensing, contract, collaborative and service deals, Spinouts capacity on capital share management by the KTOs should be established. addressed. The positive impact of spinoffs vs spinouts and vice versa? The need to develop internal PoCs which increase the efficiency of the KTO, the InvestEU with EIF policy 3 AN ASSESSMENT OF TOPICS THAT introduction. Publishing the technology offers (TOs) and sending NEED TO BE ADDRESSED WITHIN THE them around - active and passive marketing, requiring different NEW RECOMMENDATIONS knowledge and yielding different success rates, depending on the In light of the above analysis of the field and the existing "name" of the institution. Recommendations, we suggest topics of concern to be The use of EEN and its Thematic/Sector Groups for addressed in the amending of the text of the 2008 technology marketing is also essential. There is a mutual need to Recommendations – because these are topics of concern in increase KTOs' awareness about EEN and its Sector Groups the current KT endeavors in Europe and they are not (mainly "technology-based") and Thematic Groups as a channel covered within the existing Recommendations. The for technology marketing, access to SMEs and obtaining the suggestions areas are listed below. latest expert information in the field of work, respectively. EEN Operational Issues: Every KTO should have a set of operational should continue its efforts to emphasize actively seeking principles, an honour code and a code of conduct as a basis of its Technology Requests at SMEs and linking them to Technology operation. It could be based on the Code of Conduct of the Offers of PROs. Moreover, KTOs should actively harvest Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) or built anew. commercial databases for technology requests. Several services offered by EEN serve as a prelude to the required (but not always Accounting issues: Emphasize the importance of registering the available) expert services of the KTO consultants. Providing a intangible assets – in principle, one cannot sell something that vibrant innovation ecosystem, in which the EEN and KTOs has not been registered according to the European accounting would work in view of signposting and the hub and spoke model, principles for intangible assets (including its initial accounting EEN serving as a liaison (account manager), but KTO as a final value). expert service provider, could work effectively. State Aid and Evaluation methods with competition law: A wider approach to science disciplines: Collaboration with Evaluation of IPR is also essential in state aid in collaborative social sciences and humanities (for example, the connection with projects (IPR transfer in the context of state aid). Even though heritage science and alike should be investigated) should be not in Horizon Europe, operating under the State-Aid encouraged. In this regard, the »Outputs« as defined in the Exemptions, but in all cohesion related funding and national Research Excellence Framework (REF) of the UK research funding for higher TRLs (which are not part of the State-Aid evaluation system should be studied and possibly all 22 Exemptions). To assess the value, different valuation methods categories, which also include patents) should be analyzed for (not valutation) should be understood to set the first value in the further usage. Citizen science and science with and for society accounting books. For this purpose, intangible asset evaluation issues should become more prominent within the work of KTOs. methods should be analyzed and valuation principles accepted for the KTO usage. Competition law – Technology Offers A systematic research approach to KT content and increasing the quality: Policymaking and lobbying for research 27 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Š. Stres et al. projects in the KT – political impact of the EC and JRC is Network aims to help businesses innovate and grow required for this. The explicit notion of the need to upgrade the internationally. KTO services from PR activities, and the importance of KT activities to actual execution of such activities, measured by unique KPIs, results should be normalized to research FTE headcount. KPIs are the same in all KTOs regardless of the enabling factors (these only define the maximum KTO output and maximum impact in the economy). Build on the impact factors from the pathway to impact of the EC (commercial, research, societal). Systemization on the Horizon Europe level: In the same way as »Gender equality plans« need to be published as a prerequisite to a Horizon Europe project approval, also »IP and commercialization policy, including Open Science« should Figure 6: Enterprise Europe Network Code of Conduct, become such a required action for HE projects. The DARPA Annex 2 to the Grant Agreement, 2014 model and EIC model (with PMs and the support team) are development directions. In the coming years, EEN plans to pay more attention to the field Beneficiaries of the KT Activities: It should be emphasized in of KT, as KT is essential for raising the competitiveness of the the Recommendations that students as private persons are not the European economy. In this context, we believe that the presented target of the Recommendations nor the focus of KT activities of proposal of topics that need to be addressed within new the KTO, at least not under the legislation for IP ownership; recommendations will be mutually beneficial in developing new remedies to assist student-based inventions should be devised strategies of EEN and KTOs and strengthening their relations. under different measures than KTOs (e.g. university, incubators). Organizational issues in different specific 4 CONCLUSIONS situations: Recommendations on how to organize the system for • European KTOs should review and fully understand smaller institutions that do not have the capacity nor the need to the current European EIC model connected to the retain a full-pledged KTO are needed. Such recommendations successful DARPA / ARPA-E models. They should are required due to the diversity of personnel needed. Several consider the model as the main framework while employees are needed to have a successfully operating KTO. adapting its operations to national legislation and the Several models have been tried out: SATT (centralized), specificities of the industrial and public sector – all Knowledge Transfer Ireland & Slovenia (consortium with the aim that each KTO becomes a comparable element of the whole community of KTOs at the distributed), Cambridge (University-owned), Leuven R&D European landscape. (independent internal office) .. It is true that everyone needs to find their way, but there are specifics and criteria which can help • There are some common critical points in the pipelines find the suitable model. The emphasis on trust-building with the of all KTOs irrespective of different national research and economic community is of the utmost importance. environments and specifics, namely the KPIs represented in Table 1. Such KPIs are indicators of the Pooling and open science: Requirements for pooling among KTO activities rather than only general and final KTO institutions on IPR offer should be upgraded in pooling of Open results (e.g. patents filed, license and R&D science access. The possible tension between IP protection and agreements) or remote indicators of KTOs' maximum Open science, particularly secret know-how, should be addressed possible results (limited by the environment). The in straightforward operational funnels. represented nomenclature of KPIs should help set up a uniform path that European KTOs are supposed to Career progression in KT: The career progression of KTO follow to achieve the results. professionals should be addressed, agencies and ministries • should be invited to discuss this issue. It would be of utmost importance to establish a fruitful collaboration between KTOs and national EEN offices Managing the financial return: Recommendation on how the to assure full in-depth support to researchers and SMEs PRO uses the income from commercial activities - should it be alike in this TRL challenging exercise in between the used for a PoC fund managed by the KTO for TRL increase of worlds of academia and industry, in particular given commercialization cases? Or for further IPR cost financing? the EEN's core values (Fig.6), focusing on the signposting and the hub and spoke model of operation. Why? Last but not least, an idea of further networking between innovation support stakeholders needs to be put forward, particularly in regards to Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) REFERENCES being active in more than 60 countries worldwide providing [1] European Commission. 2008. Commission Recommendation on the support to SMEs with international ambitions. Co-funded by the management of intellectual property in knowledge transfer activities and Code of Practice for universities and other public research organisations. European Union's COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes, the Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European 28 European Guiding principles for knowledge valorization: What has changed since 2008? Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Communities. Retrieved August 3, 2021 from https://ec.europa.eu/invest- in-research/pdf/download_en/ip_recommendation.pdf. [6] Finne H., Day A., Piccaluga A., Spithoven A., Walter P., Wellen D. 2011. [2] Heilheimer H. George. The Heilheimer Catechism. Retrieved August 3, A Composite Indicator for Knowledge Transfer Report, European 2021 from https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/heilmeier-catechism. Commission’s Expert Group on Knowledge Transfer Indicators (page 10). [3] European Commission. 2020. Implementing the pro-active management Retrieved August 3, 2021 from of the EIC pathfinder for breakthrough technologies & innovations. https://www.belspo.be/belspo/stat/docs/papers/ERAC%20Report_2011_ Retrieved August 3, 2021 from A%20Composite%20Indicator%20for%20Knowledge%20Transfer.pdf. https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/implementing-pro-active- [7] Campbell A. et al. 2020. Knowledge economy and its impact. Retrieved management-eic-pathfinder-breakthrough-technologies-innovations_en. August 3, 2021 from [4] Working Report on Technology 2 Market Support, WG on pro/active https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/event/knowledge-economy-its- management, EIC, January 2021. impact-0_en. [5] European Commission. 2007. Communication from the Commission: [8] Holi et al., 2008 p. 2; attributed to Kevin Cullen of Glasgow University Improving knowledge transfer between research institutions and industry [9] Alejandro M. Aragon, A measure for the impact of research, 2013. across Europe. Annex: Voluntary guidelines for universities and other Retrieved August 4, 2021 from research institutions to improve their links with industry across Europe. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep01649 29 Digital Innovation Hubs and Regional Development: Empirical Evidence from the Western Balkan countries Bojan Ćudić Špela Stres University of Maribor Center for Technology Transfer Koroška cesta 160, Maribor, Slovenia and Innovation bojan.cudic@um.si Jožef Stefan Institute Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, Slovenia spela.stres@ijs.si ABSTRACT The Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) in Europe are created to support the digital transformation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The network of DIHs is in the process of establishing throughout Europe. However, the work of DIHs is not sufficiently investigated neither in developed nor developing countries. In the Western Balkan region (the WB-5), there are 24 registered DIHs, but only five of them are fully operational. Throughout the survey, the authors investigated the WB-5 DIHs and compared their performance with their EU-28 counterparts. The survey results and interviews with the WB-5 DIHs indicate a lower level of their specialization and suggest that they failed to support the digital transformations of local businesses. They also have a great potential to improve cooperation among industry, academia, and governments in the WB-5 countries and between the countries. KEYWORDS Digital Innovation Hubs, Business Support Organizations, Small and Medium Enterprises, Quadruple Helix Model of cooperation, developing countries. 1 30 Technology Transfer as a Unifying Element in EU Projects of the Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation Prenos tehnologij kot povezujoči element EU projektov na Centru za prenos tehnologij in inovacij Duško Odić Špela Stres Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation Jožef Stefan Institute Jožef Stefan Institute Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana, Slovenia dusko.odic@ijs.si spela.stres@ijs.si ABSTRACT how our projects align to a technology transfer pipeline on an SME’s path to innovation, and how different projects Technology transfer supports the transfer of knowledge from complement each other in creating a comprehensive innovation research institutions to industry through various mechanisms, support system for SMEs. Finally, we identify the type of project including those enabled by international project schemes. We most suited for bringing into practice collaborative research that analysed how projects, carried out within our unit, the Center for drives technology transfer’s ultimate goal, innovation. technology transfer and innovation (CTT), based on the outputs and processes developed, align to a technology transfer pipeline on an SME’s path to innovation. We also investigated how 2 METHODOLOGY different projects complement each other in creating a comprehensive innovation support system for SMEs. Projects Ten EU projects analyzed in this work (out of a total of 24) have involving voucher-based financial support of innovative been selected with the criterion of being geared towards collaboration and highest involvement of researchers emerge as supporting SMEs in gaining new knowledge and/or finding most engaging for future funding applications, with other types research and/or industrial business partners with the goal of of project nevertheless being recognized as important in focusing innovation. CTT projects not included were those related to on individual stages of innovation. Regardless of project, popularizing science and introducing scientific courses into high dedicated efforts are important for establishing strong research- school programs. National projects were not surveyed due to industry connections and enabling their continuous collaboration their different selection process. Projects that ended before after the project’s end. December 2014, and more recent projects that didn’t entail KEYWORDS sufficient involvement and therefore familiarity by one of the authors (D.O.) to enable analysis, were not included. The Technology transfer, innovation, EU projects, H2020, Interreg surveyed projects are listed in Table 1. To identify projects’ alignment to individual stages of innovation and evaluate the extent to which they incorporate 1 INTRODUCTION elements of technology transfer, we reviewed project Technology transfer supports the transfer of knowledge from deliverables, outputs, and processes developed most relevant to research institutions to industry, enabling laboratory research to innovation. progress to an industrial level, and in turn, enabling small-to- To illustrate the range of support types that the projects have medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to innovate through offered, and to identify the type of projects most in line with collaboration with researchers. An SME can use various forms technology transfer goals, we created a simplified project of support offered by a technology transfer office, and the forms landscape wherein we distributed the projects along two of support are frequently part of a national or an international dimensions: (1) level of involvement of research institutions, and project scheme, such as European Commission’s Horizon 2020 (2) innovation stage reached by the project’s outcome, from basic and EU’s Interreg programs. CTT at the Jožef Stefan Institute has raising of awareness to concrete advanced innovative been a partner in several such projects. In this work, we analyzed collaboration. The analysis aims to identify type(s) of project towards which most efforts should be directed in future funding applications. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full 3 RESULTS citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s). Selected project deliverables, outputs, and processes relevant to Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia © 2021 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). innovation, are listed in Table 2. All projects lead to raised 31 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia D. Odić, Š. Stres Table 1: EU projects surveyed. Acronym Brief description Duration Program KET4CP Supporting manufacturing SMEs with key enabling technologies 2018-2021 H2020 provided by research institutions, with the emphasis on environmentally–friendly manufacturing Central Supporting life-science-oriented SMEs and research institutions in 2012-2014 Central Europe Community finding business partners through a platform Co-Create Supporting SMEs in involving creative sectors to define new products 2016-2020 Interreg and services according to social trends Mediterranean EU-GIVE Connecting SMEs to collaborative, circular and sharing economy 2017-2019 COSME actors for increased efficiency of innovation finMED Supporting financing of innovation in green growth sectors through 2018-2022 Interreg improved delivery of policies and strategies Mediterranean IP4SMEs Supporting SMEs in defining the role of intellectual property (IP) in 2012-2014 Slovenia – Italy creating regional value through interregional IP exchange Cross Border KETGATE Supporting SMEs with access to key enabling technologies through 2017-2020 Interreg Central research equipment and services provided by research institutions Europe Open I SME Supporting SMEs in solving technical issues with the aid of researchers 2014-2016 CIP via an online tool matching technology requests with research competencies Scale (up) Supporting SMEs by setting up a hub enabling a single entry point to 2016-2019 Interreg Alpine Alps assistance in access to finance, access to talent, and access to market Space opportunities in the EU SYNERGY Supporting SMEs in finding potential innovation partners through 2017-2020 Interreg Central platforms for submitting technology challenges and enabling Europe crowdfunding schemes awareness and new knowledge gained by SMEs, as well as new include mechanisms to sustain active collaboration, such as Open processes developed at CTT to effectively support SMEs. I SME and Central Community, are those that enable However, individual projects lead to innovative collaboration to matchmaking through platforms but in absence of further varying degrees. innovation support actions they do so with lower impact. In Based on data from Table 2, we aligned the projects with a effect, they start the process by introducing potential partners but hypothetical innovation process in an SME. The relevance of leave them to carry out setting up the collaboration by selected projects at different stages of innovation (from problem themselves. to innovative solution) is shown in Figure 1. While individual Projects having the most impact in raising awareness rather projects are relevant to different stages and support technology than in producing actual collaborative development, such as transfer to different extents, most have the goal of connecting IP4SMEs, EU-GIVE, Co-Create, and Scale(up) Alps, enter the SMEs to relevant stakeholders and lead to innovative pipeline at the middle of the process (scouting and innovation collaboration. potential discovery) and are least relevant, as their impact on Since technology transfer from research to industry ideally technology transfer is most indirect. They make the potential entails participation of researchers, we analyzed the projects not partners aware of the fact that there is an opportunity for only according to the stage of innovation but also according to collaboration to be seized, but do least about creating an actual researcher involvement. Distribution of projects in relation to collaboration among potential partners. involvement of researchers – from none to full - and to role in Lastly, projects that only deal with a singular aspect of the innovation based on project results and outputs – from indirect to process can be influential in terms of that particular aspect (for direct – is shown in Figure 2. Both dimensions are descriptive example, finMED for financial support setup, IP4SMEs in IP rather than quantitative, and the landscape has been created for issues), but act out of context in terms of the innovation pipeline. illustrative purposes. From the analyses conducted, the KET4CP and KETGATE The results show that projects such as KET4CP and projects emerge as a type of project most closely in line with the KETGATE, which include operational support steps from the complete collaborative innovation pipeline, involving strong beginning till the end of the innovation pipeline (Table 2), and research participation, creating concrete connections and have important roles in innovation as well as a high level of following them through to realization of the opportunity, thus researcher involvement, emerge as having the highest potential most effective in increasing SME-research collaboration and for technology transfer. most attractive in subsequent funding opportunities. Projects with lower relevance that enter the innovation pipeline in the beginning of the innovation process but do not 32 Technology Transfer in EU Projects IInformation Society 2020, 5–9 October 2020, Ljubljana, Slovenia Table 2: Project deliverables, outputs, and developed processes most relevant to innovation, distributed based on the benefit to SMEs participating in the project. Project knowledge gained Instruments / processes developed registration on successful joint by SME platforms, submission research and of challenges, development matchmaking projects KET4CP map of European Cascade funding with evaluation and KET4SME platform yes (voucher- technology centers support process supported) Central list of Life Science Process of scouting, matching, and LifeScience Room Community companies encouraging SMEs towards open innovation Co-Create design thinking, Design thinking process for inclusion of Co-Create platform co-creation different stakeholders in traditional SME innovation process EU-GIVE map of collaborative Process of engaging researchers in economy initiatives creating innovative collaborative economy approaches finMED list of financial Process of including intangibles into instruments and financial intermediaries’ (as banks) loan mechanisms capability criteria evaluation IP4SMEs importance of IP Process of auditing SMEs towards discovery of innovation potential KETGATE available research Process of scouting, matching and KETGATE platform yes (voucher- equipment at JSI financially supporting research and SME supported) partners with cascade funding Open I SME Process of scouting, motivating research OpeniSME platform yes experts to become available to SMEs for industrial counseling Scale (up) list of Slovenian Process of scouting for expertise, Scale(up) Alps Alps startup ecosystem supporting creation of SME (spinout), support ecosystem actors matching its needs to the support system and allocating relevant support – it being a part of a group of companies with similar needs SYNERGY list of crowd Process of determining entities suitable SYNERGY platform innovation for crowd sourcing, based on relevant initiatives criteria, and of matching them with suitable crowd innovation initiatives innovation process. Consider a hypothetical Company that agrees to participate in all listed projects. The Company benefits 4 DISCUSSION from all aspects of innovation (Table 2), and ends up having a In this work, we analyzed selected projects in terms of their complete set of services that are in fact part of technology contribution to technology transfer. It should be noted that there transfer. It starts by attaining basic knowledge about intellectual is a distinction in terms of relevance to individual stages (Figures property and innovation management (IP4SMEs), its position 1, 2), however, the KET4CP and KETGATE projects emerge as among other SMEs in a given sector (for example, life sciences; a type of project most closely in line with the complete Central Community) and familiarizes itself with the landscape of collaborative innovation pipeline. On the other hand it should be collaborative economy (EU-GIVE), available technology centers emphasized that each project has its place in the overall (KET4CP) and research equipment (KETGATE), startup support 33 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia D. Odić, Š. Stres (Scale(up) Alps) and crowd innovation initiatives (SYNERGY). just a single innovation stage, can represent an added value for The Company then proceeds to learn about the design thinking an SME, through providing knowledge about a specific subject, approach in innovation and the possibilities to connections with thereby allowing other projects to offer support with the benefit the creative sector (Co-Create), and gets an opportunity to of that gained knowledge. explore a host of national and international research and/or Low-level- and mid-level-impact projects are thus important business partners via various online platforms (KET4CP, Central since they provide information and knowledge for companies Community, Co-Create, KETGATE, Open I SME, SYNERGY) that makes them suitable as target beneficiaries for further forms or through attending matchmaking events (KETGATE). The of support down the pipeline. For example, a highly relevant Company receives a comprehensive informative guideline on the project, such as KETGATE, may not itself include in-depth possibilities of financing (finMED), and may enter into research analysis of mechanisms for defining intellectual property and development collaborations (Open I SME), with the (otherwise provided by IP4SMEs) or in-depth analysis for setting possibility of additional financial support by vouchers up familiarity with available financial instruments (otherwise (KETGATE, KET4CP). Thus, any given project, even if filling provided by finMED). However, as both are useful traits in signing cooperation agreements and looking for continued financing of pilot projects established within KETGATE, their execution provided grounds for setting up a fully-fledged innovation pipeline support. An SME thus more efficiently benefits from KETGATE services, having previously received services from IP4SMEs and finMED. Ranking of the projects (Figure 2) is therefore not a reflection of their quality or relevance but of their position within the complete support to technology transfer. The processes developed within individual projects, from discovering innovation potential (e.g. IP4SMEs) to cascade funding of research and development projects (e.g. KET4CP), culminated in the development of a comprehensive SME innovation support system at the CTT that is flexible and adaptable to a company’s level of innovation and particular Figure 1: Relevance of selected projects at different stages needs. The projects proved important in strengthening of the of innovation (from problem to innovative solution) in an technology transfer pipeline by developing ways of engaging SME. various stakeholders, their auditing, developing of matchmaking platforms, and protocols for facilitating collaborative research, including voucher-supported cascade financing schemes. It is the long-term goal of EU projects to not only develop processes for comprehensive SME support but also act as stepping stones for achieving continuing innovation activities between research / industry partners and building strong and inspirational success stories after the projects’ closure. This is particularly important in the light of the fact that mechanisms established during a project, such as platforms, are often inactivated once the project is finalized. Efforts are in principle invested towards sustainability of platforms after the project’s end, but platform maintenance is rarely guaranteed and/or requires dedicated funding from other sources. It is therefore important to enter into a project with a clear vision of its benefits Figure 2: Distribution of projects in relation to involvement and strong dedication to reaching relevant goals. Understanding of researchers, and to role in innovation based on project the role of a specific project in the innovation pipeline is crucial results and outputs. Note that the numbers indicate a relative to achieve this. Previous experience has shown that prudent position of the project based on project design rather than any attitude towards engagement with project target audience (from quantitative measure, and are provided for illustration purposes identifying relevant companies, identifying the right only. Numbers on the y axis indicate no involvement (1), correspondent individuals, to right type of motivation) can lead potential involvement (2), or full involvement (3). Numbers on not only to fruitful project collaboration but also to continued the x axis indicate stages in innovation pipeline as follows: 1 – research-industry collaboration outside of the project. gaining knowledge about IP and innovation management, 2 – Finally, we estimate that the culmination of the efforts gaining knowledge about design thinking, collaborative described in this article will be seen on one hand within the economy, or financial instruments 3 – registration on platforms, European Innovation Council of the Pillar 3 in Horizon Europe, 4 – matchmaking, 5 – access to equipment or services, 6 – joint in particular in the creation of new high-tech-based companies research and development projects. In this type of display, the stemming from Public Research Organizations. But the projects located in the upper right part are most suited for contribution of this myriad of projects should also be seen as supporting technology transfer between research and industry. important within further financing of the European Commission 34 Technology Transfer in EU Projects Information Society 2020, 5–9 October 2020, Ljubljana, Slovenia in the form of cascade funding, available to connect in massive websites, wherever still active as of 30.9.2021, to individual numbers SMEs and the academia. Such numerous collaboration projects analyzed: is required to build trust, to execute the contract / collaborative research and to improve the technological absorption capacity KET4CP - https://www.ket4sme.eu/ ever so needed to be improved in some parts of Europe, ours Co-Create - https://co-create.interreg-med.eu/ EU-GIVE - https://www.eugiveproject.eu/ included. finMED - https://finmed.interreg-med.eu/ IP4SMEs - http://www.ip4smes.eu/ KETGATE - https://www.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/KETGATE.html 5 REFERENCES Open I SME - https://www.openisme.eu/ Scale (up) Alps - https://www.alpine-space.eu/projects/scale-up-alps/en/home This work is a result of experience- and output-based analysis SYNERGY - https://www.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/SYNERGY.html and does not include references as such. Below are given links to 35 Proof of Concept cases at the Jožef Stefan Institute in 2020 and 2021 Marjeta Trobec Špela Stres Center for Technlogy Transfer and Innovation Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation Jožef Stefan Institute Jožef Stefan Institute Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, Slovenia Jamova cesta 39, Ljubljana, Slovenia marjeta.trobec@ijs.si spela.stres@ijs.si ABSTRACT improving reputation at all levels in its own tech-transfer process [10]. Auerswald and Branscomb write that the most vital The development of economy and society is inextricably linked technology commercialization phase occurs between invention to inventions and innovations from public research organisations. and product development when commercial concepts are created Technology transfer offices identify potentially suitable and verified and the best appropriate markets are defined. The technologies for commercialization and support researchers in PoC phase has a funding gap, caused by information and the field of intellectual property (IP), commercialization etc. motivation asymmetries and institutional gaps between the However, financial resources are necessary for the further science, technology and enterprises [4]. development of the identified technologies in order to reach Such a gap is primarily due to the “embryonic” nature of the higher levels of technological maturity. In EU, UK, USA and research organization-generated inventions, which tend to elsewhere the so-called Proof of Concept (PoC) funds are operate at the frontier of scientific advancements, thus involving available on institutional, regional, national and international considerable risks associated with their subsequent validation, level. In Slovenia till 2021 we only had four PoC funds, all of them were institutional / internal, one of them the Jožef Stefan industrialization and commercialization [5]. The time required to transform discoveries into products and the vast amount of Institute PoC, created as the first one already in 1996. This paper focuses on the eleven Proof of Concept cases from the Jožef resources needed to pursue the required development constitute a mix of high uncertainty and negative cash flows that decrease Stefan Institute that were financially supported in 2020 and 2021. investment incentives and limit opportunities to secure funding. We have shown their individual characteristics and the expected This pattern is especially pronounced in science-based sectors benefits for the projects due to the received PoC funding based like life sciences, biotechnology etc. [5]. The gap and PoC on the project applications. The projects are dispersed across positioning in regards to the stage of development and funding Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) of the so-called Valley of sources is also shown in Figure 1. death (TRL 3-7). Further developments based on the received funding are in line with their current and expected TRLs – the most common are validation in the laboratory and / or in the relevant environment, prototype demonstration and testing. We have also made an overview of possible future scenarios for them on the basis of the expected CEETT Proof of Concept fund. KEYWORDS Proof of Concept, Entrepreneurship, Innovative financing, Technology Transfer 1 INTRODUCTION A Proof of Concept phase (PoC) is a research practice and Figure 1: Representation of PoC in regards to Stage of serves as an instrument of knowledge construction in an development [5] individual study and helps to build further understanding of certain objects, data, metrics, apparatus, processes, materials. A The lack of dedicated funding and support to help PoC research is composed from a set of activities (i.e. actions, inventions from public research institutions to mature to the stage movements, analyses, simulations, techniques, tests, etc) for the at which they are market and investor ready represents a major assessment, understanding, validation and exploitation of, and obstacle to effective knowledge transfer. Different support the learning about particular research object [1]. A PoC is used mechanisms address these gaps, at general policies level as well “to prove a concept through a practical model” [2]. The PoC as on the level of specific, local initiatives, including research phase is in research institutions in terms of technology transfer organizations funds [6, 7]. considered as critical for the success of both licensing and the PoC funding programs are mechanisms that combine creation of spin-off companies [3]. The POC therefore increases money, expertise and training to help new inventions and technology transfer office (TTO) chances of a larger percentage discoveries emerge and to demonstrate their technical and of the income stream from the commercialization of innovations commercial feasibility. Such funds can appear under different so that it can fulfil some main tech-transfer goals, that is, return names like PoC funds, proof-of-principle funds, translational on investment, job creation, start-up creation, IP licensing and funding, pre-seed funding, verification funding, maturation 1 36 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia M. Trobec et al. programs, innovation grants, ignition grants [5]. No matter the 2.2 Jožef Stefan Institute PoC calls in 2020 and name they all have common objectives and characteristic, shown 2021 [8] also in Table 1: to evaluate the technical feasibility and Calls for funding of projects are intended to help move commercial potential of early-stage research ideas and projects starting from at least the TRL 3 towards higher TRLs. technologies and to demonstrate their value to potential industrial The call is open for JSI researchers with a status of at least 50 % partners and investors. Under the programs, the employment at JSI. researcher/research team gets capital and assistance across a broad spectrum of areas, such as intellectual property rights, business plan development, market studies, networking etc. The Table 2: Approved Jožef Stefan Institute projects in 2020 ultimate goal is to advance the technology to a point at which it and in 2021 [9] can be licensed to an external industrial partner or a start-up to Y. Title JSI research be created to attract the interest of investors in later stages of department, development [5]. project leader 2021 Upgrading the Open Computer Systems Clinical Nutrition (E7), Koroušič Table 1: Main characteristics of PoC funds [5] Platform with a mobile Seljak application PoC Programs 2021 Data gap analysis for Advanced Objective biocide regulatory Materials (K9), Evaluate and support the technical feasibility protocol of Vukomanović and commercial potential of early stage apatite/gold/arginine as technologies generated by public research novel antimicrobial agent organizations Focus of Primarily projects by individual researchers or 2021 Connecting with industry Nanostructured investment research teams partners to build an Materials (K7), Investments Typically grants, but other forms are possible automated laboratory Suhadolnik typology (i.e., loan, repayment schemes) Investment Pre-seed stage (typically before company 2021 Libra wireless pocket-size Computer Systems stage formation) kitchen scale (E7), Blažica As mentioned in the paragraph above, PoC funding schemes 2021 Multifunctional coatings Physical and for the protection of metal Organic can be created internationally and nationally. In Slovenia, we do surfaces Chemistry (K3), not have a national PoC funding jet. Some public research Rodič organizations have therefore developed their internal schemes. These schemes are available at the National Institute of 2020 Apparatus for ultra-fast Experimental Chemistry, University of Ljubljana, University of Maribor, and fluorescence lifetime Particle Physics at the Jožef Stefan Institute. measurement (F9), Seljak 2020 Ceramic capacitive Electronic 2 PROOF OF CONCEPT FUND AT THE pressure sensor with Ceramics (K5), JOŽEF STEFAN INSTITUTE doubled pressure Malič sensitivity 2.1 Legal framework 2020 Scaling of the synthetic Gaseous method of electrochemical Electronics (F6), The Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) has in 1998 implemented electrodes Filipič the Internal Employment-Relate Inventions Act. At the same time, the innovation fund of the institute has been created. 2020 Predicting exacerbation of Intelligent The goal of the innovation fund is to enable the projects to chronic heart failure based Systems, (E9), increase their technology readiness level (TRL), increase their on telemedicine date Gradišek maturity and attraction towards potential customers, increase their suitability for external calls for proof of concept funds, and 2020 Preparation of synthetic Electronic establish partnerships with the industry. blood substitute for testing Ceramics (K5), The innovation fund of the Center for Technology Transfer medical equipment Kuščer and Innovation (CTT) at the institute is filled only from the part of the incomings from the commercialized intellectual property 2020 CAUSALIFY – Artificial Exemplary in the Intelligence (E3), of the JSI. Funds are being distributed through internal JSI calls dynamics of world events Grobelnik prepared and managed by CTT based on a detailed internal act. In this work, we will focus on the 2020 and 2021 cases. 37 Proof of Concept cases at the Jožef Stefan Institute in 2020 and Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia 2021 The purpose of the call is to: - define the technology to the extent that it is suitable for the official acceptance of the invention / technical improvement / registration of the intangible asset at the JSI; - help with application for a larger concept verification and validation call; - help projects to a higher TRL in order to increase the attractiveness of technology for potential customers or to use technology in a JSI spin-off; - establish long-term partnerships with the industry. Expected results for the approved / selected projects: - upgrading their TRL and therefore increasing the value and attractiveness of the technology; - higher possibility of selling or licensing the innovation; - creating links with industry partners; Figure 2: Starting and expected TRL of the JSI PoC cases - getting ready to apply to a bigger tender for testing and validating the concept and Based on the info from the applications, all the projects will - participation in the selection of the best invention / innovation be targeting world-wide market. Five of them will develop from public research organization at the International solutions for niche markets, other six are targeting wider Technology Transfer Conference. audience – numerous users. It is important that six of the projects are trendsetters, the rest are developing solutions for current “hot” In 2020 six projects were approved and in 2021 five projects. topics like environmental legislative requirements, health issues of the population, ageing population, solutions for non-animal Each PoC project has its TT guardian in the Center for tests in pharmacy, energy consumption. Six projects have little Technology Transfer and Innovation. The allocated TT experts competitors and their competitive advantages are high. It is are guiding the research teams in terms of IP, further financial extremely interesting to observe where the science has its possibilities, connecting with industrial partners, project expected effect. This is shown in Figure 3. The Technological preparations, technology assessments etc. areas are the ones of the four broader activities of the Institute (Physics, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Electronics and Information Technologies, Reactor Engineering and Energy). A 3 ANALYSIS OF PROOF OF CONCEPT particular Technological area has been defined based on the PROJECTS FROM THE JOŽEF STEFAN research department of the applying team. The expected impacts INSTITUTE / the targeted markets are listed as they were identified by the We have looked at the approved projects from different teams. points, as a source taking project applications: - Current and expected TRL; - Time needed to reach the expected TRL; - Technological background of the projects and the markets they are targeting; - The intellectual property protection of the projects; - The type of the market the researches are targeting, trends on the market and the competition; - Spin-out vs licensing plans; - The benefits of the PoC financing for the project development. Figure 3: The Jožef Stefan Institute PoC projects and their As it can be seen from the Table 2, the projects are from three expected effect on different markets different areas of the Jožef Stefan Institute: - Physics (2 projects) - Chemistry and Biochemistry (5 projects) Three out of eleven teams are seriously considering the - Electronics and Information Technology (4 projects). option of establishing a spin-out company. The rest wish to license the technology. The majority of projects has been at TRL 3 (6 projects) when The main expected benefits for the projects due to the applying for funds, 3 were at TRL 4, one at TRL 5 and one at received financial resources are described below. To assure TRL 7. In the next 12 months the TRL of all project will with the anonymity, the order of the projects below is not the same as in received financial help rise for at least one TRL. In two projects Table 2: the rise would be event from TRL 3 to TRL 7 as shown in the P1: start test cooperation with industrial partners, Figure 2. The expected TRL is not known yet in four cases. construction of a prototype, testing a prototype, preparation of 38 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia M. Trobec et al. detailed plans for the manufacturing of critical components of the - The key market will be defined. All activities (research, device, applications to EU projects. development, financing, promotion) will follow the P2: analysis for regulatory protocol. defined key market needs. P3: designing a mobile application, user interface design, - The research towards the markets that are not promising user testing of the application. will be abandoned. P4: running a trial with early adopters, improving the user - Further financing will be acquired also from external experience of the demo, preparation of promo material, lowering sources (relevant for all the projects). the production costs. P5: experimental / test cooperation with an industrial partner, pilot transfer of the solution to the industry, IP protection. 4 CONCLUSIONS P6: developing industrial prototype and user interface, Through the calls in 2020 and 2021 the main lessons learned testing the prototype. for the the Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation team P7: developing a prototype, testing the prototype with the were: potential users. - It is necessary to have PoC funds available at P8: scaling-up the existing prototype, testing it for one of the institutional / JSI level as well as on national level. possible applications, developing a method for simplifying the operating procedure. - The funds are welcomed by JSI researchers since the P9: pilot testing, improvements needed for clinical testing, application is simple, the results are available soon and promotion. the support regarding the project funding and reporting P10: component validation in a laboratory environment, IP is in-house. protection, preparation for suitable project calls. P11: developing protocols for scale-up in the laboratory - CTT gets through the application additional insights environment, validation in the relevant environment. into the research activities of research departments and can offer its assistance to new research teams. We have grouped the main expected benefits into four most common areas: 1. Developing a prototype, 2. Testing a prototype - Besides the funds that the teams get, it is necessary that in a lab, 3. Testing a prototype with industry / potential users, 4. CTT supports the projects also with the guidance on IP, Preparing a support documentation i.e. documentation to fulfil further financial possibilities, connecting with industrial the legislative requirements, IP protection documentation (patent partners, project preparations, technology assessments applications and similar), project applications, communication / etc. commercialization promo material etc). As it is shown in Figure 4 in seven projects researchers are developing a prototype, in four - Market assessments and defining the target market are cases prototype will be tested in a lab, in nine projects prototype crucial for further development. In this step feedbacks will be tested with industry or other potential users, seven sets of from business sphere are priceless. needed support documentation will be prepared as well. - The teams are in most cases composed from natural sciences and engineering experts. It is necessary to connect them with experts from human- and economics sphere as soon as possible in order to focus further development based on market needs. In July 2021 the Central Eastern European Technology Transfer (CEETT) platform has been launched by the European Figure 4: The Jožef Stefan Institute PoC projects and Investment Fund (EIF) together with Slovenian SID bank and the expected outcomes of project Croatian bank for reconstruction and development (HBOR). The €40 million will be invested in venture capital funds and finance With the rise of TRLs it is expected that the projects will gain innovative technological research projects and the protection of also on the following areas: the intellectual property of research organizations in Slovenia - The teams will get additional team members with the and Croatia (other Central Eastern European countries are not expertise in business plan development, marketing, included). technology transfer, certification, etc (relevant for all The eleven JSI PoC projects have gained with JSIs’ internal the projects) or they will licence the technology to a PoC funding in the past two years an excellent basis and will be company that will take over the future product / service ready for CEETT funding as soon as it is available. and launch it on the market. - Intellectual property (IP) will be better defined, IP REFERENCES management plan will be developed, relationships [1] between researchers themselves and with host Antonio J. Rodrigez Neto, Maria M. Borges, Licinio Roque, 2018, A Preliminary Study of Proof of Concept Practices and their Connection with organizations will be arranged. Information Systems and Information Science. ACM DL: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3284179.3284226. [2] Iúri Batista Teles. 2017. Arcano: Um Sistema de Resposta Pessoal Mobile para Ambientes sem Conexão com a Internet. UFS, 74. 39 Proof of Concept cases at the Jožef Stefan Institute in 2020 and Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia 2021 [3] Catarina Maia, Joao Claro, 2012, The role of a proof of Concept Center in a university ecosystem: an exploratory study. The Journal of Technology [7] Rasmussen E. and Soreheim R. (2012). How governments seek to bridge Transfer 38(5), DOI:10.1007/s10961-012-9246-y the financing gap for university spin-offs: Proof-of-concept, pre-seed, and [4] Philip E. Auerswald & Lewis M. Branscomb, 2003, Valleys of Death and seed funding. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 24(7), pp. Darwinian Seas: Financing the Invention to Innovation Transition in the 663–678 United States, [8] Jožef Stefan Institute internal acts and calls https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1024980525678 [9] Info about the recipients of PoC calls: [5] Munari F, Sobrero M, and Toschi L. (2014b). Financing Technology http://tehnologije.ijs.si/?page_id=124 Transfer: An assessment of university-managed “proof-of-concept [10] Alunni Andrea (2019): Innovation Finance and Technology Transfer, programmes” in Europe. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the https://www.routledge.com/Innovation-Finance-and-Technology- EPIP Association (European Policy for Intellectual Property), Bruxelles, Transfer-Funding-Proof-of-Concept/Alunni/p/book/9780367671839 September 2014. [6] Miörner, J., Kalpaka, A., Sörvik, J., & Wernberg, J. 2019. Exploring heterogeneous Digital Innovation Hubs in their context. Seville: Joint Research Center. 40 European Industrial Strategy - a great opportunity to strengthen the role of technology transfer offices Levin Pal France Podobnik Špela Stres Center for technology transfer and Center for technology transfer and Center for technology transfer and innovation innovation innovation Jozef Stefan Institute Jozef Stefan Institute Jozef Stefan Institute Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana, Slovenia levin.pal@ijs.si france.podobnik@ijs.si spela.stres@ijs.si ABSTRACT KEYWORDS The latest European (EU) industrial strategy of the EU European Industrial Strategy, Enterprise Europe Network, Commission (EC) envisage increasing the innovation of small to Technology Transfer, Industrial ecosystems, Sector groups, medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the emphasis on the BioChemTech, biotechnology, chemistry double transition to a green and digital economy. The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), which operates within the EC and its 17 sector groups will be involved in achieving these goals. 1 INTRODUCTION Optimized functioning of SMEs and PROs in the innovation The EU Industrial Strategy of EC from March 2020 focuses ecosystem is extremely important and technology transfer (TT) mainly on the dual transition to a green and digital economy [1] will play a key role here. aiming to increase the competitiveness of EU industry and This paper presents the interactions between sector groups and enhancing the Europe’s open strategic autonomy. industrial ecosystems on the example of the BioChemTech sector The EU industrial strategy defines 14 industrial ecosystems group as it is important to understand them in order to act in line (Figure 1). The primary aim of the new industrial strategy is to with the new EU strategy. A database of EEN profiles, namely increase the innovativeness of SMEs within these industrial all profiles marked for dissemination in the BioChemTech group ecosystems. According to the Single Market Programme (SMP were analysed and the technology, market and client outreach COSME) the research and TT are considered as a core expertise based on real business and technological offers and requests is to ensure efficient support for SMEs by providing support to thus presented in this paper. The BioChemTech sector group has industry-academia cooperation including the provision of the most direct applications in Health (30%), Digital Industries technology expertise and technology infrastructure services to (10%), Agri-Food (9%), and Renewables (4%) and many indirect facilitate lab testing, validation and demonstration [2]. synergies with the same industrial systems in the areas of Industrial Products, Genetic Engineering/Molecular Biology and Consumer-Related Products. The sector group has already established contacts with clients in the field of Digital industries (5%) and Renewables (5%), which will need to be maintained, reinforced and upgraded in cooperation with other sector groups to ensure effective digitalization and sustainability of companies. The results reveal a unique opportunity for TT offices (TTOs), as the future demand for digital and environmental solutions should increase in companies. TTOs should catch this wave and thus overcome the usuall bottleneck of disproportionately large share of technology supply compared to technology demand as presented in this paper. Figure 1: Industrial ecosystems according to European Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed Industrial Strategy [1]. for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must EEN, which is operating under the EC has established 17 be honored. For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s). Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Sector Groups - the groups of network partners, who commit to © 2021 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). work together in order to meet the specific needs of their clients operating in a particular sector [3]. The following sectors are 41 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia L. Pal et al. covered by the groups: Aeronautics, Space and Defence, 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Agrofood, BioChemTech, Creative Industries, Environment, Healthcare, ICT Industries and Services, Intelligent Energy, 3.1 Technology outreach Maritime Industry and Services, Materials, Mobility, Nano and BioChemTech sector mainly covers the technological field of micro technologies, Retail, Sustainable Construction, Textile and biological sciences (39%) and industrial technologies (26%) Fashion, Tourism and Cultural Heritage and Woman mainly in the fields of biotechnology, chemistry and materials, Entrepreneurship [3]. which is not surprising (Figure 2). Within biotechnology and It is difficult to directly link the mentioned sectors to chemistry, there are some cross-cutting areas with other sectors. industrial ecosystems shown at Figure 1. For example, The largest overlaps are in the areas of healthcare (19% of biotechnology and chemistry and many others are not listed as profiles), agri-food (10% of profiles), environmental protection relevant industrial ecosystems. The reasons for the thematic (8% of profiles) and ICT (8% of profiles). Smaller overlaps are mismatches between industrial ecosystems and sector groups also in the field of micro and nanotechnologies (2% of profiles) vary. Some sector groups are based on the political agenda or are and advanced materials (7%) including textile materials (Figure covering different services. However, the majority of sector 2). groups is based on technology areas as defined by ATI - Advanced Technologies for Industry (former KET - Key Enabling Technologies) [3] meaning that the sector groups were established to transfer the advanced technologies from relatively narrow scientific fields to a relatively wide spectrum of industrial ecosystems. Determination of how the technological sectors are related to industrial ecosystems is important to ensure the optimal functioning of SMEs and PROs in the innovation ecosystem according to the EU industrial strategy [1]. The information should benefit to Jozef Stefan Institute (JSI) as a PRO and ATI Technology Centre [3] as well as the partners of Slovenian EEN consortium [2] and Consortium for Technology Transfer from PROs to economy (KTT) [4] coordinated by JSI. The EEN and KTT community is indeed acting on various relations: SME- SME, PRO-PRO, PRO-SME and SME-PRO In this paper, we describe an example of solving the above issue from the perspective of technology, market and client coverage in case of BioChemTech sector. We further discuss the opportunities for TTOs brought by the new EU industrial strategy and how TTOs can use the given situation to consolidate their role and importance in the innovation ecosystem. 2 METHODOLOGY The profiles published on the EEN website (https://een.ec.europa.eu/partners) were exported using the following filters: profile date: “from 1 June 2020 to 20 May 2021”; partners: relevant sector groups: “BioChemTech”. The obtained 199 results were exported into the Microsoft Excel worksheet (registration and login to EEN intranet is required to Figure 2: The incidence of EEN technology code easily export the profiles). The technology, market and NACE descriptions and the representation of other cross-cutting codes with corresponding descriptions were further analysed sectors covering the same technology areas. (each profile has a maximum of five technology, market and NACE codes). The incidences of different individual codes were The field of Biotechnology is therefore interdisciplinary, calculated. The most relevant sector groups or industrial which partly answers the question of why biotechnology and ecosystems were attributed to the sets of most frequent codes chemistry are classified as individual industrial ecosystems in occurring within 199 profiles and graphically displayed at Figure new EU Industrial Strategy. Sectors such as biotechnology, 2, Figure 3, and Figure 4. The “Others” group within individual nanomaterials, advanced materials etc. were established on the sub-areas of Figures 1 – 4 represents the sum of various different basis of ATIs, which are interdisciplinary by their nature and codes that each individually covered less than 1% of the overall applicable in multiple industrial ecosystems simultaneously. BioChemTech area. The number of business and technology profiles presented at Figure 5 is based on the same set of exported data. Analyses were performed in May 2021. 3.2 Market outreach This interdisciplinarity can also be observed in Figure 3 representing the main markets of BioChemTech sector. Medical 42 European Industrial Strategy - a great opportunity to strengthen Information Society 2020, 5–9 October 2020, Ljubljana, Slovenia the role of technology transfer offices and Healthcare and Industrial products account for more than one Renewables (5% of clients from profiles), which only need to be half of the market, while other applications belong to various strengthened. other industrial ecosystems, from Agri-food to Renewables and Digital Industries. Interestingly, there are a number of products 3.3 Client outreach in the ICT field intended for biotechnological applications and Manufacturers of pharmaceutics, food and chemical products their development takes place hand in hand together with the ICT represent the largest share, 35% of clients of the BioChemTech and BioChemTech experts as the knowledge has to be exchanged sector group, while the representatives of Professional, scientific between these distinct groups of experts in order to build and technical activities represent only a slightly smaller share, properly functioning medical/health/chemistry related computer 27% of clients (Figure 4). Almost equal representation of applications. The said expert knowledge is intertwined in the industrial partners and PROs should be considered as an unique fields of bioinformatics, assisted living facilities, electronic opportunity for TT linking the technology demand of companies laboratory books, software for clinical study analyses, dietary with technological supply of PROs, which is in line with the needs, automation of laboratories, equipment management expectations of the latest Single Market Programme [2]. software etc. Figure 4: The incidence of NACE code descriptions and the representation of corresponding industrial ecosystems. 3.4 Opportunities for Technology Transfer Figure 5 shows that there is a disproportionately large number of technology and business offers as compared to the number of requests. It is precisely this disparity that represents a bottleneck disabling the establishment of business and technological cooperation through matchmaking of supply and demand in commercial databases. Figure 3: The incidence of EEN market code descriptions and the representation of corresponding industrial ecosystems. It makes sense to maintain the established synergies with various industrial ecosystems, especially Healthcare and Agri- food in the upcoming years. However, from a strategic point of view, it is necessary to strengthen the integration with the Renewables and Digital industries in line with the new EU Industrial Strategy, which focuses most on digitalisation and sustainability of all industrial ecosystems [1]. For the mentioned integration, the BioChemTech sector group already seems to Figure 5: Number of profiles based on the profile type, have established connections with the clients of the industrial organization type and number of employees in industry. ecosystems Digital industries (5% of clients from profiles) and 43 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia L. Pal et al. The technology offer of companies is higher as compared to line with EU Industrial Strategy [1] and the latest EU Single the PROs at least in the BioChemTech sector. However, 58% of Market Programme [2]. industrial clients in the segment are Micro Companies having less than 10 employees (Figure 5) and they are mostly start-ups Low technological demand (Figure 5) represents a bottleneck for and spin-offs (data not shown). Therefore, the knowledge successful TT and this paper suggests two ways of approaching included within the high number of technology profiles is coming this problem for the TTOs in the upcoming years: predominantly from PROs. Analogously, the high number of (i) active seeking of the technological demand from companies business offers is coming from companies due to their desire to at both national and international level and matchmaking the promote their products. The authors of this paper cannot find a demand of companies with the offer of PROs; good explanation for the low proportion of technology requests, (ii) introducing the digitalisation and sustainability to every except that they see it as a great window of opportunity for TTOs. company, which should in itself increase the technological TTOs should play a key role in solving this problem by demand of companies lacking of appropriate skills in the field of increasing the amount of technological requests gained from the digitization and environmental protection. companies. Direct marketing activities that lead to well identified topics of research with the companies by TTOs should be The current situation is therefore a unique opportunity for TTOs considered as a tool to bridge the above described lack of that should be more adequately trained for: technological demand. For example, the direct marketing (i) active searching and identifying the topics and research activities of Center of Technology Transfer and Innovation problems for further development and optimization of (CTT) at JSI include direct contacting of companies, promotion production processes and services in companies; of technologies at brokerage events and other events, and (ii) establishing research and development collaborations physical visiting of companies: In the years 2017-2020 CTT between the companies and PROs based on the interest of visited 112 companies and identified 418 topics for cooperation companies; with JSI. As a result of direct marketing CTT contributed to 35 (iii) seeking for finance in the framework of national and EU license and 67 research and development agreements in years projects for digitalization and sustainability. 2017-2020. A relatively small proportion of the identified themes that lead to concrete agreements is best explained by well-known 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS model of technology transfer funnel [6]. However, the TT funnel Colleagues from BioChemTech sector group of the EEN and the should not be taken as an excuse for not having successful European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency are commercialization cases at TTOs, but rather as an incentive to greatly acknowledged for a constructive discussion on the increase the quantity as well as the quality of company visits and industrial ecosystems and their relations to various sectors. The identified topics [6]. colleagues from CTT are acknowledged for taking actions and On the other hand, in the future, the need for digitalization improving the overall CTT results. and sustainability is likely to arise in companies, which should have a positive impact on technology demand for digital and REFERENCES environmental solutions and thus positively influence the [1] European industrial strategy. 2020. European Commission. [internet]. imbalance of technology supply and demand. TTOs, as experts [cited on September 24th] in industrial ecosystems and technology sectors, should be able https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital- age/european-industrial-strategy_en to help companies and PROs to establish collaboration and help [2] Single Market programme. 2021. Enterprise Europe network. [internet]. especially SMEs to obtain national and EU funding. [cited on September 24th] https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021- 2027/smp/wp-call/2021/call-fiche_smp-cosme-2021-een_en.pdf (24.9.2021) 4 CONCLUSIONS [3] Enterprise Europe Network. 2021. European Commission. [internet]. [cited on September 24th] Advanced Technologies for Industry (ATIs) areas are strongly https://een.ec.europa.eu/ intertwined (Figure 2) and have applications in several different [4] Advanced Technologies for Industry. 2021. European Commission. [internet]. [cited on September 24th] markets (Figure 3) and consequently appear in several industrial https://ati.ec.europa.eu/ ecosystems simultaneously (Figure 4) as shown on the case of [5] KTT - Consortium for technology transfer from public research organizations to economy in years 2017-2022. Republic of Slovenia, BioChemTech sector. Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, European Regional Development Fund [internet]. [cited on September 24th] http://jro-ktt.si/ The emphasis on digitalization, sustainability and environmental [6] Tan. S., 2021. The alternative view of scaling up regional knowledge protection can only be established through active cross-sectoral transfer output. ASTP – Association of Knowledge Transfer Professionals. integration, with the transfer of technologies from Digital [internet]. [cited on September 24th] https://www.astp4kt.eu/about-us/kt-news/an-alternative-view-of-scaling- Industries and Renewables related areas to other industrial up-regional-knowledge-transfer-output.html ecosystems and the TTOs should play a crucial role, which is in 44 Knowledge generation in citizen science project using on- line tools: CitieS-Health Ljubljana Pilot Jure Ftičar Miha Pratneker David Kocman† Department of Environmental Department of Environmental Department of Environmental Sciences Sciences Sciences Jožef Stefan Institute Jožef Stefan Institute Jožef Stefan Institute Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana, Slovenia jure.fticar@ijs.si miha.pratneker@ijs.si david.kocman@ijs.si ABSTRACT where citizens are invited to take part in all the phases of research activities [4]. In this contribution, we describe the development of a tool for Many potentials of environmental citizen science are data visualization and treatment designed for the participants recognised by scientific community, among others generation of involved in the citizen science (CS) activities in Ljubljana, new knowledge and facilitation of (in-depth) learning at the Slovenia, as part of the CitieS-Health H2020 project dealing with individual level [5]. However, it is necessary to take into account environmental epidemiology. The tool, a web application that that volunteers in CS projects have a very different prior enables volunteers to autonomously collect, edit and analyse the knowledge, as well as socio-economic background and education, data, was designed to encourage their involvement in discovering and are usually inexperienced in analysing and processing the and generating new knowledge, together with professional data gathered by themselves. Their motivation to participate can researchers and according to the principles of co-creation. Some also vary [6]. Thus, appropriate specific tools tailored to the preliminary lessons about the tool applicability and usability, capability of the individual user are needed to empower and including potential intellectual property aspects, are discussed. facilitate their integration into the process of knowledge generation. In this paper, we present some preliminary results KEYWORDS and describe an example of creating a web application designed Citizen science, co-creation, knowledge generation for the volunteers to independently process their own data gathered in Ljubljana, Slovenia, under the CitieS-Health H2020 project on noise exposure and health. 1 INTRODUCTION In recent years, CS is on the rise and there is a growing body of literature on various aspects of CS, its role and increasing 2 METHODS importance in scientific research [1]. There is no single definition of CS as taxonomy depends on the type and level of involvement 2.1 CitieS-Health Project and Ljubljana Pilot of participants, but in general citizen science defines the practice Activities where non-professionals take part in the scientific research Activities reported in this contribution were conducted within the process. Such an approach brings many new opportunities, such frame of the Cities-Health, EU Horizon 2020 programme funded as generation of new knowledge and understanding, but it also project on CS in environmental epidemiology brings several challenges. Therefore, the European Citizen (https://citieshealth.eu/). In Ljubljana pilot, citizens took part in Science Association (ECSA) prepared a common set of ten core co-designing citizen science study that addressed noise pollution principles to consider in the CS projects, one of them and health. Altogether, 49 volunteers aged 10-67 participated in emphasising the need to take into consideration legal and ethical the study from November 2020 to June 2021. They were issues surrounding copyright, intellectual property, data-sharing recruited during meetings and various engagement and agreements, confidentiality, attribution and the environmental empowerment activities organised with local NGOs, schools, impact of any activities [2]. private companies and based on contacts established in previous Intellectually property (IP) rights of participants in CS similar projects. Following the CitieS-Health methodological projects depend on the type of their involvement and contribution. framework [7] that is based on co-creation with citizens in four To this end, Scassa and Chung [3] outlined typology of CS phases of the project – initial identification of concerns and projects based upon IP issues and classified participant's interests of citizens, followed by co-design of data collection contribution into following four broad categories: (i) protocols, data collection and analysing, and action - the classification or transcription of data; (ii) data gathering; (iii) following overarching research question was formulated: How participation as a research subject; and/or (iv) the solving of do the quality of the living environment (with an emphasis on problems, sharing of ideas, or manipulation of data. The fourth noise) and living habits affect the (mental) health and well-being category is of special interest from the IP point of view, as it of individuals? To this end, volunteers performed measurements demands bigger intellectual engagement from participants [3]. and gathered information on various aspects of their living This is usually the case in the so-called co-created CS projects environment (noise levels, characteristics and perception of their surroundings, sleep quality and cognitive performance) using 45 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia J. Ftičar et al. smartphone applications and physical activity trackers (Figure participants, and thus their proactive involvement in discovering 1). Apart from the sleep questionnaire, they were prompted to do and generating of new knowledge. all the activities twice per day (morning and afternoon), and each individual collected the data for a minimum of seven days. 2.3 Development of Web-based Application Overall, 75 aggregated variables were collected, and over 1000 2.3.1 Technical details. The application was developed using observations made, which resulted in over 50000 the R programming language, a free software environment for records/observations all-together. statistical computing and graphics, specifically the Shiny package. This environment allowed development of the application with relatively low effort and without using other languages (as the package translates the R code into HTML, CSS and JavaScript). Even though R applications are server side and are typically slow, this was not an obstacle, as the user count was sufficiently low. For reasons of data protection and privacy, the application along with the underlying databases was installed on internal institute’s server. The application cleans, prepares and loads the data, and users only have access to their own data through password authentication. In this way, no data pre- treatment is needed from the participants’ side, and they can proceed to immediate data processing. 2.3.2 Structure of the application. The application comprises the following four general sections: (i) the intro page, containing the overall instructions and overview of the application; (ii) data overview page, containing the overall activity summary, data tables, descriptions and graphs of individual variables, and their sleep quality assessment; (iii) data with spatial context, containing georeferenced information regarding movement patterns of the individual and noise measurements, overlaid with general maps of air and noise pollution; (iv) analysis tools, containing interactive plots allowing visualization and analyses of combinations of chosen variables. The latter comprises a Figure 1: Schematic outline of the Ljubljana pilot boxplot/violin plot section, a scatterplot section, a radar chart section and a 3D plot section. 2.2 Challenges of Information Processing Following the principles of user-centred design, application As participants were collecting the data about themselves and was tested by three participants with varying degrees of their living environment, it was expected that they each get a knowledge. Their feedback and suggested improvements along personalized report on the data collected. On the other hand, with a smaller test group trial (15) helped us improve the participant’s proactive contribution in all phases of the project, usability of the application. including data analysis and processing, is one of the key aspects of co-created CS projects such as CitieS-Health. However, the scale and variability of the data collected can present a challenge 3 RESULTS (60-75 variables depending on the user). Moreover, in discussion with participants in the planning and execution phase, it became 3.1 Functionality of the Web-application clear that participants have very different interests and unalike In general, application enables three types of functionalities: perception on data processing. Therefore, a uniform report Access to the raw data along with basic descriptive statistics, comprising all the topics and all the parameters might come general data on the patterns of movement in space and sleeping across as too excessive and incomprehensible, at the risk of habits, pre-processed by researchers, and specific tools for losing the desired information and consequently reducing the independent data processing (Figure 2). In this way, step-by-step interest of volunteers in active participation. Moreover, as known approach is used, adding increased level of analytical complexity form previous similar efforts [8], it has to be assumed that the and dimensionality. reader is a layperson, and therefore information provided must The main idea was to make the app straightforward and be brief enough and concise, as too much information can create effortless for the users with no prior statistical knowledge. That’s distraction. An alternative would be to send raw data to the why it was designed with as few elements as possible to prevent participants, who would have to learn to use different data cluttering and burdening the participants with too complex processing tools on their own, or the latter would have to be taken functions. Hence, some functionalities only became visible when care of by researchers, which can be time consuming and not relevant (example: the button to switch the confidence intervals necessarily effective. on and off only becomes visible when the regression line is To overcome the aforementioned challenges, a web-based turned on). Moreover, the app was designed in a way that initial application was created for volunteers in Ljubljana pilot, which help sections are elementary and easily accessible (usually by enables independent editing, visualization and analysis of data by hovering over a question mark or a mini tab besides the plots), 46 Knowledge generation in citizen science project using on-line tools: CitieS-Health Ljubljana Pilot with the option of deeper explanations on external links. Similar, skills and interests. Initial descriptive statistics, general as there were many variables to choose from, the feature of behavioural patterns and explanations are included to nudge the choosing between the main pre-selected variables (5 variables users in some directions, however the decision on which topics per argument) or all of them (between 60 and 75) was added. or variables they would focus is up to them. This approach offers more user-friendly experience than traditional paper reports, as it simplifies the experience and makes it more understandable for laypeople while it is not losing the professional and educational aspect. 3.2 User-experience Feedback The results presented in this paper are preliminary in nature, as a more detailed analysis of the user experience will be evaluated in detail in the final phase of the project. However, based on the interactions with the volunteers involved so far, two general observations can be made. Lay volunteers show interest primarily in their own data and the level of their own exposure to environmental stressors, and are mostly interested in exposure to noise in the light of living habits, data on physical activity, and especially the quality of sleep. On the other hand, volunteers who have more experience with research, either within their profession or in general, recognize the added value of such tools. Among other things, it was proposed to expand the use of such an application for the continuous collection of a wider set of data in the living environment for the purposes of assessing the state of the environment, also as an aid to the work of inspection services and decision-makers. 4 CONCLUSION The tool developed for the specific needs of the specific citizen science project described in this paper proves to be a very promising solution with the possibility of expanding its applications. Namely, it enables the interactive inclusion of lay people in data analysis, which gives them a personalized experience, maintains their engagement, and at the same time, in addition to creating new knowledge for the common good, users gain insight into their own living habits and quality of life. Its full potential however still needs to be explored. For this purpose, an evaluation will take place in the final phase of the project, where among others aspects of intellectual property, specifically if and to what extent participants perceive these aspects, as well as the possibilities of using newly acquired knowledge as a result of cooperation between researchers and volunteers acquired in the respective activities, will be analysed. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 824484, and the P1-0143 program “Cycling of substances in the environment, mass balances, modelling of Figure 2: Examples of three types of functionalities: a) basic environmental processes and risk assessment”, funded by the descriptive statistics b) general data pre-processed by Slovenian Research Agency. researchers on general patterns of sleeping habits, c) tools for independent data processing The primary advantage of this approach is that the users have the freedom to explore their own data, tailored according to their 47 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia J. Ftičar et al. REFERENCES [1] Susanne Hecker, Muki Haklay, Anne Bowser, Zen Makuch, Johannes [6] Johanna Amalia Robinson, David Kocman, Orestis Speyer and Evangelos Vogel and Aletta Bonn (Eds.), 2018. Citizen Science: Innovation in Open Gerasopoulos, 2021. Meeting volunteer expectations — a review of Science, Society and Policy. UCL Press, London, UK. volunteer motivations in citizen science and best practices for their [2] Lucy Danielle Robinson, Jade Lauren Cawthray, Sarah Elizabeth West, retention through implementation of functional features in CS tools. In Aletta Bonn and Janice Ansine, 2018. Ten principles of citizen science. In Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 64, 12 (2021), Citizen Science – Innovation in Open Science, Society and Policy. UCL 2089-2113. DOI: 10.1080/09640568.2020.1853507 Press, London, 27–40. [7] Raul Toran, Rodney Ortiz, Florence Gignac, Carolyn Daher, Mark [3] Teresa Scassa and Haewon Chung, 2015. Typology of Citizen Science Nieuwenhuijsen, Gabrielle Donzelli, Giulia Malavasi, Antonella Ficorilli, Projects from an Intellectual Property Perspective. Wilson Center – Bruna De Marchi, Giulia Bastiani, Fabrizio Rufo, Annibale Biggeri, Commons Lab, Washington, DC. Sandra Andrušaitytė, Regina Gražulevičienė, Fleur Froeling, Gerard [4] Frederique Froeling, Florence Gignac, Gerard Hoek, Roel Vermeulen, Hoek, David Kocman, Lucia Errandonea, et al., 2019. Documentation on Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Antonella Ficorilli, Bruna De Marchi, Annibale activities and outcomes in CS actions (first report). Retrieved Biggeri, David Kocman, Johanna Amalia Robinson, Regina from: http://citieshealth.eu/download/435/?v=440 Grazuleviciene, Sandra Andrusaityte, Valetia Righi and Xavier Basagaña, [8] David Kocman, Tjaša Kadunč, Rok Novak, Johanna A. Robinson et al., 2021. Narrative review of citizen science in environmental epidemiology: 2020. Multi-sensor data collection for personal exposure monitoring : Setting the stage for co-created research projects in environmental ICARUS experience. In 20th International Symposium on Environmental epidemiology. In Environment International. 152, (Jul, 2021). DOI: Pollution and its Impact on Life in the Mediterranean Region, October 26-10.1016/j.envint.2021.106470. 27, 2020: virtual event : book of abstracts. 71 (October 2020). ISBN 978- [5] Tabea Turrini, Daniel Dörler, Anett Richter, Florian Heigl and Aletta 1-00520-280-4. Bonn, 2018. The threefold potential of environmental citizen science - Generating knowledge, creating learning opportunities and enabling civic participation. In Biological Conservation, 225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.03.024 48 Overview of National Sources of Finance and Supports Available to Spin-Out Companies from Public Research Organizations * Vojka Žunič† Marta Klanjšek Gunde Knowledge Transfer Office Department of Materials Chemistry Mysteria Colorum – MyCol d.o.o. National Institute of Chemistry National Institute of Chemistry Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana, Slovenia marta@mycol.si vojka.zunic@ki.si marta.k.gunde@ki.si ABSTRACT po posebni opremi, dragih materialih in visokokvalificiranih človeških virih, zato ne zadovoljujejo finančnih potreb At Slovenian public research organizations numerous advanced odcepljenih podjetij s področja globoke tehnologije. technologies and know-how are generated, a lot of which have great commercial potential. One of the possible ways to bring V tem prispevku je podan pregled obstoječih finančnih virov, these innovations to the market is by selling or licensing them to uporabnih za podporo spin-out podjetjem. Predlagane so spin-out* companies established by the researchers, employed nekatere izboljšave, ki bi mladim spin-out podjetjem olajšale within the parent public research organization. However, the path zagon in tako omogočile učinkovitejši prenos izumov in znanja s to commercialization for the spin-outs can take a long time, področja globoke tehnologije v gospodarstvo. mainly due to a lack of financial resources and the legal impossibility for the public research organization to participate KLJUČNE BESEDE in spin-off companies. Especially spin-out companies from the Prenos IP, odcepljeno podjetje, komercializacija, finančna deep-tech fields require not only specific technical and business orodja. expertise, but also high capital investment. On the national level, there are available public sources of funding that can help companies in the initial phase. In general, these means are 1 INTRODUCTION adequate for start-ups with no needs for special equipment, Knowledge and technology established at public research expensive materials, and highly qualified human resources, and organizations in Slovenia are commonly transferred to the so don’t meet the financial needs of a deep-tech company. economy through the sale of the intellectual property rights, by In this paper, an overview of the existing financial initiatives, licensing the technology to an existing company, or by setting up helps and sources of funds, which can be used to support spin- a new spin-out company. A spin-out is a new company outs are given and some improvements are proposed that would established specifically to further develop and commercialize make it easier for young spin-out to get off the ground and thus technology arising from the public research organization. The enable more effective transfer of deep-tech inventions and relationship between a spin-out company and its parent public knowledge to the economy. research organization is in most cases based on a licensing relationship. The spin-out company is 100% owned by investors, KEYWORDS of which at least one is a researcher in a working relationship with the parent public research organization.[1] Such an IP transfer, spin-out company, commercialization, financial organization ensures the best possible and successful transfer of initiatives, help, funds. knowledge and close cooperation in the future. POVZETEK Like all of the young companies, i.e. start-ups, the initial founding of a spin-out comes from the equity funding from Na slovenskih javnih raziskovalnih organizacijah nastajajo founders also known as the 3F model (family, friends, and številne napredne tehnologije in znanje, ki imajo velik tržni founders). A key difference between spin-outs and start-ups is potencial. Eden od možnih načinov komercializacije the path to commercialization, which is much longer for potencialnih inovacij je prodaja ali licenciranje spin- spin-outs. A deep-tech spin-out usually aims to commercialize a out**podjetjem, ki jih ustanovijo raziskovalci, zaposleni v complex product that acquires a long development and scale-up matični javni raziskovalni organizaciji. Pot do komercializacije to manufacturing. The more complex the product, the more spin-out podjetja je dolga, predvsem zaradi pomanjkanja resources and time are required to bring it to the market. Before finančnih sredstev ter zakonsko onemogočenega sodelovanje a young spin-out can generate sufficient revenues on the market javnih raziskovalnih organizacij pri ustanavljanju odcepljenih and become attractive to outside investors, it has to live on podjetij. Zlasti spin-out podjetja s področij globoke tehnologije various sources of funding, mainly public funding, which is zahtevajo poleg posebnega tehničnega in poslovnega znanja tudi commonly aligned with the needs of start-up companies and visoke kapitalske naložbe. Na nacionalni ravni so na voljo javni already established companies, but less suitable for deep-tech viri financiranja, ki lahko pomagajo podjetjem v začetni fazi. Na spin-outs. Commercialization of deep-tech technologies requires splošno so ta sredstva primerna za zagonska podjetja brez potreb * A company linked to the parent organization based on licensing relationships (the company is wholly owned by investors, at least one of whom is a researcher in an employment relationship at the parental organization).[1]Napaka! Vira sklicevanja ni bilo mogoče najti. ** Podjetje, povezano z matično organizacijo na podlagi licenčnih razmerij (podjetje je v celoti v lasti vlagateljev, od katerih je vsaj eden raziskovalec v delovnem razmerju v matični organizaciji).[1] 49 National Financial Instruments for Spin-Out Companies V. Žunič and M. Klanjšek Gunde besides highly skilled personnel, the resources for expensive biggest gap in raising the technology level of their innovative materials and specialized equipment. An excellent example of product, especially above TRL5 where the technology needs to financial support to commercialize deep-tech technologies are be demonstrated and developed into the real product. Most deep the calls supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC), tech inventions require a long and costly development to raise e.g. programmes Pathfinder, Transition, and Accelerator.[2] the TRL and make all the necessary adjustments and scaling. These calls allow the applicant, e.g. a spin-out company, to Very few options are available to finance these needs and the develop according to the innovative idea, to develop the grants described are not very suitable although they are welcome. appropriate marketing model, to elaborate and scale the new product up to pilot production and to find first customers. 2.2 Subsidies, loans, guarantees, and equity Coaching and specific meetings are organized to connect directly These funds are derived from EU financial assistance to support with the companies that are the potential end-users of the product EU policies and programmes in form of all types of loans to or service to be developed. In this way, the pilot product can be companies to invest in research and innovation. It also provides transferred to a suitable industrial environment at an early stage guarantees to help recipients get loans from banks and other of development, and based on the received feedback adapted and lenders and on better terms. In Slovenia, these funds are mainly optimized. It should be noted that EIC calls are overcrowded with managed by Slovenian Enterprise Fund (SEF) and SID Banka.[3] applicants and the success rate is very low, so very few spin-outs get this chance. It is clear that most action should be taken at 2.2.1. SEF Programme »YOUNG ENTERPRISES« national level first. A good national funding mechanism would In the scope of a newly formed spin-out company, the Slovenian be welcome to create a supportive environment also for spin-out Enterprise Fund (SEF) offers the product Programme »YOUNG companies in the deep-tech fields that bring particular innovation ENTERPRISES« for companies younger than 5 years. The and specialized knowledge. purpose of the programme is to provide the initial financial support for entrepreneurial ideas and/or for already established young companies that have a guaranteed market and demonstrate 2 PUBLIC SOURCES OF FUNDING the potential increase in added value per employee. The For newly establishes Slovenian companies there are few means programme is primarily aimed at companies with a high share of of funding especially through the Slovenian Enterprise Fund, their own knowledge, innovation, and the potential of creating which, together with SID Bank and with the support of the products or services with high added value. It enables a Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, offers a comprehensive financial support adapted to development phases wide range of financial incentives and assistance. In the for young companies with initial support solely through public following subchapters, we summarized and reviewed the funds and subsequent public-private financing. There are few available public funding’s in the terms of support for a spin-out supports available in regard to the company's stage of company. Only the support important for spin-out companies is development among which the most adequate for new spin-out discussed, although there is additional support available for is the start-up Incentives for innovative start-ups "SEF TWIN". established businesses.[3] It purposes the support of start-up companies with a potential for rapid growth and that develop innovative products, processes, 2.1 Grants and services with high added value for a broader market.[9] The "YOUNG ENTERPRISES" programme is highly welcomed The aim of support of grants is primarily for research and and appreciated by start-ups with innovative ideas that do not development activities that are in line with the national and/or require much effort to reach the required TRL. Such examples EU programme and policy priorities. The grants enable some include various IT -based services and interesting products that coverage of costs for human resources and certain investment are high risk but can be developed to the development stage with activities. Support in form of grants can also be called by larger relatively little funding. In contrast, cutting-edge technology EU initiatives and independent bodies, such as EIT Climate KIC areas typically require much larger investments in equipment, [4], EIT Digital [5], EIT Food [6], EIT Raw Materials [7] other materials, and various human resources with specialized EITs, Bio-based Industries (BBI) [8], etc.[3] The aim of the technical knowledge and skills. The time required for growth is European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) is to usually much longer. It is very likely that most of these increase Europe's innovation capacity by nurturing companies would not be able to sustain the financial incentives entrepreneurial talent and supporting new ideas. To make this of the programme because of the time and resources required to possible, the EIT sets up various Knowledge and Innovation grow rapidly to the stage where venture capital could be Community, (KICs) specialized in different challenges, such as available. climate, digitalization, food, raw materials, energy, etc. One of In many cases, eligible costs serve almost exclusively IT -based their activities is also grants for start-ups. They offer business- start-ups and allow for the purchase of computers and related oriented acceleration programmes and aim to prepare a company equipment, but not materials, such as chemicals, or special for greater growth in the region and make it investment-ready. equipment needed to develop the new products. Nor can they Usually, numerous entrepreneurial training courses are offered to fund the rental of laboratory space, which is urgently needed for boost the business. These services are highly appreciated and the development of cutting-edge technology inventions. For this help the new business to secure the best possible path. However, reason, the programme mainly includes SMEs with interesting a lean spin-out, especially from the cutting-edge technology but technologically relatively simple products, but not many sector, usually does not have free human resources that can be spin-outs from research institutes and university operating in the used only for these tasks. Most deep-tech spin-outs see the deep-tech field of innovation. [10] 50 National Financial Instruments for Spin-Out Companies V. Žunič and M. Klanjšek Gunde Another instrument implemented by the SEF are the substantive possible to claim corporate income tax (CIT) tax deductions for support programmes in form of vouchers such as Small Value 100% investment in research and development, investment in in- Incentives, Content support for young innovative companies, and house R&D activities and for the purchase of R&D services, Abroad training for high-tech companies.[9] The support enables investment in equipment and intangible assets at 40 % of the the financing of e.g. intellectual property protection, certificates amount invested.[16] It should be noted that these benefits do not of quality, internationalization costs, networking and include the investments made with the help of the projects, not information, fast-growth accelerator programmes. For example, even the part in which the company has to participate. This part the Patent, design, trademark vouchers are meant to cover the ranges from 30% to 50% or even higher, depending on the costs of preparing the application dossier and/or maintaining financing arrangements of the instrument. This can be a large and/or extending legal protection for the intellectual property at amount, especially for large investments in specialized national, European and international patent offices, including the equipment likely required by the deep-tech. costs of the patent attorney, official fees and translation costs. The available means are between 500,00 and 5.000,00 € for 2.5 Non-financial forms of public aid applications without substantive examination and between Non-financial forms of state aid are available through support 500,00 and 9.999,99 € for applications with substantive environments and networks across Slovenia. They offer examination. Based on practical experience this amount is assistance mainly as services for potential entrepreneurs, and enough to cover the cost from application till grand at individual SMEs, such as technical assistance, advice, mentoring, guidance, national offices, such as the SIPO, UK IPO or at the European workshops and training, competence building, opening up new Patent Office (EPO).[10] business opportunities and exchanges of good practice.[3] 2.2.2. SID Bank Fund of Funds The SID Bank Fund of Funds was set up in 2017 by the Ministry 3 WHAT IS MISSING of Economic Development and Technology and SID Bank and is intended for the use of European cohesion funds. These funds are 3.1 Venture capital fund along the lines of the aimed at the financing of sustainable economic growth and, EIC development, investments in innovation and current operations through debt financing in four areas: research, development and Support should be developed along the lines of the European innovation, small and medium-sized enterprises, energy Innovation Council (EIC), which is an example of good practice efficiency, and urban development. The Fund of Funds includes that should be transferred to Slovenia. many repayable forms of financing, which are extremely The steps needed to set up such a support would first and welcome at later stages of development, i.e. at higher TRLs, foremost require an appropriate legal basis, which is currently especially after reaching TRL9. At this stage, a deep-tech SME lacking - this could change with the new Research and is fully confident in its successful technology and knows exactly Innovation Act, we are expecting soon. Furthermore, it is what investment is required to develop pilot production into real necessary to ensure coordinated action and support from funders production and grow the business beyond early adopters and - Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS), Public Agency for byers. The instruments managed by the SID Bank which can be Entrepreneurship, Internationalization, Foreign Investments and of interest to spin-out companies are the (i) Loans to finance Technology (SPIRIT), Slovenian Enterprise Fund (SEF), and research, development, and innovation (RDI) (enable to cover other existing or future funders of such projects. In this way, the cost of development, improvement or launch of a new or coordinated and continuous funding of successful projects on the improved product, process, or service, etc.) and (ii) Micro loans area of higher TRLs could be ensured, without interruptions in for SMEs (SME micro) (applicable to cover the costs of business the (co-)financing of the development of a specific technology. process, investments in property, plant, and equipment). These instruments draw funding from the European Cohesion Policy 3.2 Innovation projects at national research funds and funds from financial intermediaries. However, for agency – the new financial instrument to earlier TRL stages, the Fund of Funds is most likely too risky, balance the basic science funds especially for deep tech.[11] To develop innovation at the scale required, especially for deep- edge technology, we need a new funding instrument. This 2.3 Awards instrument is best located at ARRS, which currently with the new Lower financial support is possible to be obtained through law needs to upgrade its funding of science with innovation innovation prizes such as the Rector's Award for the Best funding. Innovation at the University of Ljubljana [12], EIT Jumpstarter Beneficiary projects should be funded at a realistic cost of [13], EIT Awards [14], BASF Innovation Hub [15], etc. Such 100,000.00 € per year upwards (similar to the ERC Proof of awards are important to raise awareness of the novelty and Concept grants, which offer a lump sum of 150,000.00 € for a publicize the spin-out company, but too early notes could also period of 18 months) [17], comparable to the projects and mean too much of a push in a particular direction that could funding levels of typical basic research projects at ARRS. The become a side track. Agency also finances the so-called larger research projects with higher funding. The allocation of funds for innovation projects 2.4 Benefits should consider the real costs of the project and not a fixed The national Corporate Income Tax Act (ZDDPO-2) enables amount which is current praxis for research projects. In view of spin-out companies benefits in form of tax deductions which are the final added value that could be generated by the company 51 National Financial Instruments for Spin-Out Companies V. Žunič and M. Klanjšek Gunde with such support, the proposed sum is actually low. The number REFERENCES of innovation projects selected should be in line with the number [1] Špela Stres (Ed.). 2021. Modrosti iz inovacijskega podpornega okolja v of projects awarded for basic science at national level. javno raziskovalnih organizacijah za upravljalce inovacijskega sistema. The envisaged financial support should finance promising Inštitut “Jožef Stefan” (IJS), Ljubljana. [2] European Innovation Council accessed on 10/08/2021 research that has already been funded as a basic research project https://eic.ec.europa.eu/index_en by the ARRS and as such should have priority for funding. This [3] Start:up Slovenija accessed on 10/08/2021 [4] https://www.startup.si/sl-si/za-startupe/javni-viri-financiranjaEIT would achieve greater funding coherence and justify the Climate-KIC accessed on 10/08/2021 rationality of funding basic research and ensure higher added https://www.climate-kic.org/countries/slovenia/ value of funding that if serving just excellent science. [5] EIT Digital accessed on 10/08/2021 https://www.eitdigital.eu/ Additionally, it would create systematic and continuous financial [6] EIT Food accessed on 10/08/2021 support in Slovenia from idea to market entry, especially in the https://www.eitfood.eu/in-your-country/country/slovenia [7] EIT Raw Materials accessed on 10/08/2021 field of deep-tech. This is a basic requirement for entering the https://eitrawmaterials.eu/ innovation-based community and could bridge the gap between [8] Bio-based Industries accessed on 10/08/2021 https://www.bbi.europa.eu/ basic science and the start-up opportunities already available in [9] Slovenian Enterprise Fund accessed on 10/08/2021 Slovenia. https://podjetniskisklad.si/en/sef-s-products/programme-young- enterprises [10] Slovenian Enterprise Fund accessed on 10/08/2021 3.3 Other possibilities https://podjetniskisklad.si/sl/produkti-sklada/sps-dvojcekdpora-pri- produktih In order to improve all opportunities to make our original deep- [11] Skladi skladov SID Banke accessed on 11/08/2021 tech knowledge available to the economy, especially that https://www.skladskladov.si/en generated by spin-out companies as a result of the pre-funding of [12] UL Pisarna za prenos znanja accessed on 11/08/2021 https://ppz.uni-lj.si/novice/rektorjeva-nagrada-2021/ basic research, we recommend that the other financial initiatives [13] EIT JumpStarter accessed on 11/08/2021 adopt some changes. To this end, the SEF programme "YOUNG https://eitrawmaterials.eu/eit-jumpstarter/ [14] EIT Awards accessed on 11/08/2021 ENTERPRISES" could make appropriate changes to support https://eit.europa.eu/our-activities/eit-awards SMEs with more complex needs. It should also be thoroughly [15] BASF Innovation Hub accessed on 11/08/2021 discussed whether the corporate tax deductions for investments https://join-innovationhub.com/ [16] Pravno informacijski sistem accessed on 11/08/2021 in in-house R&D activities and for the purchase of R&D services http://pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=ZAKO4687 and equipment during an R&D project are also possible for the [17] ERC Proof of Concept Grant accessed on 23/09/2021 https://erc.europa.eu/funding/proof-concept part that the company has to co-invest through its own participation. Note: Researcher who wish to establish a spin-out company can acquire more information at the Technology Transfer Office of the parental research organization. 52 Application of 3D printing, reverse engineering and metrology Remzo Dedić† Željko Stojkić Igor Bošnjak Faculty of Mechanical Faculty of Mechanical Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Computing and Engineering, Computing and Engineering, Computing and Electrical Engineering Electrical Engineering Electrical Engineering University of Mostar University of Mostar University of Mostar Mostar Bosnia and Herzegovina Mostar Bosnia and Herzegovina Mostar Bosnia and Herzegovina remzo.dedic@fsre.sum.ba zeljko.stojkic@fsre.sum.ba igor.bosnjak@fsre.sum.ba ABSTRACT metrology. Students, assistants, and engineers from local companies are introduced to 3D printing, 3D scanners and 3D Examples of transfer of knowledge in the field of 3D printing, scanning through practical examples. Also, they can actively reverse engineering, and metrology will be presented in this participate in the development and adjustment of materials for paper. The first chapter contains the description of the concept of the implementation of training and laboratory exercises, as well the Learning Factory, within which knowledge is created and as in the organization of training, laboratory exercises and transferred to the economic entities in the environment. exercises on real examples. The practical work of printing and Technologies of 3D printing, reverse engineering, and metrology scanning objects is done in the premises of the Learning Factory. are subsequently described and various examples of development projects for the local industry are presented. A conclusion regarding the realized activities is given at the end. 2 3D PRINT, REVERSE ENGINEERING AND METROLOGY KEYWORDS 3D print, reverse engineering, metrology, Learning Factory, 2.1 Rapid prototyping - 3D print transfer of knowledge Several 3D printers were procured at FSRE through the project. • Stratatys F 270 is an industrial type of F123 series printer with FDM technology. It uses materials for model/support: PLA, 1 INTRODUCTION ABS-M30, ASA, TPU, 92A/QSR. The Learning Factory at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, • MakerBot Method X Carbon Fiber Edition uses carbon fiber Computing and Electrical engineering (FSRE) has the basic goal reinforced material, ABS, ASA, SR30, PLA, PVA. of enabling students to experience many problems that will be • Zortrax M200 Plus uses LPD/FFF printing technology. It uses present in the production facilities where they will soon be dedicated M series material. operating. At the same time, the Factory also provides engineers • Ultimaker 2+ is a small 3D printer that is programmed within from local companies with the opportunity to get acquainted with the Cura software package. The software is easy to use and new technologies that were not present at the time they were allows you to move objects, load multiple objects for printing, studying. and change resolutions and other settings. The set goals are achieved through several projects: “Reconnecting universities and enterprises to unleash regional 2.2 Reverse engineering in general innovation and entrepreneurial activity” (Kno wHUB) and Modern manufacturing companies that want to maintain and “Increasing competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized improve competitiveness in the global market are forced to enterprises through digitalization” (IC SMED ). The main goal systematically update existing and find new ways to reduce of the KnowHUB project is to build HUBs as a link between operating costs in all aspects of their operations. higher education institutions, the business environment and the The process of transforming an idea into a functional product wider community. The main goal of the IC SMED project is to consists of a series of steps that in some cases can be iterated increase the competitiveness of micro, small and medium several times. Such a setting implies a significant expenditure of enterprises with the help of digitalization. Through these projects, time and financial resources during the product development conditions have been established to help and support local process, without a guarantee of a positive outcome of the entire businesses in the areas of 3D printing, reverse engineering, and process. These reasons were sufficient to try to find ways and ∗Article Title Footnote needs to be captured as Title Note methods of shortening the time of product development and †Author Footnote to be captured as Author Note spending financial resources related to the product development process in everyday engineering practice. One of the ways of reducing the time and cost of the new product development Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or process is reverse engineering. classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or In a narrower sense, reverse engineering can be defined as the distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of process of duplicating an existing component, assembly, or this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s). Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia © 2020 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). 53 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Dedic, Stojkic, Bosnjak product, without the aid of a drawing, technical documentation, or computer model (Figure 1). In the context of the aforementioned, the technique of reverse engineering can be applied to analyze and study the internal working parts of the machine, for example, to compare the current device with the performed analyzes in order to obtain suggestions for improvement. Figure 2. 3D scanner within the FSRE Learning Factory 2.2.1.2 GOM Inspect Suite. GOM Inspect Suite is a comprehensive software package for simple or complex measured tasks during the entire quality control process - from 3D product scanning, polygon network editing, CAD model import, GD&T analysis, statistical trend analysis, digital editing, etc. (Figure 3) Figure 1. Reverse engineering process [1] Unlike "classical" engineering design that starts from the abstract - the idea implies its elaboration through conceptual and then detailed CAD design, design based on the principles of reverse engineering begins with a physical object which is then translated into a CAD model, possibly adapted or refined and in the end manufactured by one of the CNC, that is, RP technologies [2]. Figure 3. The appearance of the workspace inside the GOM 2.2.1 Reverse Engineering and Metrology at FSRE In the scanning module "Learning Factory" at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Computing and Electrical Engineering, within the KnowHUB project, several tasks related to the topic of reverse engineering 2.2.1.3 Geomagic for SolidWorks. Represents a set of were performed. 3D digitization, for example, scanning of software tools for reverse engineering that provides advanced workpieces is performed using the scanner GOM ATOS capabilities for point clouds and polygon networks to become Compact Scan 8M. Processing is done within the GOM Inspect usable in the product construction and redesign process. Data can Suite 2020 software package, and CAD model generation is done be imported or scanned directly into SolidWorks. Supports all using the reverse engineering tool Geomagic for SolidWorks. major scanners and portable CMMs as well as importing standard point cloud and network formats. 2.2.1.1 GOM ATOS Compact Scan. A new class of compact 2.3 Metrology in general 3D scanners for 3D metrology and control (Figure 2). Light, compact construction of the trigger probe opens new areas of Metrology is a scientific discipline that deals with measurement application and provides adaptability for three-dimensional in all its theoretical and practical forms. Basic metrology deals measurement of components such as cast and injection molded with the scientific assumptions of measurement, technical parts, cores and models, interiors, prototypes, and similar. metrology covers the procedures and methods of measurement, Adopts blue light technology, combines scanning and and legal metrology covers the applications prescribed by law. measurement, adjustable measuring range, complete and Metrology includes all theoretical and practical aspects of portable measuring system, compact trigger probe with measurement, deals with methods of measuring physical integrated control unit, etc. quantities, realization, and maintenance of standards of physical quantities, development and production of measuring instruments, and analysis of measurement results. Metrology has been developed to the level of applied science. 54 Application of 3D printing, reverse engineering and metrology Information Society 2020, 5–9 October 2020, Ljubljana, Slovenia within the Learning factory at the University of Mostar 2.4 Integration of rapid prototyping and reverse engineering processes With the help of the characteristics of the process of rapid prototyping and reverse engineering, the possibilities provided by their combination and adequate application provide numerous advantages that are primarily reflected in the ability to reduce time and reduce costs of product development/redesign, and in Figure 5. Reverse engineering on G-1S connector certain conditions in the production of tools and ready-to-use (polygonized mesh - scanned piece and CAD model - CAD products. The integration of these approaches ensures the model - deviation display) transition of the problem of transformation, that is, the translation of a virtual product from a digital form stored in the appropriate CAD software into a real tangible form-object and vice versa (Figure 4). Namely, reverse engineering ensures the generation of 3D CAD models based on a real object, and the model is transformed into a suitable real prototype/product relatively quickly and without significant human involvement by applying the process of rapid prototyping. Figure 6. Scanned elements made with 3D printing technology 3.2 Reverse engineering on the example of a pulley for the local company “ZEC” This task aimed to use reverse engineering to obtain the geometry of the pulley profile using a CAD model to make an equal part since the original part is frayed (Figure 7). Figure 4. Integration process [3] 3 APPLICATION OF 3D PRINT, REVERSE ENGINEERING AND METROLOGY Various examples of the application of 3D printing, reverse engineering, and metrology will be presented in this chapter. Figure 7. Scanned pulley, 3D model of the pulley and deviation display 3.1 Reverse engineering applied on metal joints for FSRE 3.3 Reverse engineering on the example of a The task aims to generate a CAD model (original geometry or part of a plastic injection tool for a local redesign) of metal couplings with the intention of small series company “Weltplast” production (3D printing technology) for the needs of the "Learning Factory" if the prototype satisfies during testing The task aims to generate a 3D model of a part of a plastic (Figure 5). injection tool since the original part is frayed (Figure 8). All aforementioned elements were made with 3D printing technology after scanning and processing (Figure 6). Figure 8. Reverse engineering on a part of a plastic injection tool 55 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Dedic, Stojkic, Bosnjak 3.4 Reverse engineering on the example of dental spoons for the local company “MA- COM” This task aims to create a CAD model (and technical documentation) of dental spoons for taking dental impressions (Figure 9). Figure 11. Drawing of the shutter on the pool and a prototype of the shutter made by 3D printing 3.7 Metrology applied on a milling cutter for the company “Škutor” In the FSRE Learning Factory, several tasks related to the topic of metrology were performed. The objects that have to be measured were first subjected to a Figure 9. Scanned spoons U1 and U4 and redesign of the scanning process performed using a GOM ATOS Compact Scan spoon 8M scanner. The measurement process itself is performed within the GOM Inspect Suite 2020 software package within the 3.5 Reverse engineering applied on a lever for measurement module [4]. the company “SIK” The task aims to determine the dimensions of cutters with a The task aims to create a new lever with 3D printing technology diameter of Ø20 and Ø12 and to prepare accompanying using the process of reverse engineering (Figure 10). documentation ((Figure 12). Figure 10. Reverse engineering on a lever 3.6 Reverse engineering applied to the pool shutter Figure 12. Display of the measurement report page The task aims to create documentation based on a damaged shutter and then create a new part by reverse engineering and 3D 4 CONCLUSION printing. The technology of rapid prototyping with 3D printing in In this specific case: combination with a 3D scanner and appropriate software using - No spare parts on the market reverse engineering can significantly speed up the path to the - No shutter drawing finished product, which is extremely important for relevant - No tools for making shutters companies. Shutter requirements: - Must be made with 3D printing - The material must be elastic due to the installation REFERENCES requirements [1] https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/reverse-engineering- - The material must be resistant to sunlight 4480021012.html, 28.09.2021. A drawing of the shutter in SolidWorks and a prototype of the [2] I. Budak: Prezentacije s predavanja iz kolegija Reverzibilno inženjerstvo i brza izrada prototipa u biomedicinskom inženjerstvu, Univerzitet u shutter obtained by 3D printing are shown in Figure 11. Novom Sadu - Fakultet tehničkih nauka [3] A. Topčić, Dž. Tufekčić, E. Cerjaković, A. Fajić, S. Lovrić: Brza izrada prototipa i reverzibilno inženjerstvo kao alati za reinžejering proizvodnih procesa, Mašinski fakultet u Tuzli, Tuzla, 2015. [4] Topomatika,https://topomatika.hr/gom-inspect-suite-najnovija-verzija- gom-2020inspekcijskog-softvera/, 15.05.2021 56 Towards the Market: Novel Antimicrobial Material Tomaž Lutman Marija Vukomanović Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation Advanced Materials Department Jožef Stefan Institute Jožef Stefan Institute Ljubljana, Slovenia Ljubljana, Slovenia tomaz.lutman@ijs.si marija.vukomanovic@ijs.si ABSTRACT KLJUČNE BESEDE The Jožef Stefan Institute has developed novel antimicrobial prenos tehnologije, antimikrobni material, zlato, študija nanogold composite and patented it (EP2863751 B1). In preverjanja koncepta, stopnja tehnološke zrelosti comparison with widely used silver, the material is less toxic to human and environment and has better antibacterial properties. Good antiviral effect has also been shown. In the period 10/2020- 1 INTRODUCTION 04/2021 the technology for applying this material on textile has In year 2012 DDr. Marija Vukomanović published her second been developed within KET4CleanProduction project. This was an important step towards higher TRLs. Before entering the PhD thesis with title ‘Sonochemical synthesis and market, the novel material must be tested according to Biocidal characterization of hydroxyapatite/metal-based composite Product Regulation (EU No 528/2012). This includes toxicity materials for biomedical applications’ which represented the and efficacy testing and submission of the dossier to European work performed at the Advanced Materials Department, Jožef Chemical Agency. In order to successfully enter the market, Stefan Institute [1]. Furthermore, the research group identified an suitable industrial partner which will scale up the production of invention that was made within this work – a novel antimicrobial the material and commercialize it is needed. Horizon Europe material and its production method. Together with the Institute’s calls represent interesting financial tool to support this endeavour Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation technology and to reach higher TRLs. market potential was evaluated. In the same year, a Slovenian patent application was filed. Due to high potential of the KEYWORDS technology a PCT application was filed next year and in the technology transfer, antimicrobial material, gold, proof of beginning of 2015 an entry in European phase was made. In the concept study, technology readiness level period 2015-2018 European patent office examined the patent POVZETEK application and expressed their opinion about patentability. Necessary modifications of the claims were made and the Institut "Jožef Stefan" je razvil nov protimikrobni kompozit na European patent EP2863751B1 was granted in 2018 and no osnovi zlata in ga patentiral (EP2863751 B1). V primerjavi s opposition has been filed afterwards [2]. široko uporabljenim srebrom je material manj strupen za ljudi in okolje ter ima boljše protibakterijske lastnosti. Dokazan je bil tudi dober protivirusni učinek. V obdobju 10/2020-04/2021 je 2 ANTIMICROBIAL MATERIALS bila v okviru projekta KET4CleanProduction razvita tehnologija Novel trends in developing antimicrobial technology are za nanašanje tega materiala na tekstil. To je bil pomemben korak associated with the use of multifunctional nanosystems. The k višjim stopnjam TRL. Pred vstopom na trg je treba novi material preskusiti v skladu z Uredbo o biocidnih proizvodih (EU challenges for the use of nanotechnology are focused into: (i) št. 528/2012). To vključuje testiranje toksičnosti in učinkovitosti nanoparticles loaded with antimicrobial substance(s) able to ter predložitev dokumentacije Evropski agenciji za kemikalije. control their release and (ii) “nanoantibiotics” – nanoparticles Za uspešen vstop na trg je potreben ustrezen industrijski partner, with antimicrobial nature. The main drawback of the first ki bo povečal proizvodnjo materiala in z njem vstopil na trg. strategy is dependence of the released substance on the properties Razpisi programa Horizon Europe predstavljajo zanimivo of the carrier that provides conditions potentially favourable for finančno orodje, ki podpirajo tako prizadevanje za doseganje bacterial resistance. The second strategy is based on the višjih stopenj TRL. development of novel antibacterial nanoparticles and it has been applied for many different materials including silver, copper-, titanium-, zinc-, cerium- oxides, doped hydroxyapatite, carbon nanotubes, NO-releasing nanoparticles, fullerenes and clay nanoparticles. Among all of the listed materials, silver is the most Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or economic and most effective in action against various bacterial classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed stains. However, as for the silver, the majority of listed materials for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full are leaching and they release active component (particularly citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s). reactive oxygen species) which provides action against bacteria. Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia The mechanism is highly non-selective and has the very similar © 2020 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). contribution to the death of bacterial cells as to the death of mammalian cells. Even composites with bioactive component 57 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Lutman et al. (like apatite) do not mitigate toxic effect of silver and selectivity have been enhanced by the Center for Technology Transfer and indexes remain quite low [3]. Innovation (CTT) after the European patent was granted. Contact- based antimicrobials, designed to perform CTT has used several channels and media to promote antimicrobial action without leaching any active substance, are the invention and find suitable partners to reach higher TRLs. exceptional solution for above described problem. Mainly The initial step was to publish technology offer in Enterprise designed as functionalized polymers, contact-based Europe Network, which is the largest brokerage network for antimicrobials usually contain high density of charged companies (SMEs and others), research institutes and functional groups (i.e. quaternary ammonium compounds, alkyl universities. It brings together 3,000 experts from more than 600 pyridiniums, or quaternary phosphonium). They use multiple member organizations from Europe and beyond [5]. The charges to attach and interact with bacterial membranes technology offer is published for maximum two years and has to providing their disassembly. As observed in antimicrobial include information about the technology, owner organization, peptides and polymers, the main limitation of these systems is advantages and innovation, information about partner sought, low chemical stability, pronounced susceptibility to enzymatic cooperation type and keywords. Enterprise Europe Network degradation and conformational changes induced by includes also topic specific groups, called Sector Groups. The environmental stimuli. These are very good targets for potential invention was presented and promoted in SG Materials in which inactivation mechanism that will lead to losing their we also have a member. antimicrobial potential. In 2018 the innovation was presented at the Innovative contact-based antimicrobials, based on International Exhibition of Inventions ARCA, Zagreb Croatia functionalized gold, invented by our group at the Advanced with the help of partners from the Slovenian Consortium of Materials Department, Jozef Stefan Institute, is a step ahead in Technology Transfer (Figure 2). A silver medal was awarded for comparison to the common contact-based antimicrobials and this innovation [6]. This contributed to general promotion of the very promising alternative (Figure 1) [4]. They use surface-invention. associated guanidinium groups to physically disintegrate bacterial cells. Bactericidal effect is enabled in a range of gram + and - bacterial strains and is associated to the surface potential of bacterial membranes. Due to bioinert gold and natural- sourced functionalizing agents, concentrations toxic to human and animal cells are up to 20 times higher than biocidal, confirming high selectivity. In addition, since they are functionalized using direct bonding of charged, small molecules to the surface on nanoparticles (rather than formation of long polymeric chains) they keep their stability under different environmental stimuli, including presence of enzymes. With better stability and safety, the novel kind of contact-based antimicrobials is overcoming general difficulties with common contact-based antimicrobials and significantly decreases possibility for inactivation. Figure 2: Presentation of inventions at the International Exhibition of Inventions ARCA, Zagreb, Croatia. As antimicrobial materials can be applied in many different fields (cosmetics, medical devices, plasters, filters, paints, dentistry, textile etc.) it was hard to decide and look for a partner from specific industry so we decided to make a broad search of partners for different applications. We contacted producers of implants and other medical devices, filters, toothpastes, medical plasters, plastics, seats, which represented the entities nearer to end user in the value chain of antimicrobial materials. This resulted in scarce response. Additionally, we Figure 1: Current state of the invention: gold powder its contacted also companies that produce active antimicrobial efficacy and cytotoxicity in direct comparison to nano- component and companies that produce antimicrobial mixtures silver. – masterbatches. Sometimes these two activities are performed by the same company. We received an important feedback from UK masterbatch producer about the relevance of Regulation 3 TOWARDS HIGHER TRLS (EU) No 528/2012 also named Biocidal Products Regulation – BPR [7]. They told us that if we want to enter European market 3.1 Initial steps in finding R&D partners with novel antimicrobial component, we have to perform the After filing the priority Slovenian patent application for the novel necessary toxicity and efficacy tests. They estimated costs for a antimicrobial material first attempts to establish connections new BPR product registration to > 1 million €. with relevant industry partners have been made. These efforts 58 Towards the Market: Novel Antimicrobial Material Information Society 2020, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia 3.2 EU Biocidal Product Regulation 120.000 €, whereas there are additional fees for registration of biocidal products, which is additional procedure performed at Although the regulations often limit the entry of new ECHA and national agencies of countries, where the biocidal technologies on the market due to its high costs it is important to product is to be placed on market. Management, registration confirm the safety and efficiency of the technologies in order to procedure and communication with ECHA, which is done by provide long term benefit for the society. consultant companies costs 150.000-480.000 €. Due to high Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 concerning the making costs, companies that want to place novel biocidal products also available on the market and use of biocidal products was form a consortium and jointly finance this procedure. Only the accepted by the European Parliament and Council on 22 May applicant that submitted results of tests can make reference to 2012 and is successor of Directive 98/8/EC. BPR concerns this data. If another company wishes to place such product on biocidal products, which are used for protection of people, the market and hasn’t performed any procedure at ECHA or animals, materials or products against pathogen organisms like national offices, they have to purchase a license to make bacteria, viruses or fungi and comprise active component. The reference to already submitted data. This creates a specific aim of this regulation is to improve the market of biocidal situation on the market, similar to patent system. products in EU and provide high level of safety for humans and environment. 3.3 Proof of Concept study on textile For each biocidal product or its active component, it is In the frame of Interreg project KETGATE CTT and partners necessary to acquire permission, before it can be placed on organized brokerage event for SMEs and research organizations market. The active components can be available on the market from Central Europe [8]. Due to COVID-19 pandemic it took in some occasions also during the procedure of their registration. place online in May 2020. 124 participants attended short 1:1 The regulation aims to simplify and unify the procedure for EU meetings. We had a meeting with Hungarian textile producer, member states. It also aims to maximize the sharing of available which uses silver to prepare antimicrobial clothes. We data and minimize the amount of tests on animals. introduced them our invention and they were interested to Novel biocidal active components and biocidal investigate the possibility to apply our material on their textile products are submitted to European Chemical Agency – ECHA products. Due to relatively low TRL (at that time TRL4) and high and national authorities (i.e. Chemicals Office in Slovenia). The risk associated with the material, we had to find a financing data is managed and available on the Register for Biocidal program for this kind of cooperation. The call Products (R4BP 3). Another IT tool, IUCLID, is used for KET4CleanProduction offered Proof of Concept study for SMEs preparing the applications. which wanted to use Key Enabling Technologies, developed at According to Annex II of BPR the tests performed for the research organizations. The KET4CleanProduction was a registration of any new active substance should comply with the Horizon Europe project with its own fund of 2 million € for the relevant requirements of protection of laboratory animals, set call, that was open in period 2018-2020 and granted projects out in Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and the received 50.000 € of lump sum. In the KET4CleanProduction Council of 22 September 2010 on the protection of animals used network we also identified suitable partner for this Proof of for scientific purposes and in the case of ecotoxicological and Concept – a Portuguese textile institute – and the project was toxicological tests, good laboratory practice, set out in Directive granted [9]. 2004/10/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 on the harmonization of laws, regulations and In the period 10/2020-04/2021 the project to apply the administrative provisions relating to the application of the Au/apatite nanoparticles on textile took place. The nanoparticles principles of good laboratory practice and the verification of were synthesized and sent for further application – deposition on their application for tests on chemical substances or other textile. For the functionalization of the cotton textile, one of the international standards recognized as being equivalent by the EU suitable method was found the most efficient one in terms of Commission or the ECHA. Tests on physic-chemical properties yield of the functionalization, leading to higher amounts of and safety-relevant substance data should be performed at least nanoparticles bonded to the textile substrate. Textiles (cotton) according to international standards. obtained after single washing were confirmed to have bacteriostatic effect in P. aeruginosa, as Gram negative strain, Due to high standards needed for the tests, these are and strong bactericidal effect in Gram negative E. coli and Gram very expensive. The tests are performed stepwise and in dialog positive S. epidermidis and B. subtillis (Figure 3). Antimicrobial with ECHA. Some tests are then performed only if the results of effect was detected on contact with textiles; it followed contact- first set of tests are not satisfactory or ECHA decided they are based mechanism of Au/apatite nanoparticles and confirmed necessary. The amount of tests also rises for nanomaterials, their very stable bonding to the cotton textile. The gold-based which might involve additional risk. nanoparticles also showed high antiviral activity, even at low concentrations. As the procedure to prepare and submit the data, needed for registration of novel active component is very demanding and extensive, companies often employ consultants to manage this procedure. For this reason, we also contacted such consultant companies to see, how we can use their support. They informed us is that the first step is to perform Data Gap Analysis, where existing data is reviewed and a list of necessary further tests to be performed is made. Preparation of this document costs 10.000-30.000 €. We received different information for the costs of toxicity and efficacy tests according to suitable standards, which varied between 0,5 and 3 million €. The ECHA fee for application of novel active substance is 59 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia Lutman et al. The project is expected to have an important impact on prevention of spreading of already known and novel pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.) by limiting their transmission through different surfaces. In the first place, the project will provide demonstrators on face masks, hospital linen, protective clothes, textile handles for public transport, pull handles for doors or textile sheath for pull handles, paper for everyday use, banknotes, passport, plastic covers for door handles, working surfaces in healthcare sector (i.e. hospitals) and areas where food is prepared. Furthermore, it will explore the opportunity to include it in the antimicrobial masterbatches, which can be used for wide variety of end products. The demonstrators will pave the way to other possible usage of novel antibacterial material based on gold as the demonstrators of the Figure 3. Antibacterial test on Au/apatite nanoparticles project will include various materials like cotton; different bound to textile. polymers such as polyester, polypropylene, polyamide; cellulose; mineral composite; metals etc. This will enable the opportunity to relatively easily apply it also on other products in the hospitals, long-term care facilities, public transport, public 3.4 Horizon Europe project offices, restaurants and bars, sport facilities, shopping centres, The KET4CleanProduction project represented strong support to cinemas and theatres as well as other places frequently visited reach higher TRLs. It proved that the novel antimicrobial can be by general public. The efficiency of the novel material among applied on end product and still keeps its excellent antimicrobial wide range of pathogens including bacteria, fungi, viruses and function. This project paved further way towards entry of the yeast will be evaluated. Special emphasis will be given to virus novel material on the market. We identified next three tasks that SARS-CoV-2 including its latest variants. needed to be performed in the following steps: The longterm vision is that a French manufacturer of • Testing the toxicity and efficacy (antibacterial, composite materials will sign license agreement with JSI, start antiviral, etc.) of the composite nanogold material and to produce the novel gold composite on industrial level, register preparation of the documentation according to the it at the ECHA and enter the market with it. Producers of Biocidal Product Regulation (EU 528/2012) different antimicrobial products, members of the consortium shall be first clients and further promotion will be made to • Development and optimization the technology for successfully increase the sales share. textile application and for other relevant applications • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS / ZAHVALA Scaling up the nanogold composite production process In order to reach planed goals, we had to (i) find We acknowledge the funding from KET4CleanProduction, suitable partners and (ii) get a funding on the scale of few million Horizon 2020 Action No 777441. €. When the end of previous period for EU financing was approaching, new set of large R&D funding package for 2021- REFERENCES 2027 - Horizon Europe - was announced. We identified suitable call for our plan: HORIZON-CL4-2021-RESILIENCE-01-20: [1] M. Vukomanovic. Sonochemical synthesis and characterization of Antimicrobial, Antiviral, and Antifungal Nanocoatings (RIA) hydroxyapatite/metal-based composite materials for biomedical [10]. Activities within the project are expected to start at TRL 3 applications : doctoral dissertation = Sonokemijska sinteza in karakterizacija materialov na osnovi hidroksiapatit/kovine za and achieve TRL 6 by the end of the project. The budget of the biomedicinsko uporabo : doktorska disertacija. [Ljubljana: M. call is 23 million € and it is expected to fund 4-5 projects. The Vukomanović, 2012]. XIV, 179 str., ilustr., tabele. deadline is in the end of September 2021. This call is directly [2] M. Vukomanovic, S. D. Skapin, D. Suvorov. Functionalized related to the well-being of citizens in the context of COVID-19 hydroxyapatite/gold composites as "green" materials with antibacterial virus pandemic. It aims to minimise the risk of spread of activity and the process for preparing and use thereof : European patent infections from harmful pathogens arising from everyday human specification EP 2863751 (B1), 2018-07-25. München: European Patent Office, 2018. activities; and create a healthier living and working environment https://register.epo.org/application?number=EP13735469&tab=main and offer holistic solutions to people with health issues. The [3] M. Vukomanovic, U. Repnik, T. Zavasnik-Bergant, R. Kostanjsek, S. research should focus on sustainable synthesis of Skapin, D. Suvorov, Is nano-silver safe within bioactive hydroxyapatite nanocoatings/nanocomposites with effectiveness against a range composites?. ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng., 1 (2015) 935-946. of pathogens. [4] M. Vukomanovic, M. Logar, S. D. Skapin, D. Suvorov, Hydroxyapatite/gold/arginine : designing the structure to create We decided to keep the consortium created in antibacterial activity. Journal of Materials Chemistry. B, Materials for KET4CleanProduction and add new required partners. We biology and medicine, 2014 (2014) 1557-1564. contacted different antimicrobial active component producers [5] Enterprise Europe Network [cited 23th of August 2021]. Available from: https://een.ec.europa.eu/ and received higher interest, presumably due to demonstrator on [6] International Exhibition of Inventions ARCA [cited 23th of August 2021]. textile and a plan regarding the Biocidal Product Regulation. We Available from: also contacted different companies – producers of high traffic http://www.arcahr.com/index.php?task=group&gid=1&aid=118 objects, where antimicrobial materials need to be applied. [7] Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Currently 10 partners are forming consortium which is about to Council of 22 May 2012 concerning the making available on the market be finalized and project plan submitted. and use of biocidal products [cited 24th of August 2021]. Available from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32012R0528 60 Towards the Market: Novel Antimicrobial Material Information Society 2020, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia [8] Interreg Central Europe project KETGATE [cited 24th of August 2021]. xt=true;typeCodes=1;statusCodes=31094501,31094502;programmePeriod Available from:https://www.interreg- =2021%20- central.eu/Content.Node/KETGATE.html %202027;programCcm2Id=43108390;programDivisionCode=null;focusA [9] KET4CleanProduction, Horizon 2020 Action No 777441 [cited 25th of reaCode=null;destination=null;mission=null;geographicalZonesCode=nul August 2021]. Available from: https://www.ket4sme.eu/ l;programmeDivisionProspect=null;startDateLte=null;startDateGte=null;c [10] Call for projects HORIZON-CL4-2021-RESILIENCE-01-20: rossCuttingPriorityCode=null;cpvCode=null;performanceOfDelivery=null Antimicrobial, Antiviral, and Antifungal Nanocoatings [cited 25th of ;sortQuery=sortStatus;orderBy=asc;onlyTenders=false;topicListKey=topi August 2021]. Available from:https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding- cSearchTablePageState tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/horizon- cl4-2021-resilience-01- 20;callCode=null;freeTextSearchKeyword=antimicrobial;matchWholeTe 61 Technology Transfer in Belarus Alexander Uspenskiy Aliaksei Uspenski Maxim Prybylski Republican Centre for Republican Centre for Republican Centre for Technology Transfer Technology Transfer Technology Transfer Center for System Analysis and Center for System Analysis and Center for System Analysis and Strategic Research of the National Strategic Research of the National Strategic Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Academy of Sciences of Belarus Academy of Sciences of Belarus Minsk, Belarus Minsk, Belarus Minsk, Belarus uspenskiy@mail.ru auspen79@gmail.com m.pribylsky@hotmail.com ABSTRACT in 2018. Belarus has demonstrated progress in a number of indicators reflecting the practical results of innovations in the The paper informs on current state and future prospects of production sector. Belarus highest rankings were in Human technology transfer in Belarus. It outlines legislation in the field Capital and Research (37th place), Infrastructure (46th place), of technology transfer; key features of the research and and Knowledge and Technological Output (58th place). The development system; system and instruments of technology achieved results are due to the constant improvement of transfer; structure and mission of the Republican Centre for legislation in the field of technology transfer (TT). Technology Transfer, the Business Cooperation Centre “Enterprise Europe Network Belarus” and its services provided 2 THE LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT to innovation activity agents. Finally, the recommendations are The purpose of the legislation and policies of the Republic of given to improve legislation in the field of technology transfer Belarus in the field of TT is to facilitate the transfer of in Belarus. technologies developed with government funding in order to KEYWORDS ensure sustainable growth of national economy and to increase competitiveness of local products [4]. Technology transfer (TT), legislation, public research organizations, intellectual property rights (IPR), spin-off, R&D Currently, Belarus has more than 50 regulatory legal acts contracts related to TT. 1 INTRODUCTION The analysis of Belarusian legislation shows that it regulates the Belarus is a country with 9,5 million inhabitants, 451 public following relationships in the field of TT: R&D organizations (PROs) and 25600 research personnel. The structure of research personnel remains practically unchanged: 1. Public funding of fundamental and applied research researchers – 65,2%, technicians – 6,5%, support personnel – 2. Transfer of developed technologies to state enterprises and 28,3% [1, 2]. organizations 3. Transfer of developed technologies to enterprises and Belarus is a small, open, upper-middle income economy. The organizations with a mixed form of ownership, small country is not well endowed with natural resources. It largely business, and foreign firms relies on imported energy and raw materials and has a historical 4. Dissemination of information in the field of TT specialization in processing. The main activities of Belarusian 5. Establishment of organizations related to TT (technology industrial sector are engineering (agricultural technology and transfer centers, science and technology parks, venture specialized heavy vehicles), potash fertilizers, and refining capital organizations) (which relies on oil supplies from Russia). These sectors 6. Ownership of inventions and remuneration for using the depend heavily on external demand. Trade openness is among inventions. highest in the region, with a ratio of merchandise exports to GDP of 48% in 2020 (52% in 2019) [2]. In recent years the government expenditure on R&D in Belarus was at 0,45% of GDP [2]. In the next five years Belarusian Belarus is ranked 64th in the Global Innovation Index 2020 [3], economy and science are faced with the task of reaching R&D that is eight places up from the 2019 and 22 places higher than financing of 1% of GDP. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or While allocating public funds for applied research to contactor classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or the state enterprise is simultaneously assigned to commercialize distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and anticipated research results. If, for some reason, the state the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s). enterprise is not using the developed technology or product, the Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia contractor is obliged to pay back the allocated funds to the state © 2020 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). budget. 62 Information Society 2021, 4–8 October 2021, Ljubljana, Slovenia A. Uspenskiy et al. Every year Belarusian PROs create over 400 new products and technologies for commercialization at state enterprises [1, 2]. The dissemination of information in the field of TT is regulated The plan for this year is to introduce about 470 new by the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 250-Z “On scientific technologies and products. and technical information” dated 05.05.1999, and the Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 170-Z “On state secrets” dated After Belarus gained independence in 1991, the first normative 19.06.2010 [7, 8]. act regulating the acquisition of property rights on the results of scientific and technical activities and the disposal of those The establishment of organizations related to TT regulates the rights was the Presidential Decree No. 432. According to it, Presidential Decree No. 1 “On approval of the Regulations on property rights resulted from research subsidized (in whole or the procedure for creating subjects of innovation infrastructure in part) by public funds were obtained by the state. The IP right and amendments and additions to the Decree of the President of holders could be a government customer and (or) a research the Republic of Belarus dated September 30, 2002, No. 495” contractor – PRO. Legal practice showed that de facto, the state dated 03.01.2007 [9]. According to it, the center for technology retained ownership of IP rights and consequently research transfer (CTT) is an organization with an average number of contractors were not interested to commercialize them. employees up to 100 persons, tasked to ensure the transfer of innovations from the sphere of their creation to the sphere of In 2013, the Presidential Decree No. 59 approved new practical use. A scientific organization with a separate TT Regulation on the commercialization of the results of scientific subdivision with at least 7 employees can also be recognized as and technical activities created at the expense of state funds, CTT, and use all privileges and advantages granted to CTT by which expanded opportunities for research contractors to obtain law. In Belarus CTTs are not funded from the state budget. rights on results of R&D activities. Still, in spite of the amendments made to Decree No. 59 in 2018, the legal 3 THE REPUBLICAN CENTRE FOR procedures to obtain IP rights remain overly complex and TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER unwieldy. Research contractors do not have “the right to risk”, The Republican Centre for Technology Transfer (RCTT) was due to the requirement to pay back funds in case of failure to established in 2003, under the aegis of the State Committee on commercialize the developed technology of product. Since the Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus, the state retains the IP rights the transfer of technologies developed National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the United Nations with government funding to private enterprises and foreign Development Programme and the United Nations Industrial companies is carried out not through the sale or licensing of Development Organization [10]. IPR, but under commercial agreements with technical assistance, research and technical cooperation agreements, and RCTT’s primary goal is to facilitate transfer of technologies joint venture agreements. For the same reason the Belarusian developed in Belarus and abroad for sustained growth of the PROs don’t create spin-offs. country’s economy and increase the competitiveness of Belarusian industry and agriculture, provide advice to CTTs in The Belarusian law on patents for inventions, utility models and the country. industrial designs was amended several times [5]. This law regulates the property and associated personal moral relations Tasks set for RCTT: arising in connection with the creation, legal protection and use - create and maintain information databases meant for serving of inventions, utility models, and industrial designs. The clients in the technology transfer sector; legislation is in harmony with international treaties and, in - provide RCTT clients with access to foreign technology principle, it enables the protection of intellectual property transfer networks; objects of domestic and foreign entities. In addition, some - assist innovation activity agents in development and government decrees have set the legal framework for the promotion of their innovation and investment projects; sharing of royalties and other IPR incomes between inventors - train specialists in research- and innovation-related and employers [1]. According to legislation, remuneration is entrepreneurship; paid in the amount and on terms specified in agreements - establish RCTT offices across the country, to create a unified between the employee and the employer – the minimum level national network of technology transfer centers; of remuneration shall be determined by the Council of - promote international technical and scientific cooperation and Ministers of the Republic of Belarus [6]. exchange of experts. Legislation doesn’t limit maximum remuneration to authors RCTT is a consortium with the headquarters in Minsk. It’s (co-authors) for the created objects of industrial property rights. made up of: If the employer decides to keep an invention as a secret know- - 5 regional offices and 30 branch offices at research how, then the reward for the creation of objects of industrial organizations, institutes, universities, enterprises in Brest, property rights to authors, co-authors and individuals should be Vitsebsk, Homel, Hrodna, Lida, Minsk, Mahileu, Novapolatsk paid as a lump sum within three months of employer’s decision. and other cities and towns across Belarus; Businesses may combine both options: keep some inventions - 91 foreign partners in 23 countries: Armenia (3), Azerbaijan secret and patent the other abroad (e.g. innovative export (2), China (25), Denmark (1), Great Britain (2), Germany (4), products). The inventor should be compensated equally Georgia (1), India (1), Iran (1), Italy (1), Lithuania (1), regardless of the option. 63 Technology Transfer in Belarus Information Society 2020, 5–9 October 2020, Ljubljana, Slovenia Moldova (1), the Republic of Korea (4), Poland (3), Kazakhstan 3. legislative acts requiring inclusion into job description of (6), Russia (19), the USA (2), Sweden (1), the Republic of employees of all state organizations engaged in R&D the South Africa (1), Uzbekistan (2), the Czech Republic (2), obligation to engage in TT, and the administration of Ukraine (7), Vietnam (2). organizations to take into account TT activities when - 2 overseas field offices. assessing the work of employees; 4. legislative acts stimulating the transfer of technologies RCTT staff is a certified member of 12 technology transfer developed with government funding to small businesses networks, in particular, Russian Technology Transfer Network (“gratuitous” transfer); (since 2004), yet2.com (since 2005), AUTM (since 2012), 5. legislative acts stimulating the creation and funding of TT Enterprise Europe Network (since 2015) and others. organizations (departments); and 6. introduce the technology transfer course into the curricula of higher educational institutions. RCTT offers its services to innovation activity agents in Belarus as well as foreign companies and investors. 5 CONCLUSIONS RCTT has a web-portal (https://ictt.by), with several subject This paper provides an overview of the current state of sections and databases such as: “Virtual exhibition of the NAS technology transfer in Belarus. It highlights several legal issues of Belarus”; “Catalogue of innovation offers by organizations that need to be addressed in the future to make technology of the NAS of Belarus”; “New partnership opportunities”, to transfer more efficient. present in real-time offers and requests from RCTT, EEN, and AUTM networks; “Catalogs”; “Manuals”; “Investment and ACKNOWLEDGMENTS venture funds”; “Crowdfunding”; “IP auctions”; “IP insurance”; We would like to thank the National Academy of Sciences of “Legislation” covering the laws and regulations applicable to Belarus and the State Committee on Science and Technology of innovation activity in Belarus and foreign countries; the Republic of Belarus for their constant support of RCTT “Technoparks of Belarus”, and others. activities and express gratitude to all our colleagues who work in technology transfer for their help and advice. RCTT provide services to more than 250 Belarusian state organizations, private enterprises and individuals. The National REFERENCES Academy of Sciences, Belarusian State University, Belarusian [1] Innovation for Sustainable Development Review of Belarus. United National Technical University are among the centre’s clients. Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 2017: With the support from RCTT in 2003–2020 more than 6200 https://unece.org/DAM/ceci/publications/IPR_Belarus/_Eng_Innovation 4SD_Belarus_-_FINAL_LB_REV.pdf Belarusian specialists have been trained and instructed in [2] National Statistic Committee of the Republic of Belarus: various fields of technology transfer at 510 local and https://www.belstat.gov.by/ [3] Global Innovation Index 2020: international workshops, seminars and exhibitions. https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_gii_2020.pdf [4] Политика и законодательство в сфере трансфера технологий: RCTT was involved in implementation of more than 30 зарубежный и национальный опыт/ Д.М. Вильтовский, Е.П. Машонская, А.А. Успенский; под общ. ред. А.А. Успенского. – international projects related to improving the competencies of Минск : Ковчег, 2010. – 60 с.: researchers and representatives of small and medium-sized http://ictt.basnet.by/Docs/Policies_Legislation_in_the_Technology_Tran sfer_20100915.pdf businesses funded by UNDP, UNIDO, FP7, Baltic Sea Region [5] Law of the Republic of Belarus No. 160-Z of December 16, 2002, on Programme, CEI, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus Cross Border Patents for Inventions, Utility Models, and Industrial Designs (with Cooperation Programme, The Swedish Institute, Chinese amendments on 18.12.2019). [6] Decree of the Council of Ministers from 28.02.2002 No. 288 on Government and others. regulations of conditions for stimulation of creation and use of objects of industrial property from 28.02.2002 No. 288 (with amendments on 19.06.2019 No. 402). Since 2015 RCTT is a coordinator of the project “Creation of [7] Law of the Republic of Belarus of 05.05.1999 No. 250-З "On scientific the Business Cooperation Centre “Enterprise Europe Network and technical information". [8] Law of the Republic of Belarus of June 19, 2010 No. 170-З "On State Belarus” (BCC “EEN Belarus”)”. The aim of the project is to Secrets" (as amended on December 10, 2020). encourage the provision of services to support cross-border [9] Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated January 3, 2007 business cooperation, technology transfer, and research No. 1 “On approval of the Regulations on the procedure for creating subjects of innovation infrastructure and amendments and additions to collaboration on the basis of mutual benefit via the Enterprise the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated September Europe Network. 30, 2002 No. 495”. [10] Республиканский центр трансфера технологий: 15 лет в национальной инновационной системе (история развития, 4 FURTHER DEVELOPMENT структура, методология, деятельность, перспективы) / А.Ал. Успенский, В.В. Кузьмин, Ал.А. Успенский, М.С. Прибыльский, The 18 years of RCTT work experience show that to improve В.В. Земцов, А.И. Долгополова – Мн.: Центр системного анализа и commercialization of technologies developed with government стратегических исследований НАН Беларуси, 2018. – 78 с.: https://ictt.by/Docs/news/2018/06/2018-06- funding in Belarus, it is necessary to develop and adopt: 15_01/RCTT__15th_Anniversary__2003-2018__RU.pdf 1. a law similar to Bayh-Dole Act; 2. legislative acts that will allow the contractor to restrict access to research results and inventions if public disclosure could damage commercial interests; 64 DODATEK / APPENDIX 65 INTRODUCTION AND AIM OF THE CONFERENCE Conference topic: how to survive the valley of death? How to enable investors in early stage deep tech ventures: buying a lottery ticket vs building the jackpot? How to integrate the PoC funding in the national and regional innovation ecosystem? What is the role of TTOs, PROs, governments and industry in the setting up a successful PoC funding scheme? Illustration: Dusko Odić. 2021. Objectives of the Conference The main aim of the Conference is to promote knowledge exchange between academia and industry, in order to strengthen the cooperation and transfer of innovations from research labs into industrial exploitation. The Conference goal is also further strengthening the knowledge base and experiences of technology transfer professionals at public research organisations. In the past events, we hosted more than 2600 participants, including investors, inventors, researchers, students, technology commercialization and intellectual property experts, start-up funders, industrial development experts etc. We have successfully organized twelve competitions to award the teams with their technology and business proposition with the biggest commercial potential, which led to successful start-ups and licensing contracts. Biannually we organise Research2Business (R2B) pre-scheduled meetings in order to give the participants additional opportunity to meet and discuss possible cooperation. Researchers presenting their work being financed by Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) is another channel for enterprises to get familiar with recent discoveries and development opportunities. Conference prize for the best innovations in 2021 The main objective of the special prize for innovation is to encourage commercialization of inventive/innovative technologies developed at public research organizations and to promote cooperation between research organizations and industry. One of the main objectives is also 66 promoting the entrepreneurship possibilities and good practices in the public research organizations. Researchers are preparing business models for their technologies and present them to an international panel of experts in a pitch competition. They need support in many aspects of their path from research to industrial application. The researchers and their team need assistance, knowledge and tools to develop business models, find appropriate partners, form a team, and secure financial resources to bridge the gap from publicly funded research to the market, either in their own start-up (spin-out) company or by licensing out their technology. How shall they do it and how can we help them? The Conference pitch competitions in the last eleven years resulted in spin-out company creation or licensing case development in at least one case per competition each year. In many cases, young researchers that participated in pitch competition in the past years, have been involved for the first time in an organized and structured process of development business model around their technology and preparation of the targeted (pitch) presentation about their planned venture to investors and technology commercialization experts. WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy The aim of the WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy is to stimulate Slovenian enterprises to intensify their cooperation with public research organisations. We wish to expose as a good practice those enterprises that are constantly and methodologically using the IP system in their business activities. WIPO Medal for Inventors The goal of the WIPO Medal for Inventors is to award inventive and innovative activity of Slovenian public researchers and to recognize their contribution to national wealth and development. Research2Business meetings In the course of the conference, pre-scheduled Research2Business (R2B) meetings will take place, allowing the representatives of companies and research institutions to discuss possible development solutions, inventions and commercially interesting technologies. Such meetings present an excellent basis for possible future research cooperation and business synergies. Opportunities arising from publicly funded research projects / presentations of successful scientific projects Researchers will be presenting their work that is being financed by Slovenian Research Agency. Scientific papers on TT and IPR Experts on TT, IPR, researchers that cooperate with industry and others have been invited to submit their scientific papers. The accepted papers have been presented by the authors. This year’s topics were: Key factors for successful technology transfer from different points of view (researchers, knowledge transfer experts, enterprises); Key inventions and their protection for the greater good; Market perspective through different TRL phases; Financing different TRL phases; Setting-up internal Proof-of-Concept funds at public research organisations; Lowering the Proof-of-Concept risks; Shortening the time-to-market for different technological fields; Spin-out vs spin-off; Key trends in IP protection and TT for mid TRL phases; Examples of IP protection in Artificial Intelligence; The role of patents in Artificial Intelligence; Activating the IP protection and TT players in the SEE region; National IP protection: a profit or a hindrance; Governmental support vs institutional support of IP protection and TT; IP and internal secret know-how: who prefers what and why; Other, chosen by the contributor 67 School section A parallel section “Connecting the education system with academia: Presentations of selected research topics from the Jožef Stefan Institute and proposals for cooperation” took place. The section was aimed at primary and high school teachers where selected research topics from the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) and proposals for cooperation were presented. Key stakeholders The conference involves different key stakeholders in the process, public research organizations as knowledge providers, technology parks as infrastructure providers, business accelerators, intellectual property offices, IP attorneys, agencies, consultants, capital (venture capital companies, agencies, business angels, development banks), SMEs, international enterprises, private innovators, and others. Target audience and benefits Target audience of the conference are researchers, students and post-graduate students with entrepreneurial ambitions, representatives of industry, established and future entrepreneurs, innovators and also representatives from governmental institutions and policy-making organizations. Introduction to the International Technology Transfer Conference The International Technology Transfer Conference (ITTC) is organized by the Jožef Stefan Institute (Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation) for the 14th year in a row. The first ITTC was organized in 2008. The ITTC has, through the years, been presented in different formats and it is currently organized as part of the International multiconference Information Society (IS2021), organized by the Jožef Stefan Institute. The Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation at the Jožef Stefan Institute is the coordinator of the project KTT (2017-2022), coordinator of Enterprise Europe Network Slovenia, and is a financially independent unit. The CTT is presently involved in 4 projects, having recently been involved in three additional ones. The Conference has been organized with the support of partners from the KTT project (2017-2022). The previous project KTT, from 2013 through 2014, was the first project within which technology transfer in Slovenia was systematically funded from national funds. There were 6 partners involved, but the project only lasted for 17 months. The current KTT project, 2017-2022, comprises 8 partners, all public research organizations (PROs), represented by their respective technology transfer offices (TTOs), namely, 4 leading institutes and 4 renowned universities. The project's mission is twofold: the strengthening of links and increasing the cooperation of PROs and industry and the strengthening the competences of TTOs, researchers and enterprises. Most (80%+) of the finances go to human resource financing. Support of Slovenian Industry The goal of the KTT project is to support the industry in Slovenia, rather than an outflow of knowledge abroad or great profit for PROs. Collaboration between PROs and SMEs in Slovenia should be strengthened. However, Slovenian companies prefer contract and collaborative cooperation to buying licenses and patent rights. Also, a relatively low added value per employee and a low profit margin are not stimulating the research-industry collaboration. 68 Investing into Intellectual Property Rights Despite the above stated it is important to invest in patents and other forms of intellectual property (IP). Investments in intellectual property increase licensing opportunities and the IP position of the Slovenian knowledge worldwide. Research2Business meetings One-to-one research-to-business pre-scheduled (virtual) meetings allow the representatives of companies and research institutions to discuss possible development solutions, inventions and commercially interesting technologies. Such meetings present an excellent basis for possible future research cooperation and business synergies. The meetings focus on applications, solutions and expertise in natural sciences like electronics, IT, robotics, new materials, environment, physics, chemistry and biochemistry. Companies and researchers book meetings also with technology transfer experts from the Center of technology transfer and innovation. The meetings are held virtually through b2match platform. The Research-to-business meetings at the Conference were co-organized in collaboration with the Enterprise Europe Network partners. Strengthening the Competences of TTOs The goal of the KTT project is to establish technology transfer centers in Slovenia as integral parts of PROs, which shall, first and foremost, strive to serve the interests of the researcher and the PRO. The TTOs shall assist the researcher throughout the entire procedure of the industry-research cooperation, by raising competences and educating, taking care of legal and administrative issues, and promote research achievements among the industry. Lastly, TTOs shall support the cooperation already established by research groups. 69 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The editors and organizing committee of the Conference would like to express cordial thanks to all who helped make the 14th International Technology Transfer Conference a success. We would like to acknowledge the valuable contributions to the members of the SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME COMMITTEE: Niko Schlamberger, President of Slovenian Society INFORMATIKA Doc. Dr. Tamara Besednjak Valič, Faculty of Information Studies in Novo Mesto Prof. Alexandru Marin, University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest for their contribution to the scientific programme and review of the scientific contributions and selection for publication in this Conference proceedings. Our special thanks go to the EVALUATION COMMISSION MEMBERS: Dr. Jon Wulff Petersen from Plougmann Vingtoft Matthias Keckl from Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) Nina Urbanič from Slovene Enterprise Fund Gregor Klemenčič from Deep Innovations for their evaluation of written technology commercialization proposals and selection of winning teams, authors of inventive technologies with the best potential for commercialization of the technologies, developed at Public Research Organizations. We are particularly grateful to the members of the EVALUATION COMMISSION: Alojz Barlič from Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) Matthias Keckl from Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) Nina Urbanič from Slovene Enterprise Fund, for their evaluation and selection of the awardees of the WIPO IP ENTERPRISE TROPHY and WIPO MEDAL FOR INVENTORS. 70 INTRODUCTION TO THE ITTC CONFERENCE AS A WHOLE Value creation should be at the heart of valorization activities and denotes a process where stakeholders' benefits are articulated, created, and captured throughout the valorization process. Value in this sense is, however, not static or absolute. Value is relative and usually changes with the stakeholders addressed. Hence, value creation implies, wherever it is meaningful and possible, that the benefits for a stakeholder must be higher than the efforts, risks and resources needed to obtain the promised benefits. Turning any publicly financed knowledge, i.e. intellectual property in its broadest sense to socio-economic benefits calls for a much wider scope of activities than just industrial rights management. The Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation at Jožef Stefan, if anyone, has always been very much aware of this. Thus, we have set in motion in the past ten years of our existence, based on the dowry of additional 15 years of a Technology transfer office of Jožef Stefan Institute, many different changes. These changes have influenced the Institute and the society around us. We have created processes that any Slovenian public research organization would be able to use. We have created an internal ecosystem of activities and interactions with essential innovation actors, allowing us to research, assess, understand, co-create, offer, and fine-tune the academia-industry-society helix on the most bottom-up, most influential level. We are proud of that. Now we must go on. We created a proof of concept of activities – of what the ecosystem in our environment could look like in a scalable way. Others should take the essential elements (codes of practices we have so prudently developed through the past 10 years of our existence) and use them to their liking and the capacities of their institutions. There are differences among actors in the ecosystem. But once these differences have been understood, there are just similarities that can be harvested in the quest for better valorization results. We are all unique. And we are all very similar. Acknowledging this means not fighting better from us but building on their experience. “Yeah, everybody wants change. Don’t nobody wanna change though. (NF)” We need to creatively and constructively take part in knowledge valorization for a better future, even if it means it is our turn to change. 71 Day 1 72 OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAMME 7 October 2021 (hybrid teleconference, virtual and live) MAIN SESSION 08.30 – 09.00 Registration Welcome address (in Slovene language) Prof. Dr. Mitja Slavinec, State Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport 09.00 – 09.15 Simon Zajc, State Secretary, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology Prof. Dr. Boštjan Zalar, director, Jožef Stefan Institute Round table: Future of Knowledge Transfer in Slovenia and EU (in Slovene language) Prof. Dr. Gregor Majdič, University of Ljubljana Prof. Dr. Boštjan Zalar, Jožef Stefan Institute Prof. Dr. Maja Ravnikar, National Institute of Biology 09.15 – 10.30 Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar, University of Primorska Prof. Dr. Matej Makarovič, Faculty of information studies in Novo mesto Prof. Dr. Urban Bren, University of Maribor Prof. Dr. Robert Repnik, Slovenian Research Agency Gregor Klemenčič, Deep Innovations Gregor Umek, mag., Ministry of Economic Development and Technology mag. Damjana Karlo, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport 10.30 – 12.00 Pitch competition: Best innovation with commercial potential 12.00 – 13.00 Lunch break Award announcement: Best innovation with commercial potential 13.00 – 13.20 Award announcement: WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy Keynote speech: PoC funding of research spin-offs Matthias Keckl, Managing Partner, Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) GmbH Keynote speech: CEETT Platform – Central Eastern European 13.20 – 15.30 Technology Transfer Platform Natalija Stošicki, Director, Investments and EU Programmes Department, SID Bank / SID – Slovenska izvozna in razvojna banka Paper presentations: scientific papers on technology transfer and intellectual property 73 Opportunities arising from publicly funded research projects / 15:30 – 16.50 presentations of successful scientific projects Award announcement: WIPO Medal for Inventors 16.50-17:00 Closing PARALLEL SESSION I 10:00 – 13:20 Research2Business meetings (R2B meetings) PARALLEL SESSION II Connecting high-school education system with academia: Presentations of selected research topics from Jožef Stefan Institute and proposals for cooperation Povezovanje šolskega sistema z akademsko sfero: Predstavitve izbranih raziskovalnih tem Instituta “Jožef Stefan” in predlogi za sodelovanje Agenda (in Slovene language) 13:20-13:25 Uvodni pozdrav 13:25-13:40 Predstavitev možnosti sodelovanja Instituta »Jožef Stefan« z šolstvom, CTT - Obiski instituta »Jožef Stefan« med šolskim letom - Dan odprtih vrat in Teden odprtih vrat na IJS - Izobraževanja, usposabljanja in predavanja za učitelje in profesorje - Mentorstva pri raziskovalnih nalogah dijakov 13:20 – 15:20 - Aktivnosti promocije znanosti in raziskovalnega dela - različne evropske - projekte in iniciative ter druge aktivnosti (Znanost z in za družbo / Science - with and for society) 13:40-14:20 Predstavitev odsekov s področja kemije, biokemije, materialov in okolja - Odsek za znanosti o okolju, O2 - Odsek za biokemijo, molekularno in strukturno biologijo, B1 - Odsek za fizikalno in organsko kemijo, K3 - Odsek za Sintezo materialov, K8 14:20-14:30 Predstavitev odsekov s področja fizike - Odsek za tehnologijo površin, F4 14:30-15:00 Predstavitev odsekov s področja elektronike in informacijske tehnologije 74 - Odsek za umetno inteligenco, E3 - Laboratorij za odprte sisteme in mreže, E5 15:00-15:20 Morebitna dodatna vprašanja za raziskovalce 15:20 Zaključek 75 WELCOME ADDRESSES From 9:00 to 09:15 Honourable Speakers: Prof. Dr. Mitja Slavinec, State Secretary Ministry of Education, Science and Sport Povzetek uvodnega pozdrava / Abstract of the Welcome address Govorca veseli in se zahvaljuje organizatorju konference, Centru za prenos tehnologij in inovacij na Institutu »Jožef Stefan«, da ima uvodni nagovor na zelo pomembnem srečanju. Na izvedbeni ravni, kjer znanje nastaja, sodelovanje dobro poteka. Sodelovanje je odlično na univerzah in institutih, prav tako je okrepljeno sodelovanje med izobraževanjem in raziskovanjem na institucionalni osnovi, kar dokazuje tudi udeležba na današnjem dogodku, saj so prisotni predstavniki univerz in raziskovalnih institutov. Na drugi strani se zna gospodarstvo tudi relativno hitro povezati, ker jim to narekuje njihova gospodarska pobuda. Največ lahko naredimo na tem, kako ta znanja in raziskave čimprej prenesti v gospodarstvo. Pri raziskovanju je možno zaznati najmanj dve ravni. Pri bazičnih raziskavah je Slovenija na nekaterih področjih v svetovnem vrhu. Manj uspešni smo pri prenosu in implementaciji aplikativnih raziskav v celotni družbi in gospodarstvu. Država je od leta 2017 dalje s 6 mio EUR podprla pravo pot za prenos tehnologij, ki se odvija s pomočjo pisarn za prenos tehnologij. MIZŠ namerava to podporo še okrepiti in okrepiti sodelovanje z MGRT. Nujno je sodelovanje z MGRT, ker MIZŠ podpira nizke TRL-je in MGRT višje. Vendar srednji TRL-ji še vedno »ostajajo v zraku«. K sodelovanju je potrebno poleg MGRT povabiti še Gospodarsko zbornico Slovenije, ki ima povezovalno vlogo in dostop do gospodarstva. S sodelovanjem vseh deležnikov bo Slovenija postajala družba, kjer se bo več delalo z glavo in manj z rokami. Simon Zajc, State Secretary, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology Povzetek uvodnega pozdrava / Abstract of the Welcome address Živimo v nenavadnih časih, ko je COVID-19 razkril pomanjkljivosti in šibke točke slovenskega gospodarstva in nabavnih verig. Slovenski gospodarski model mora biti z uvedbo inovacij v gospodarstvo odpornejši za prehod v zeleno družbo. 76 V Evropski skupnosti se vsi usmerjamo v zeleni, digitalni prehod. Prehod je mogoče narediti samo na krilih inovacij, ki so ključni dejavnik uspeha podjetij, konkurenčnosti nacionalnih držav in Evropske skupnosti kot celote ter družbe, ki je usmerjena k okolju prijaznem načinu življenja. Načrt za okrevanje in odpornost (NOO), ki bo podlaga za koriščenje razpoložljivih sredstev iz Sklada za okrevanje in odpornost (RRF), nam ponuja veliko priložnosti za okrevanje. V Slovenski industrijski strategiji 2021-2030, ki jo je pripravilo Ministrstvo za gospodarski razvoj in tehnologijo, so začrtali zelen, digitalen in ustvarjalen razvoj industrije in gospodarstva do leta 2030. Na drugi strani je na evropski lestvici upadla slovenska inovacijska uspešnost v primerjavami z drugimi državami EU. Slovenija ne sodi več med močne, ampak zmerne inovatorje, ker je imela padec uspešnosti v obdobju 2018 – 2020. Velik izziv predstavlja zagotovitev stabilnih vzpodbud države za znanost. Na drugi strani moramo v naslednjih desetih letih zagotoviti tako podjetniške naložbe v raziskave in inovacije kot naložbe na raziskovalnem nivoju. Pri tem ne moremo računati samo na evropska sredstva, ampak tudi na našo premišljenost pri dodeljevanju nacionalnih sredstev za ključne finančne instrumente, ki bi jih morali izvajati vsako leto brez vmesnih premorov. Ministrstvo za gospodarski razvoj in tehnologijo bo okrepilo vlogo SPIRIT-a na področju inovacij in tehnologij ter pri podpori povezovanju med industrijo in javnimi raziskovalnimi organizacijami. Ministrstvo bo še naprej spodbujalo prenos znanj in tehnologij na trg z vzpostavljenimi strateškimi, razvojnimi in inovacijskimi partnerstvi, ki po začetnih težavah delujejo vedno bolje prav zaradi vzpostavljenih povezav s številnimi podjetji, društvi in raziskovalnimi organizacijami. Pomembno je, da se bodo vsi deležniki v Sloveniji prizadevali za prenos inovacij na trg – iz bazičnega razvoja v tržne aplikacije. Prof. Dr. Boštjan Zalar, director, Jožef Stefan Institute Povzetek uvodnega pozdrava / Abstract of the Welcome address Govorec je v uvodnem in pozdravnem nagovoru izpostavil Center za prenos tehnologij in inovacij (CTT), vodjo centra dr. Špelo Stres, njene sodelavke in sodelavce, ki so organizirali že 14. Mednarodno konferenco o prenosu tehnologij. Na teh konferencah sodelavke in sodelavci CTT z učinkovitim prenosom tehnologij v prakso še posebej krepijo sodelovanje med znanstveno sceno in gospodarstvom. Pisarne za prenos tehnologij naj bodo ključne v procesu prenosa tehnologi ter pri sodelovanju z deležniki, ki so dobro vpeti v inovacijskem sistemu. Najpomembnejša vprašanja, ki bi jih bilo potrebno nasloviti, so: 77 • Vzpostavljanje sklada za preverbo koncepta na nacionalni in na institucionalnih ravneh • Problematika ustanavljanja odcepljenih podjetij • Odnosi med raziskovalno in tehnološko infrastrukturo ter centri odličnosti • Večji družbeni vpliv javnih raziskovalnih organizacij in univerz ter njihovo boljše povezovanje z družbo • Vloga odprte znanosti v povezavi z intelektualno lastnino • Vpliv razdrobljenosti raziskovalnega sistema v Republiki Sloveniji ter ocenjevanja učinkovitosti sistema in vpliva na kakovost delovanja pisarn za prenos tehnologij • Sodelovanje med SRIP-i in pisarnami za prenos tehnologij Na današnji konferenci so prisotni skupaj s pisarnami za prenos tehnologij vsi, ki soustvarjajo inovacijski sitem v Sloveniji. Na zaključku pozdravnega nagovora se je govorec zahvalil sodelavkam in sodelavcem Centra za prenos tehnologij in inovacij za organizacijo današnje okrogle mize in za že 14. dogodek po vrsti. 78 ROUND TABLE: THE FUTURE OF KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IN SLOVENIA AND EU From 09:15 to 10:30 (in Slovene language) Moderators: Dr. Špela Stres, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) Dr. Vojka Žunič, National Institute of Chemistry, KnowledgeTransfer Office Round table speakers: Prof. Dr. Gregor Majdič, University of Ljubljana Prof. Dr. Boštjan Zalar, Jožef Stefan Institute Prof. Dr. Maja Ravnikar, National Institute of Biology Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar, University of Primorska Prof. Dr. Matej Makarovič, Faculty of information studies in Novo mesto Prof. Dr. Urban Bren, University of Maribor Prof. Dr. Robert Repnik, Slovenian Research Agency Gregor Klemenčič, Deep Innovations Gregor Umek, mag., Ministry of Economic Development and Technology Mag. Damjana Karlo, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport Povzetek okrogle mize / Abstract of the Round table Okroglo miza sta odprli moderatorki dr. Špela Stres, MBA, LLM, Vodja Centra za prenos tehnologij in inovacij na Institutu ‘’Jožef Stefan’’, in dr. Vojka Žunič, Vodja pisarne za prenos znanja na Kemijskem inštitutu. Uvodni nagovor moderatorke dr. Špele Stres: Podatki o inovacijah in internacionalizaciji kažejo, da je potrebno omogočiti skladno in na mejnikih temelječe financiranje inovacij ter podpreti internacionalizacijo. Naš cilj je, da izboljšamo politike za celostno nemoteno preoblikovanje rezultatov raziskav v ekonomsko in družbeno vrednost. Moderatorka dr. Vojka Žunič je predstavila udeležence okrogle mize: • prof. dr. Gregor Majdič, rektor Univerze v Ljubljani • prof. dr. Boštjan Zalar, direktor Instituta ‘’Jožef Stefan’’ • prof. dr. Maja Ravnikar, direktorica Nacionalnega inštituta za biologijo • prof. dr. Klavdija Kutnar, rektorica Univerze na Primorskem • prof. dr. Matej Makarovič, dekan Fakultete za informacijske študije v Novem mestu • prof. dr. Urban Bren, prorektor za prenos znanja Univerze v Mariboru 79 • prof. dr. Robert Repnik, direktor Javne agencije za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije • mag. Gregor Umek, vodja Sektorja za industrijo, spodbujanje inovativnosti in tehnologije v Direktoratu za internacionalizacijo, podjetništvo in tehnologije (Ministrstvo za gospodarski razvoj in tehnologijo) • mag. Damjana Karlo, vodja Sektorja za strukturne sklade na področju raziskovalno-razvojne dejavnosti (Ministrstvo za izobraževanje, znanost in šport) • Gregor Klemenčič, Deepinovations (Nizozemska) 1. Gregor Klemenčič, sr. principal innovation researcher for e-health data driven solutions za Philips Research (Medical systems) na Nizozemskem in soustanovitelj ter solastnik mednarodnega podjetja Deep Innovations B.V Gospod Klemenčič je predstavil svoj pogled na inovacijski sistem v naslednjih točkah: • Innovation to market – I2M • Research to application – R2A • Value proposition creation – VPC • The game of rules – IPR • Earning models Curiosity is a personal characteristic of a researcher or entrepreneur. A researcher is looking for an inspiration, learning from white papers and colleagues. Researcher combines different sources of information. It looks like a child play for clever people. Creation is also creation of products and services and how to apply. This is a game for elderly researchers. Researchers have to understand the buyer and not try to sell unique selling points and not even unique buying reasons. Researchers have to find out why buyers become hungry for new innovation applications. We have fundamental, applied and complementary research. Researchers have to try as fast as they can to combine information from different sources domains. It’s a lot of hard work and play as well. If you play, you may do a mistake. Researchers have to learn fast and make NOT TO DO list to ignore or mitigate the risk. Provocative design is another applied approach in the innovation system. Researchers design new solution or concept and they test them with people without asking them what they want. Mixed research teams with different skills from different research areas with non-standard combination of knowledge will bring applications out of the box. New school doesn’t believe much in IP as the old one. Also, how to make money with innovations is different from the old school. New school prefers to organize focused micro meetings, attract micro investors and apply IP stacking or block chain to trace effort input as output values. 80 Iztočnica okrogle mize – dr. Špela Stres: Winston Churchill je rekel, Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught. Del napredka v človeški zgodovini je povezan s posebno sposobnostjo ljudi, da smo se sposobni učiti. Zato bomo danes uporabili svoje znanje in naslovili nekaj ključnih tematik, ki bodo opredeljevale vsebino področja prenosa znanja in njegove valorizacije v prihodnosti. 2. Prof. dr. Gregor Majdič, rektor Univerze v Ljubljani Vprašanje: Problematika ovir z ustanavljanjem odcepljenih podjetij. Glede na vaše izkušnje tudi iz podjetniškega sveta, če bomo z novim Zakonom o znanstveni razvojni in inovacijski dejavnosti lahko JROji postajali solastniki odcepljenih podjetij, je to pametno, ker bodo institucije v bolj zgodnjih fazah lahko upravljale z inovacijami v podjetniških vodah ali dodaten zaplet, v katerem bodo JRO upočasnjevali razvoj mladih podjetij proti trgu? Ali se vam zdi, da smo zreli za ta korak? Prof. dr. Gregor Majdič: Tak sistem je vzpostavljen v številnih zahodnih državah, dobro deluje ter prinaša velike koristi za akademsko sfero in gospodarstvo, če ta proces pravilno izvajamo. Če se bodo javne raziskovalne organizacije, ki so običajno velike in nekoliko bolj okorne kot so majhna podjetja na trgu, preveč vmešavale v samo delovanje podjetij na trgu, ko bodo le-ta naskakovala nove trge in se internacionalizirala, to zna biti ovira. Če pa bodo raziskovalne organizacije preko pisarn za prenos tehnologij to upoštevale in pustile malim podjetjem samostojnost, hkrati pa sodelovale pri potrebni pomoči, pa je to zagotovo lahko velika prednost in nova dodana vrednost, ki bo omogočila takšnim podjetjem, da bodo lažje prišla na trg in lažje izhajala iz akademskih institucij ter prenašala znanje v gospodarstvo v Sloveniji in v mednarodnem prostoru. 3. Prof. dr. Maja Ravnikar, direktorica Nacionalnega inštituta za biologijo Vprašanje: Vzpostavljanje sklada Proof-of-Concept. Na NIB ste prav v letošnjem letu uspešno ustanovili novo visokotehnološko podjetje. V letu 2021 so SID banka, HBOR in EIF podpisali pogodbo za prvi PoC sklad v regiji. Na posamičnih institucijah, IJS (od leta 1998), UL (od leta 2020) in UM (od leta 2020) - PoC skladi delujejo že nekaj časa in podpirajo raziskovalce na njihovi poti proti trgu. Kako se do tega opredeljuje NIB? Je 40 mio EUR v skladu PoC za dve državi preveč za regijo, ki je šele na začetku svoje poti povezovanja z gospodarstvom ali pa celo premajhen vložek za regijo, ki mora nujno ustvariti množico gazel, da se bo vrnila med inovacijsko uspešne države? Prof. dr. Maja Ravnikar: Na NIB smo pred desetimi leti ustanovili prvi spin-out Biosistemika. Pri tem je podjetju zelo pomagal mehanizem projektov VALOR. PoC skladi bodo omogočali javnim raziskovalnim organizacijam, da pridejo v svojih raziskavah na srednje TRL-je, ker takšnega financiranja v tem trenutku v Sloveniji ni. V letošnjem letu smo na NIB za novoustanovljeno podjetje pridobili močne investitorje, ki so lahko takoj investirali samo v opremo več kot milijon evrov in odkupili intelektualno lastnino, vendar to ni običajno stanje pri ustanavljanju spin-out podjetij. 81 Če bodo sredstva PoC sklada primerno odrejena, bo to velik korak naprej, ker akademska sfera in javne raziskovalne organizacije nimajo dovolj potrebnih sredstev za premagovanje »doline smrti«. ARRS financira tako bazične kot aplikativne projekte, ki pa se ocenjujejo več ali manj kot bazični. Projekti izkazujejo svojo aplikativnost z zainteresiranostjo podjetij za takšno vrsto raziskav. Takih financiranih projektov je v Sloveniji bistveno premalo. 4. Mag. Damjana Karlo, vodja Sektorja za strukturne sklade na področju raziskovalno-razvojne dejavnosti (Ministrstvo za izobraževanje, znanost in šport) Vprašanje: Kako vidite problematiko ustanavljanja odcepljenih podjetij na MIZŠ? Kako vidite možnosti pomoči zasebnim podjetjem v solastništvu JRO, v luči državnih pomoči? Vemo, da bi na nekaterih področjih (biotehnologija, medicina, nanomateriali, itd) morali biti začetni vložki v bodoče gazele precej veliki, tudi milijonski. Mag. Damjana Karlo: Z novim Zakonom o znanstvenoraziskovalni in inovacijski dejavnosti (ZZRID) je predvidena možnost za ustanovitev odcepljenih podjetij. To in celotno področje inoviranja je tipično medresorsko vprašanje predvsem med MIZŠ in MGRT. Najprej so potrebne reforme institucij in obeh ministrstev ter kadrovske in vsebinske krepitve tako ministrstev kot njihovih izvajalskih agencij – ARRS in SPIRIT, ki smo se jih lotili v okviru Načrta za okrevanje in odpornost. Prenizko javno financiranje je vplivalo tudi na padec uspešnosti Slovenije v kazalnikih Evropskega inovacijskega indeksa. Slovenija mora priti do 1% javnega financiranja za raziskovalno-razvojne dejavnosti iz različnih virov, ki so sedaj na razpolago v Načrtu za okrevanje in odpornost ter v okviru evropskih kohezijskih sredstev za naslednjih 10 let, ki jim morajo slediti tudi sredstva iz nacionalnega proračuna. MIZŠ iz evropskih kohezijskih sredstev financira povezovanje gospodarstva z raziskovalno sfero ter s tem razvojno-raziskovalne projekte na TRL lestvici od 3 do 6, ki se jim s financiranjem priključi tudi MGRT na višjih ravneh tehnološke pripravljenosti. Zagotovljeni so formalni pogoji za ustanovitev odcepljenih podjetij, za katera so potrebni tudi veliki finančni vložki. MIZŠ teh vložkov v odcepljena podjetja ne more financirati iz opravljanja javne službe. Prav tako je potrebno poleg vzpostavitve finančnih instrumentov pritegniti tudi partnerje, ki imajo veliko raziskovalne opreme in znanja. 5. Prof. dr. Robert Repnik, direktor Javne agencije za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije Vprašanje: ARRS določa v Pravilnikih (Pravila za oblikovanje cen za uporabo raziskovalne opreme, obveščanje in poročanje o uporabi raziskovalne opreme) način določanja cen in upravljanja z raziskovalno in tehnološko infrastrukturo v Sloveniji. Kakšne priložnosti še vidimo med podjetji in JRO ter centri odličnosti, ki imajo infrastrukturo, ki bo jo lahko potrebovala podjetja? Kako podjetjem dovolj na glas povedati, da imamo opremo, ki jo potrebujejo, a je pri nas še niso našli? 82 Prof. dr. Robert Repnik: Srednji del TRL-jev je v Sloveniji resen problem. Nižji TRL-ji (predvsem TRL 1-2, pogojno TRL 3) spadajo v področje znanosti, ki jih pokrivata MIZŠ in ARRS v skladu s smernicami resornega ministrstva. Na drugi strani podporo pri premostitvi srednjih TRL-jev nudijo MGRT, SPIRIT, Slovenski podjetniški sklad in tudi Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije. Za rešitev problematike srednjih TRL-jev je ključno zavedanje deležnikov in njihovo soglasje, da je problem srednjih TRL-jev v Sloveniji resen in je zato potrebno premostiti dolino smrti. Za uspešno premostitev je potrebno sprejeti skupno odločitev, da je to nujno ter zagotoviti institucionalno podprtost in pokritost premostitvenega procesa. Prav tako morajo skupno nastopiti vsi, ki pokrivajo posamezne skupine TRL-jev. Nižje TRL-je pokrivajo znanstveniki, višje pa gospodarstvo, medtem ko je »srednja množica« prazna. Ljudje, ki delujejo na teh področjih in stojijo za temi skupinami TRL-jev, morajo začutiti svojo osebno motivacijo, da uspešno izkazujejo svoje talente skozi rezultate. Govorec je prepričan, da obstajajo še nekateri talenti, ki jih je potrebno aktivirati za vstop na področje srednjih TRL-jev. Pri tem sta možna dva pristopa, in sicer, da ustvarimo skupino ljudi, ki bi delala na področju srednjih TRL-jev, ali pa motiviramo obe skupini raziskovalcev, da aktivirajo svoje lastne talente in začnejo delovati tudi na področju srednjih TRL-jev. Raziskovalna oprema je drugi segment, ki odgovarja in naslavlja težavo srednjih TRL-jev. En del je že vzpostavljen, ker se skozi ARRS plačujejo investicije v nakup raziskovalne opreme na javnih raziskovalnih organizacijah. Taka oprema na javnih raziskovalnih organizacijah že obstaja, vendar podjetja premalo poznajo možnosti, kako do nje dostopati. V Evropi obstajajo primeri dobre prakse, ki pa jih ni mogoče enostavno preslikati v naše okolje, da bi delovali. V Sloveniji bi morali najprej dobro pregledati seznam opreme, preveriti, če je ustrezno vpisana in ažurirana. Potem bi lahko seznam opreme promovirali pri gospodarskih družbah, da podjetja spoznajo, kakšne možnosti obstajajo. 6. Prof. dr. Urban Bren, prorektor za prenos znanja Univerze v Mariboru Vprašanje: Kaj sploh je povezovanje z družbo? S stališča univerze, katere raziskovalno delo obsega velik delež naravoslovno tehničnih vsebin? Gre bolj za članke in sodelovanje na konferencah, za neformalne razgovore in občasno naključno pomoč tistim podjetjem, ki so bolje informirana in se bolje znajdejo pri dostopanju do JRO, ali pa bi se morali potruditi vzpostaviti enoten sistem, v katerem bi vsako, še tako majhno, če le dovolj aktivno in radovedno podjetje prišlo v stik s pravim raziskovalcem, pa tudi dobilo dostop do ustrezne infrastrukture za izvedbo meritev za potrebe podjetja? Prof. dr. Urban Bren: Univerza v Mariboru izhaja iz gospodarske pobude. Na dolgi tradiciji sodelovanja z gospodarstvom gradimo naprej. Včasih je bilo tako sodelovanje naključno in stihijsko na podlagi osebnih poznanstev. Danes pa projekta KTT1 in KTT2 vzpostavljata institucionalno in 83 formalizirano raven sodelovanja. Na ta način lahko univerze in javne raziskovalne organizacije delujejo kot enotna vstopna točka (one-stop-shop) za sodelovanje z industrijo. V vzhodni kohezijski regiji smo zelo razpršeni. Tako ima Univerza v Mariboru svoje institucije še v Krškem, Brežicah, Velenju, Celju, Hočah in pri Murski Soboti. Na ta način se znanje bliža uporabnikom v regije, kar je pomembno za enakomeren razvoj države. Prav tak »one-stop-shop« pristop preko kohezijskih regionalnih središč lahko opolnomoči Slovenijo in jo naredi mnogo odpornejšo. Pomembno pa se je zavedati, da prenos znanja ne vključuje zgolj tehnologij za gospodarstvo, ampak tudi prenos v negospodarstvo, v javne institucije in občine. 7. Prof. dr. Klavdija Kutnar, rektorica Univerze na Primorskem in prof. dr. Boštjan Zalar, direktor Instituta ‘’Jožef Stefan’’ Vprašanje: Vloga Centrov odličnosti. Leta 2009 je bilo s strani MIZŠ ustanovljenih 7 Centrov odličnosti, ki so spremenili slovensko raziskovalno pokrajino in jo razgibali, predvsem tudi glede ponujanja dostopa do raziskovalne infrastrukture. IJS ima veliko izkušenj s centri odličnosti, saj je že ob ustanovitvi deloval kot ustanovitelj v treh različnih, na različnih področjih, pomemben del sodelovanja z industrijo poteka tudi danes z njihovo pomočjo. Univerza na Primorskem, kot soustanovitelji zasebnega raziskovalnega zavoda Innorenew, katerega soustanovitelj je tudi nemški Fraunhofer WKI, se dobro zaveda pomembnosti povezave med temeljnim in uporabnim raziskovanjem, kot pravne oblike, ki omogoča tudi sodelovanje slovenskih in mednarodnih deležnikov. Kako vidite razvoj področja centrov odličnosti v Sloveniji v prihodnje? Si želimo nove CO in zakaj ali zakaj ne? Kaj to pomeni za nadaljnje drobljenje raziskovalnega prostora v Sloveniji? Kako skozi Centre odličnosti s pomočjo javnih raziskovalnih organizacij urediti odnos glede raziskovalne in tehnološke infrastrukture ter ponujanje le-te podjetjem, saj vemo, da je vsaj del opreme nepopolno izkoriščen, podjetja imajo potrebo po rabi, vendar do realizacije zaradi zapletenosti sistema ne pride? Kako vidite centre odličnosti na lestvici nivoja tehnološke pripravljenosti TRL? In kako so s centri odličnosti ter raziskovalno infrastrukturo, ki prehaja v tehnološko infrastrukturo, povezane pisarne za prenos tehnologij kot most med njimi? Prof. dr. Klavdija Kutnar: Univerza na Primorskem (UP) je nastala na drugačen način kot Univerza v Mariboru. UP je imela predvsem družboslovno in humanistično usmeritev, hkrati pa izjemno željo za sodelovanje z gospodarstvom v lokalnem okolju. Sodelovanje je bilo oteženo, ker ni bilo razvoja na naravoslovno-tehničnem področju. V naslednjih osemnajstih letih so vzpostavili odlična in tudi nekatera vrhunska nišna naravoslovna področja. Pri tehnologiji pa je bilo težje, ker so v ozadju zelo veliki finančni stroški. Zato so iskali rešitve za okrepitev področja tehnike in tehnologij. V tem konceptu so s pomočjo evropskih sredstev s še osmimi drugimi institucijami ustanovili Center odličnosti. Center odličnosti Innorenew ne drobi raziskovalnega prostora, ampak krepi znanstveno odličnost in povezovanje različnih institucij. Preko Centra odličnosti so združili različne 84 kompetence in znanja, da so naredili preboj v znanstveni odličnosti. Vsi partnerji so vstopili s strateško odločitvijo. Zato Center odličnosti ni konkurenca, ampak partner, ki so mu podelili polno avtonomijo. V UP želijo, da bi prišli do tako močnih pisarn za prenos tehnologij kot jih ima njihov odlični partner Fraunhofer. Le-ta deluje na način, da zaposleni strokovni sodelavci najprej presodijo vsak znanstveni članek, če ima potencial za preboj in prenos v industrijo. Potem se odločijo, ali gredo v patentiranje in zaščito intelektualne lastnine, ali v odprto znanost. V Sloveniji se razlikujejo cilji javnih raziskovalnih institucij, ki stremijo k odprti znanosti in podjetij, ki zasledujejo druge cilje. Zato imajo pisarne za prenos tehnologij pomembno vlogo, da povežejo gospodarstvo z raziskovalno sfero. Raziskovalci UP, ki so najaktivnejši v povezovanju z gospodarstvom, imajo največ težav z ohranitvijo svoje raziskovalne pozicije na univerzi, ker takšnega sodelovanja ne morejo uveljavljati v habilitacijskih merilih. Zato si na UP prizadevajo, da bi dali več točk v habilitacijskih postopkih dodani vrednosti prenosa znanja v gospodarstvo. Komentar moderatorke dr. Špele Stres: Profesionalizacija dela v pisarnah za prenos tehnologij bi bila pravi korak v smeri, da bi se tovrstno podporo lahko nudilo. Prof. dr. Boštjan Zalar: Govorec meni, da Centri odličnosti sodijo na tisti del lestvice nivoja tehnološke pripravljenosti TRL, kjer govorimo o dolini smrti. Centri odličnosti bi lahko bili zelo učinkoviti na tem področju. Raziskovalci imajo dokaj deljena mnenja o uspešnosti Centrov odličnosti, ki so bili ustanovljeni v drugem valu v letih 2008 in 2009 in so žal sovpadali s svetovno gospodarsko in finančno krizo. Centri so bili mišljeni kot injekcija v raziskovalno opremo, ki bi bila na uporabo podjetjem. Vendar se je prav v tem obdobju dogajalo podfinanciranje osnovne znanosti. Namesto, da bi država za takšne iniciative našla dodaten denar, je del denarja prenesla iz enega sektorja v drugega. Centri odličnosti so potrebni, saj se lahko preko njih podpre in mednarodno uveljavi prioritizirano področje znanosti, npr. digitalno transformacijo, kvantne tehnologije in umetno inteligenco, kjer Slovenija kot majhna država naredi preboj v svetovnem merilu. Pomembno vlogo pri tem ima na IJS pisarna za prenos tehnologij, ki je vez med akademijo in gospodarstvom, predvsem s pravno in sistemsko podporo, z ovrednotenjem učinka in doprinosa raziskovalčevega izuma k dodani vrednosti. V Sloveniji bo potrebno na pisarne za prenos tehnologij gledati kot na nekaj nujnega, saj sploh niso umeščene v današnjim sistem financiranja. Delo v pisarnah za prenos tehnologij je specifično, ker potrebuje visoko izobražen kader. Od odločevalcev se pričakuje, da bodo na boljši način uredili delo in financiranje pisarn za prenos tehnologij kot del javno raziskovalnih organizacij. 85 8. Prof. dr. Matej Makarovič, dekan Fakultete za informacijske študije v Novem mestu Vprašanje: IKT. Glede na to, da je ena od temeljnih usmeritev dela Fakultete za informacijske študije prav informatika kot področje raziskav in da je velik del na delo raziskovalcev vezanih inovacij po svoji naravi software. Stanja na področju zaščite programske opreme v Evropski Uniji oz. v Evropi še vedno ne moremo obravnavati kot povsem pravno urejenega, niti kot pravno neurejenega. Področje zato narekuje številne priložnosti za nadaljnje delo. Kako vidite smernice za obravnavo programske opreme, da bi izboljšali stanje s katerim se znanstveniki na področju računalništva soočajo predvsem pa nagrajevanju iz izumov, povezanih s programsko opremo v slovenskem inovacijskem prostoru? Prof. dr. Matej Makarovič: V času digitalne transformacije je paradoksalno, da je področje patentov in nagrajevanja inovacij na področju programske opreme do neke mere nedorečeno. Kadar je inovacija samo na področju programske opreme in ne vključuje strojne razsežnosti, ne omogoča klasičnega polnega preskusa patenta oziroma njegovega tehničnega doprinosa. S tem so raziskovalci, ki inovirajo samo na področju programske opreme, v neenakopravnem položaju, saj se postavlja neka arbitrarna meja pri patentiranju. To vprašanje bi morali reševati na nivoju Evropske unije. V Sloveniji bi lahko na nacionalnem nivoju uredili npr. nagrajevanje, ki ni samo denarno. Raziskovalce - informatike pritegnejo tudi dobri odnosi, priznanja in možnosti napredovanja. Z razmislekom glede kriterijev habilitacije in točk, ki se izračunavajo na osnovi SICRIS baze, je možno urediti nagrajevanje inovacij na programski opremi, ki nima strojne dimenzije. Tehnični preskusi patentov namreč prinesejo veliko več točk. To bi lahko bilo priporočilo za ARRS in NAKIS, da se ta dimenzija pri kriterijih za projekte in habilitacije bolj upošteva. 9. Prof. dr. Gregor Majdič, rektor Univerze v Ljubljani Vprašanje: Eden od prijaviteljev European Digital Innovation Hub (e-DIH) je tudi Fakulteta za elektrotehniko UL. S prehodom inovacij na digitalno področje je programska oprema postala pomemben del sodobnih izumov in stvaritev, hkrati pa predstavlja izjemno pomemben del intelektualne lastnine – tako v slovenskem kot evropskem prostoru. Obenem je prav to področje v praksi najmanj urejeno tudi glede ustanavljanja odcepljenih podjetij, poleg tega pa podjetja v Sloveniji ne dobijo dovolj podpore pri procesih digitalizacije. Kako vidite možnosti, da se to v praksi izboljša in kako so v te napore vpeti vzporedno ali v sodelovanju tako TTO kot DIHi in kje vidite sinergije med njimi? Prof. dr. Gregor Majdič: Vsekakor bi tu morale biti povezave in vzporednice. Nenazadnje gre za veliko vzporednic. Pri digitalni transformaciji govorimo od dveh stvareh. En del so podjetja, ki izvajajo in tržijo digitalne inovacije, na drugi strani pa so pomemben del podjetja, ki proizvajajo druge produkte in pri svojem delovanju uporabljajo digitalna orodja. Pri ustanavljanju novih podjetij, ki delajo na področju digitalizacije, imajo pisarne za prenos tehnologij klasično vlogo. Pri pomoči pri digitalizaciji drugih podjetij bi pisarne za prenos znanja prav tako lahko imele podobno podporno vlogo kot jo imajo pri drugih vidikih ustanavljanja nekega podjetja, npr. s pomočjo pri birokratskih in finančnih vprašanjih. Tudi pisarne za prenos znanja bi se lahko posvetile digitalizaciji tako, da bi v svoje delovanje 86 vključile digitalizacijo, pomoč podjetjem, našle načine, kako tudi z digitalizacijo pomagati podjetjem, ko se ustanavljajo, prihajajo na trg ter iščejo nove poti za internacionalizacijo in scale-up ter kako pri tem čimbolj izkoristiti digitalizacijo. Govorec lahko na podlagi lastnega primera, kot znanstvenik na področju znanosti o življenju, ki se ne spozna na digitalizacijo, vidi veliko pomoč pisarn za prenos znanja pri tem. 10. Prof. dr. Urban Bren, prorektor za prenos znanja Univerze v Mariboru Vprašanje: Ob tem ne smemo pozabiti, da je eden od prijaviteljeDIH tudi UM. Naslednje vprašanje pa je povezano z Open Science. Univerza v Mariboru se v okviru vzpostavljanja odprte znanosti kot pomemben akter na slovenskem parketu glede naslavljanja vsebin Open Science, še posebej v kontekstu Ustanovitve Slovenske skupnosti odprte znanosti. Kakšna je vloga TTOjev v upravljanju z IL in hkratnemu spodbujanju raziskovalcev h konceptu odprte znanosti. European Open Science Community že od leta 2013 vzpostavlja sistem za hranjenje in ponovno uporabo podatkov iz raziskav, ki jih financira država. Če vemo, da je skozi celoten H2020 OpenScience postajal pojem za dostopanje do podatkov, ali smo v večini raziskovalnih skupin danes vsebinsko pripravljeni na dele projektov, kjer je potrebno opisati pretekle data-sete, njihovo validacijo ter prakse open science? Open science sicer ni v nasprotju z zaščito IL, vendar pa oboje sledi nekim pravilom, ki jih je potrebno upoštevati, da se doseže maksimalen vpliv raziskav, kako so z zagotavljanjem vpliva povezani TTOji in če v Sloveniji niso, zakaj ne? Kako vidimo razvoj vseh teh področij v Sloveniji in ali jih vidimo povezano? Prof. dr. Urban Bren: Univerza v Mariboru ima resnično številne repozitorije odprte znanosti, ki jih uporabljajo tudi druge institucije. Vsekakor se odprta znanost sliši odlično na papirju. Odprta znanost je financirana iz javnih sredstev, zato so tudi izsledki javno dostopni. V tem mozaiku pa smo pozabili na založbe, ki večinoma niso javne, zasledujejo tržni princip in zahtevajo plačilo za objavo prispevkov znanstvenikov. Znanstveniki tako sami plačujemo za odprte članke. Na drugi strani pa mnogo založb zahteva članarino ali direktno plačilo na spletni strani za prebiranje člankov. Posledično se lahko zgodi, da znanstvenik ne bo mogel objavljati, ali pa bo zelo težko objavljal, če ne bo imel raziskovalnega projekta, s katerim si bo kupil odprtost svojih člankov. ARRS sicer najboljše članke v posamezni kategoriji naslavlja preko njenega razpisa. Še večji strah in problem pa je v primerih, ko je s tem povezano podjetje, ki ga skrbi, da ne bi izgubilo svoje intelektualne lastnine. Javnost podatkov, ki jih moramo zasledovati v skladu s strategijo odprte znanosti, predstavlja večji izziv od javnosti objav. Lahko se zgodi, da bo kdo drug na znanstvenikovih odprtih podatkih napisal članek. Še večji izziv pa bi nastal za podjetje, ki sodeluje z javnim zavodom in bi na ta način delilo svoje podatke s konkurenco. 87 11. Mag. Gregor Umek, vodja Sektorja za industrijo, spodbujanje inovativnosti in tehnologije v Direktoratu za internacionalizacijo, podjetništvo in tehnologije (Ministrstvo za gospodarski razvoj in tehnologijo) Vprašanje: Reforma inovacijskega sistema. V okviru Načrta za okrevanje in odpornost je predvidena tudi reforma na področju RRI. Deležniki inovacijskega okolja v Sloveniji pogosto med seboj niso dovolj povezani. Kako na MGRT razmišljate o možnostih izboljšanja povezav in koherentnosti delovanja inovacijskega okolja? Kako bi po vašem mnenju lahko dosegli boljše sodelovanje JROjev in gospodarstva ter politike v Sloveniji, tudi z namenom izboljšanja procesov prenosa tehnologij iz JRO v gospodarstvo? Mag. Gregor Umek: Reforma RRI znotraj Načrta za okrevanje in odpornost je ključna in predvideva sprejem novega Zakona o znanstvenoraziskovalni in inovacijski dejavnosti (ZZRID). Prav tako je ključna vpeljava novega modela upravljanja in povezovanja deležnikov inovacijskega sistema predvsem preko razvojnega sveta. MGRT je s strani ministrstva, ki naslavlja gospodarstvo, predvidel vključitev direktorjev SPIRIT-a in Slovenskega podjetniškega sklada ter predstavnike SRIP-ov v razvojni svet, ki naj bi na strateški ravni usklajeval politiko. V programskem svetu sodelujejo MGRT, MIZŠ, Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo in SVRK s svojimi izvajalskimi agencijami, ki implementirajo ukrepe. Trenutno je v pripravi postopek za evalviranje in standardizacijo ukrepov. Zato sta ključni okrepitvi ARRS-ja in SPIRIT-a, v katerem je predvidena zaposlitev 15 novih ljudi. Področje inovacij bi se upravljalo v okviru Agencije SPIRIT na trodelnem sloju na način, da bi se vse finančne spodbude izvajale preko Agencije, kar je boljše z vidika upravljanja, prav tako podjetja vse dobijo na enem mestu. Tudi vsa mednarodna dejavnost bi se izvajala v sklopu Agencije SPIRIT, kar bi dalo slovenskim inovacijam prepoznavnost na mednarodni ravni. Prav tako bi se v Agenciji upravljali in koordinirali vsi deležniki. Pri reformi RRI je zelo pomembno, da MGRT v okviru obstoječih razpisov za spodbujanje raziskav in razvoja ter demo pilotov, uvaja v skladu z Načrtom za okrevanje in odpornost načelo, da vsi ukrepi, ki bodo znotraj teh razpisov, ne smejo škodovati okolju. Kar 40% meril mora biti vezano na trajnost in zeleni prehod, kar je ključno tudi v naši industrijski strategiji, v kateri moramo doseči zeleni prehod. Prav inovacije lahko pripomorejo k zelenemu prehodu, kar je govorec ilustriral na primeru Steklarne Hrastnik, ki je s pomočjo pilotov naredila inovacijo na steklarski peči s ciljem ničelne ogljičnosti. Pri reformi RRI je ključno stabilno financiranje. Ker imamo pomanjkanje integralnih sredstev, nastanejo vrzeli med več finančnimi kohezijskimi perspektivami, v katerih podjetja ne morejo dve leti dostopati do sredstev. Ključno je, da se tudi z novim Zakonom o znanstvenoraziskovalni in inovacijski dejavnosti MGRT zavezuje k 1,25% javnemu financiranju, ker morajo imeti podjetja stalen dostop do teh sredstev. Prav tako je ključno povezovanje vseh ukrepov MGTR-ja in MIZŠ-a za podporo/ financiranje lestvice nivojev tehnološke pripravljenosti, da lahko tudi podjetja na eni točki dostopajo do vseh ukrepov. 88 MGRT konkretno sodeluje z Gospodarsko zbornice Slovenije pri Načrtu za okrevanje in odpornost, ki lahko da odziv s terena, kaj dejansko podjetja potrebujejo in kje so izzivi, ki jih mora nasloviti MGRT. Če bomo v Sloveniji želeli financirati vse, kar je vključeno v Načrtu za okrevanje in odpornost, so ključne sheme državnih pomoči. Brez ustreznih shem ni možno financirati investicij pri demo pilotih in zelenega prehoda. Evropski komisiji je potrebno predlagati, da je nujna večja prilagodljivost države članice, ki je omejena s shemami državnih pomoči. Podvprašanje: Vloga strateško razvojno inovacijskih partnerstev (SRIP). Vzporedno z vzpostavitvijo Konzorcija za prenos tehnologij s strani MIZŠ se je na MGRT vzpostavil sistem S4 in SRIPi. Danes vidimo, da SRIPi in TTO opravljajo komplementarne storitve (SRIPi informiranje in mreženje podjetij tudi za namen vzpostavljanja tematik za razpisne sheme), TTO pa pri vzpostavljanju odnosov JRO-podjetja igrajo bolj operativno vlogo podpore posamičnim primerom sodelovanja pri vzpostavljanju vsakodnevnih, mukotrpnih gradenj odnosov med posamičnimi podjetji in JRO. SRIPi in TTO se torej prekrivajo v manjšem deležu svojih aktivnosti. Kako naj se vzpostavi aktivna povezava in sinergije med obojimi? Mag. Gregor Umek: SRIP-i in pisarne za prenos tehnologij so deležniki inovacijskega sistema, ki z različnim delovanjem povezujejo javne raziskovalne organizacije in gospodarstvo. Pisarne za prenos tehnologij želijo prenesti znanje iz JRO-jev v gospodarstvo. SRIP-i delujejo širše in krepijo razvojno-raziskovalno in inovacijsko dejavnost med gospodarstvom, JRO-ji in tudi drugimi deležniki na področju razvoja. Predvsem pa je vloga SRIP-ov, da povezujejo vse te deležnike v mednarodne verige vrednosti na področju internacionalizacije. MGRT z MIZŠ in drugimi deležniki sodeluje pri projektu Evropske komisije z naslovom »Strengthening the innovation eco-system in Slovenia«. Ključno sporočilo projekta je, da morajo bolje povezati vse deležnike inovacijskega eko sistema, za kar bodo v Načrtu za okrevanje in odpornost predvidena konkretna finančna sredstva (3 mio EUR) za mreženja, organizacijo delavnic in opolnomočenje med vsemi deležniki. Na ta način lahko povežemo SRIP-e, pisarne za prenos tehnologij in vse deležnike. 12. Mag. Damjana Karlo, vodja Sektorja za strukturne sklade na področju raziskovalno-razvojne dejavnosti (Ministrstvo za izobraževanje, znanost in šport) Vprašanje: Konzorciji za prenos tehnologij. Če pogledamo skozi zadnjih 15 let, Leta 2008 je le redkokdo poznal določbe v Zakonu o izumih iz delovnega razmerja, ki opredeljujejo obvezo države, da financira TTOje za delo z raziskovalci, posebej. Leta 2013 je konzorcij za prenos tehnologij financiral MGRT za slabi dve leti. Rezultati niso bili navdušujoči, čeprav so bili zahtevani rezultati minimalni. Leta 2015 so najprej MGRT, nato pa še skupno SVRK in MIZŠ zavrnili možnost financiranja novega konzorcija za prenos tehnologij, od leta 2017 pa pod okriljem MIZŠ konzorcij uspešno deluje. Kako vidite razvoj področja v zadnjem desetletju na MIZŠ in kako vnaprej, ne toliko glede financiranja, ki je sicer pomembno za trajnostni razvoj področja. Temveč: kako vidite strateški razvoj področja prenosa znanja, njegovega pomena za Slovenijo, možnost in načine profesionalizacije aktivnosti in predvsem povezave z drugimi strateškimi instrumenti? 89 Mag. Damjana Karlo: MIZŠ je ta izziv že naslovil iz preteklih izkušenj pri pripravi nove raziskovalne in inovacijske strategije Slovenije do leta 2030. V strategiji namenjajo še večjo težo sistemskemu urejanju področja prenosa znanja, da se okrepi sistemska podpora z integralnimi sredstvi, ki jih 20 JROjev pridobi za delovanje. Znotraj teh sredstev bo vsak JRO v skladu s svojo avtonomijo opredelil, koliko sredstev bo namenil področju prenosa tehnologij. MIZŠ želi, da se na vseh 20 JRO ustanovijo pisarne za prenos znanja. MIZŠ namerava iz evropskih kohezijskih sredstev 2021-2027 nadgraditi obstoječi konzorcij KTT v približno enakem obsegu, ker so praktično že letos doseženi ali preseženi vsi kazalniki projekta, ki se zaključuje 30. junija naslednje leto. MIZŠ si bo prizadeval, da ne bo prišlo do vrzeli v financiranju in načrtuje objavo javnega razpisa za nadgradnjo konzorcija KTT iz evropske kohezijske politike 2021-2027 takoj, ko bodo izpolnjeni vsi formalni pogoji na ravni države, kar bi lahko bilo od druge polovice leta 2022 dalje. Komentar moderatorke dr. Špele Stres: Obe ministrstvi (MGRT in MZIŠ) sta usklajeni v svojem delovanju, da preprečita vrzel v financiranju. Še posebej želi MIZŠ preprečiti vrzel pri financiranju konzorcija KTT. Vendar se projekt KTT zaključuje 30.6. naslednje leto, kar pa pomeni operativno težavo in nastanek vsaj minimalne vrzeli, če bodo razpisi objavljeni v drugi polovici leta 2022. Kadri za prenos tehnologij, ki so se razvili in profesionalizirali v okviru konzorcija, so izjemnega pomena in bi jih pisarne za prenos tehnologij želele obdržati. Zato bi bilo potrebno vrzel v financiranju čimbolj skrajšati. 13. Prof. dr. Boštjan Zalar, direktor Instituta ‘’Jožef Stefan’’ Vprašanje: Razdrobljenost. Kako razdrobljenost raziskovalne sfere (slišali smo, da govorimo o 20 JRO in nekaj desetih nejavnih, ki prav tako izvajajo raziskovalno dejavnost, predvsem iz evropskih sredtsev) v Sloveniji vpliva na kvaliteto storitev TTOjev na posamičnih organizacijah? Je smiselno in upravičeno pričakovati visokokvalitetne storitve za raziskovalce, od vzpostavljanja raziskovalne strategije in pridobivanja financiranja za vse faze TRL (kot npr. pri Fraunhoferju, kjer pregledujejo vse znanstvene članke raziskovalcev in se odločajo, ali gredo v odprto znanost ali patentiranje), do kapitalizacije na trgu? So take storitve celostno sploh zaželene, saj deloma posegajo v raziskovalno svobodo? Prof. dr. Boštjan Zalar: V dvomilijonski naciji ne moremo preslikati učinkovitih rešitev iz velikih nacij, ki so svoje sisteme že zgradile. Zato bomo vedno doživljali rahlo razdrobljenost raziskovalne sfere. Pri reševanju določenega tehnološkega problema se je potrebno ozreti tudi v tujino, ker ni nujno, da bomo v svojem ožjem okolju našli tehnološko rešitev. Na drugi strani se dnevno postavlja vprašanje, od katere stopnje tehnološke pripravljenosti dalje potrebujemo podporo pisarn za prenos tehnologij. Postavlja se tudi dilema, ali je vse, kar delamo v znanosti (npr. merjenje mase črne snovi v vesolju), možno uvrstiti na lestvico TRL. V znanosti je še vedno en del, kjer bi morala biti lestvica znanja – na kateri stopnji znanja smo in ne na kateri stopnji tehnološke pripravljenosti. 90 V Sloveniji naj se zgledujemo po dobrih zgledih iz tujine. Evropa je ustanovila Evropski raziskovalni svet. V programu Obzorje Evropa imamo sedaj tudi novo institucijo - Evropski inovacijski svet, ki se ukvarja z vprašanjem, koliko daleč naj posega na lestvici TRL – ali že v osnovni znanosti, ali sploh ne. ZAKLJUČKI Gregor Klemenčič, Deepinovations (Nizozemska) Kot zunanji opazovalec in nekdo z ogromno izkušnjami iz obeh strani, JRO in gospodarstva v inovacijskem sistemu, še posebej glede na to, da ste vanj umeščeni v bolj razvitem tujem okolju, ki se mu želi Slovenija s svojo inovacijsko dejavnostjo približati. Kako v luči današnjega pogovora gledate na vlogo in pomen različnih deležnikov v inovacijskem okolju? Kako močno lahko politika, JRO in TTOji vplivajo na zagotavljanje inovativnega mišljenja, internacionalizacije, prenosa znanja in izkoriščanja rezultatov? Prosim za zaključno misel. Zaključna misel: V njegovem raziskovalnem okolju razdrobljenost obstaja in ni problem, ker gre za razdrobljenost po temah (npr. informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije, biotehnologija). Tudi pisarne za prenos tehnologij so praviloma uspešne, še posebej, če se povezane z gospodarskimi zbornicami, drugimi raziskovalnimi organizacijami in komercialnimi firmami. V pogledu od spodaj navzgor imajo znanstveniki s svojim zagonom, znanjem in interesi možnost, da se srečujejo z drugimi znanstveniki in start-upi. Na zelo uspešnih mikro srečanjih na določeno temo se znanstveniki povežejo in izmenjujejo znanje z drugimi raziskovalci, se povezujejo z malimi, srednjimi podjetji ter pridobijo tudi mikro financiranje. Komentar moderatorke dr. Špele Stres: Mikro srečanja so v tej luči vzpostavila B2R sestanke, ki se dogajajo on-line vzporedno s konferenco in iz katerih se lahko razvije dolgoročnejše sodelovanje. Zaključne misli drugih udeležencev okrogle mize: Mag. Damjana Karlo: Znanje je potrebno ne samo ustvariti, ampak ga tudi prenesti v družbo - tako v gospodarstvo kot v širši sistem, zaščititi in pripeljati do inovacij ter na ta način izboljšati našo mednarodno konkurenčnost in izboljšati kakovost življenja. Prof. dr. Robert Repnik: Pristop, o katerem smo danes govorili, je pravilen. Vendar ga je potrebno kombinirati s pristopom od spodaj navzgor. Pri tem je potrebno upoštevati, kateri motivacijski elementi bi ljudi prepričali v to, da bi se začeli ukvarjati s srednjimi stopnjami tehnološke pripravljenosti. Prav tako se je potrebno osrediniti na področja, kjer je največ možnosti, potencialov in priložnosti in kjer ima Gospodarska zbornica pomembno vlogo. Mag. Gregor Umek: Najpomembnejše je povezovanje med vsemi deležniki, ki je tudi del reforme v Načrtu za okrevanje in odpornost. Povezovanje od spodaj navzgor je zelo pomembno in MGRT že 91 sodeluje z Gospodarsko zbornico in drugimi deležniki. MGRT mora pridobiti informacije s terena, se primerno odzvati in temu primerno voditi politiko. Prof. dr. Matej Makarovič: Ko govorimo o javnem financiranju in javnem raziskovanju, je predvsem pomembno, da služi tudi popravljanju »tržnih napak«, torej zagotavljanju tega, česar trg sam ne zagotavlja. Tipičen primer tega je področje trajnostnega razvoja. Prof. dr. Maja Ravnikar: Biti moramo aktivni na promociji znanosti, saj s tem osveščamo družbo in gospodarstvo, kaj je na voljo v Sloveniji. Poleg tega so zelo pomembne mehke veščine in izobraževanje raziskovalcev, kako pravilno pristopiti in se pogovarjati z gospodarstvom ter kako jim ponuditi tehnološke rešitve. Zato so nujno potrebne okrepitve pisarn za prenos tehnologij in znanja. Prof. dr. Urban Bren: V Sloveniji imamo dobro izdelan sistem financiranja temeljne znanosti. Aplikativna znanost šepa - kot da potrebujemo samo katalizatorje, potem pa bo prenos znanja stekel sam od sebe. Dejansko pa ta proces stalno potrebuje potisk energije in finančnih sredstev. Potem učinki prelivanja naredijo tak prenos znanja vzdržen in v dobrobit celotne skupnosti. Nekatera odlična orodja kot so mladi raziskovalci v gospodarstvu, mladi raziskovalci na začetku kariere in projekti TRL 3-6 so že razvita in jih je potrebno zgolj kontinuirano uporabljati. Prof. dr. Gregor Majdič: V Sloveniji imamo ogromno odlične znanosti, tako bazične kot aplikativne, čeprav sam nikakor nisem zagovornik takšne delitve na bazično in aplikativno znanost saj menim, da je znanost ena. Šepa pa nam pa prenos znanja, premalo znamo izkoristiti to znanje in ga prenesti na trg, da bi imelo tudi ekonomske učinke. Zato potrebujemo pisarne za prenos znanja, ki opravljajo zelo dobro vlogo in je njihov pomen potrebno še okrepiti. So pa v Sloveniji problem tudi kapitalske spodbude in pretakanje kapitala, saj nimamo pravih inštrumentov in vlagateljev v mlada zagonska podjetja. To je posebno velik problem na področju naravoslovja in deloma tehnike, saj so na teh področjih potrebni višji finančni vložki, ki se povrnejo v daljšem časovnem obdobju in zaradi tega je pogosto težko pridobiti zagonski kapital za podjetja s takšnih področij. Prof. dr. Klavdija Kutnar: Sporočilo današnje okrogle mize je, da je zelo pomembno povezovanje slovenskih raziskovalnih institucij. Prav partnerji iz drugih institucij so pomagali Univerzi na Primorskem, da so svojo dejavnost dvignili na višji nivo. Prof. dr. Boštjan Zalar: Prenehajmo se pogovarjati o temeljnosti in aplikativnosti, raznih lestvicah, saj linearne linije vse med sabo prepletejo. Zaključna beseda: dr. Špela Stres Če smo začeli s citatom Winstona Churchila o tem, da se moramo učiti celo življenje, naj tudi končamo na tak način. Vedno se bomo soočali z izzivi, in izzivi bodo vedno večji od nas. G. Churchil je glede našega odziva na izzive rekel Fear is a reaction courage is a decision. Z iskrenim upanjem, da bomo pri soočanju s prihodnostjo pogumni, se vam najlepše zahvaljujemo za vaše sodelovanje na tej izredno zanimivi okrogli mizi. 92 PITCH COMPETITION: BEST INNOVATION WITH COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL From 10:30 to 12:00 Moderator: Robert Blatnik, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) Evaluation commission: Dr. Jon Wulff Petersen, Plougmann Vingtoft Matthias Keckl, Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) Nina Urbanič, Slovene Enterprise Fund Gregor Klemenčič, Deep Innovations Presentation of six (6) selected business model proposals from public research organizations to the technology transfer experts. 93 Course of the competition Robert Blatnik, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) The 14th annual competition for the best innovation in 2021 at public research organizations (PROs) aims at stimulating the researchers from public research organizations to develop business models for commercialization of their inventions. The competition was initiated with a public call, which was open to authors of inventive technologies. Eligible authors are individuals, employed at PROs, which are developing innovative technologies and their teams into a viable business model. Possible business models are either licensing the technology to industrial partners or commercialization in a spin-out company. The teams have prepared description of their technology and the key discoveries that underpin the commercial activity (licensing or spin-out creation). An important part of description is the proposed business model and customer value proposition. The pitch presentations are following the guidelines, which were introduced by the Organizer of the Conference at the dedicated preparatory webinar and individual consultancy which was organized for the teams. At the webinar the researchers learned the main guidelines on how to prepare their pitch presentation. In a series of individual consultation and rehearsal of the pitch session we went through the process of preparing a pitch of their invention and business model to a potential investor or a partner in a future venture; either licensing the technology to an industrial partner or via commercializing of the technology in their own spin-out company. We have discussed which are the stronger points in the specific business model of participants and how to prepare an effective and appealing presentation for the intended audience of their pitch. The guidelines for preparing a pitch included the following elements: Cover / Introduction slide (name & compelling tagline); Deal (what you are selling, to whom, for what price); Market & segmentation (target customer, market size, trends); Customer value proposition and why now; Product (the solution); Financials; Impact; Competitive advantage; Team & founder’s/inventor’s dream; Summary / three key points to remember. The written description of the proposed invention/innovation included the following chapters: Title of the idea with a brief commercial tagline; Summary; The Science; The Opportunity (problem and solution); The Plan (Development stage and Business model); The Team; Impact. The teams and their applications with the proposed business models were evaluated by an international panel of experts which constituted the evaluation commission. The members of the evaluation commission are the following experts: Matthias Keckl, Managing Partner, Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) GmbH, Gregor Klemenčič, Founder and co-owner, Deep Innovations B.V., Nina Urbanič, Adviser for equity investment monitoring, Slovene Enterprise Fund, and Dr. Jon Wulff Petersen, Director, Technology Transfer, Plougmann Vingtoft. The experts evaluated the proposals in two phases. The 1st phase was the evaluation of written descriptions and the 2nd phase was the evaluation of the five-minute pitch at the Conference. The evaluation experts used the predetermined evaluation criteria which were already defined in the public call. The Criteria for evaluation are Application with weight of 10 points, Value Chain with weight of 3 points, Market size and development costs with weight of 2 points, Competition with 1 point, the Team with 3 points, IPR and Regulatory with one point. All criteria together bring at the most 20 points for written application. After the pitch the experts exchanged their views and opinions and selected the winner(s). The Criteria is presented in the Table 1. 94 The traditional pitch competition, which this year had its 13th anniversary, motivated six innovative and entrepreneurial research teams to prepare their pitch and apply for competition. Members of the teams have participated in the preparatory workshop and rehearsal to develop their pitch and receive comments for improvements of their proposed business model. The workshop was organized by Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation as part of the KTT project, financed by Slovenian Ministry of education, science and sport. Members of the teams are entirely or partly employed or study at the PROs, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, University of Belgrade. Members of the teams are also the founders or employed at industrial partners, which are already involved in the technology and business model development. Max. Criteria Short description of the criteria points Which problem is the technology solving? Has this been verified with end users? What is the Technology Readiness Level (TRL)? How many different applications can the technology be used for? Is there a well-defined end-user for this technology? Is there any barrier to the end-user adopting this solution? Application 10 Is there a clear existing end user need for this solution? How well does this solution match the users’ needs? When will this solution be ready for market? Will this solution have a social impact or bring other benefits to people? Where does the technology fit in? Value chain 3 How well does the technology fit the existing value chain? How is the market size in relation to the development costs? How large is the potential customer community for this product? 1000, 100K, 1M, 100M? How strong is the competition in this market? How receptive will the market be to your idea? What total market share do you expect to get in 5 years? How aligned are the market drivers to the proposed solution? What Is the perceived value by the end user? Market size What is the perceived Strength level overall? and What is the perceived Weakness level overall? 2 development What is the perceived Opportunity level overall? costs What is the perceived Threat level in your overall? Only limited development is required before an investor will commit. Funds are available to complete the development investor or other sources (e.g. PoC). The time to market Is shorter or comparable to the time scale for any competition. For VC’s: The costs associated with taking the product to market is at least 25 times smaller than the value of the market. What do the end users use today? Any other technology underway? Which is the expected competition level when you will hit the market Competition How good is the present solution (not yours) in solving the problem? 1 How good will any expected future solutions (not yours) be in solving the problem? 95 How good will your solution be in solving the problem? How strong is your market differentiator? Are the inventors, members of the team, dedicated to the idea? The researchers have unique skills, have experience with tech transfer, and are enthusiastic about following the project through The team 3 The team has the technical, business, marketing, financing skills needed to understand and develop the idea into a marketable product? Can the intellectual property of the technology be protected? How strong is the patent likely to be? How dense is the IPR landscape in this technology area in terms of IPR & pending and granted patents? 1 Regulatory How strong is the IPR competition? How complex is the regulatory system in this area Is the technology ready for investment? Table 1: Criteria for evaluating the applications (source: Jon Wulff Petersen, TTO A/S, Denmark) 96 Abstracts of the competing teams and their technologies 97 Real-time fluorescence lifetime acquisition system – RfLAS Authors/inventors: Andrej Seljak, Rok Dolenec, Rok Pestotnik, Matija Milanič, Peter Križan, Samo Korpar PRO: Jožef Stefan Institute Abstract: The present pandemic has shown us how vulnerable we are, and challenged the human knowledge-based capacity to adapt very quickly. Biomedical engineering has produced one of the most outstanding up to date solution to avoid severe consequences due to Covid complications. One of the key tools used in biomedical engineering is measuring of the fluorescence response. This method is non-invasive, sample non-destructive, provides functional and structural information, biochemical parameters, oxygen concentration, pH, and other vital parameters, that enable the study of the interaction of proteins, and is sensitive enough to monitor cellular environment and metabolic states. Moreover, fluorescence is used in material sciences to characterize novel materials or screening drug production as examples. This key tool is made using complex electronic and optical elements, which makes market accessible devices very expensive. We constructed a novel device, which compared to the current state of the art is about 10 times faster, provides extended capabilities, can be made the size to fit into a portable suitcase, and allows for very competitively pricing on the market, even considering initial small productions. This lands it perfect for start-ups and tech giants in the field, to access tools for future discovery. The technology is also scalable into a variety of different systems for different purposes. Our primary target are therefore biomedical and bioengineering companies, research institutes, universities, and companies requiring specific know how or OEM products. We expect this technology to enter the biotech market, which alone is expected to hit 2.44T USD in 2028 [*]. This estimate is 3 times higher compared to pre Covid times (about 2 years ago). We present the newly developed device and its envisaged future. *https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-biotechnology-market 98 Figure 1: Fluorescence samples. Rok Dolenec. 2020. Figure 2: Cross view into sample space. Rok Dolenec. 2020. 99 Figure 3: Device in operation. Rok Dolenec. 2020. 100 Tomappo OptiGarden – healthy, sustainable and nutritious vegetable garden planned in a few clicks Authors/inventors: Bojan Blažica, Andrejaana Andova, Barbara Koroušić Seljak, Bogdan Filipič. PRO: Jožef Stefan Institute Industrial partner: Proventus, d.o.o. Abstract: Vegetable gardening is gaining popularity among the younger generation as growing your own local food and taking care of a healthy nutrition is increasingly trendy. Gardening is a rewarding and relaxing hobby, but can also be daunting as there is much knowledge to be considered when planning a healthy, nutritious garden. Considering gardening best practices such as crop-rotation and companion planning, data about vegetables and climate, yield estimation, nutritional contents and the needs and tastes of the gardener can be treated as an optimization problem and thus solved automatically with an algorithm with little effort by the user. Automatic garden planning can be used to develop solutions in the home and garden market. From powering a mobile application for gardeners (B2C, approx. 5 million potential users in main EU markets, 44 million in the US) to advanced lead generation and e-marketing solutions addressing the need of garden centers and gardening brands to connect to a younger generation of gardeners and digitalize their operations both online and in-store. A team of researchers with backgrounds in AI, optimisation, meteorology and human-computer interaction, who are keen gardeners themselves, is devoted to bring the benefits of gardening just a click away to all expert and aspiring gardeners. Teaming up with Proventus, the start-up developing the gardening platform Tomappo, ensures market uptake in both B2B and B2C segments and much needed business development experience. 101 Figure 1: A segment of a vegetable garden illustrating the concepts to be considered in garden planning. Andrejaana Andova and Bogdan Filipič. 2021. Figure 2: Testing the interactive kiosk in garden centre Kalia, Ljubljana. Bojan Blažica. 2021. 102 Figure 3: Automatic garden planning on interactive kiosk: input of basic parameters, selection of vegetables, display of different optimal layouts, info about vegetables. Bojan Blažica. 2021. 103 Novel surface finishing procedures for medical devices, especially vascular stents Authors/inventors: Ita Junkar, Metka Benčina, Rok Zaplotnik, Matic Resnik PRO: Jožef Stefan Institute Abstract: Cardiovascular diseases cause millions of deaths all over the world and present a serious health care burden. The minimally invasive way to treat diseased blood vessels is by insertion of expandable tubular stent. Currently three types of stents are available on the market; the bare metal stents (BMS), drug eluting stents (DES), and the bioabsorbable stents (BAS). According to Market Data Forecast the European Coronary stents market is estimated to grow to reach 3.64 billion by 2026. Vascular stents have already saved countless lives, but unfortunately their surface properties, which significantly affect biocompatibility, are still far from optimal and there is a huge demand to develop vascular stents with superior properties. The main issues are the stent induced thrombosis (blot clotting) and restenosis (narrowing of blood vessel wall), which are linked with health complications, high health care costs, high demand for medication, and revision surgeries, which can be even fatal for the patient. Numerous approaches have been proposed to improve coronary stent surface mainly by developing various types of coatings, however so far improvements have been only incremental. Our interdisciplinary team (chemical and mechanical engineers, plasma scientists, microbiologist) developed plasma-based approaches for surface modification of biomaterials, especially vascular stents. The novel approach is based on one step plasma treatment, which enables fabrication of multifunctional surface that; prevents platelet adhesion and smooth muscle cell proliferation, promotes proliferation of endothelial cells and reduces bacterial adhesion. By relatively fast and environmentally friendly treatment at optimized plasma conditions it is possible to fabricate nanostructured stent surface with specific surface chemistry, that are mechanically stable, anti-corrosive and can prevent undesired release of toxic ions like Ni in case of NiTi implants. 104 Figure 1: On the left-hand side bare metal vascular stent from NiTi alloy (Kindly donated by Rontis AG) is shown, while stent surface after incubation with whole blood is presented on the right-hand side. Interaction of platelets with the surface of commercial and plasma-treated vascular stent (images obtained from scanning electron microscopy) is shown. Ita Junkar. 2021. 105 Superhydrophobic coatings with dual action: corrosion and antibacterial/antiviral protection Authors/inventors: Peter Rodič, Ana Kraš, Barbara Kapun, Chris Černe, Ingrid Milošev, Veronika Bračič PROs: Jožef Stefan Institute Abstract: The innovation is the synthesis and preparation of superhydrophobic coating, which can be deposited on various metal surfaces. The superhydrophobic surface has two principal roles: (i) it repels the solution droplets from the surface and thus acts as corrosion protection since it prevents a corrosive solution to reach the underlying metal substrate and initiate the corrosion process, and (ii) it prevents, or diminishes, the attachment of pathogens (bacteria and viruses) or biofilm (microorganisms) to the surface and thus acts as antimicrobial/antiviral protection. The development of superhydrophobic coating as corrosion protection responds to the need to extend the lifetime of devices/constructions made of metals. Superhydrophobic coating as antimicrobial protection is required in various critical applications such as hospitals and health care facilities, where microorganisms can be easily spread. Contaminated surfaces such as doorknobs, tables, and utensils used in hospitals/restaurants/hotels/apartment blocks can facilitate the viral transfer. Although surfaces can be sanitised with a variety of household cleaners, sterilising all the surfaces after each use is challenging to maintain. Further, by using disinfectants, the corrosion protection of the metals can be reduced because disinfectants solutions are usually chlorine- or alcohol-based and highly alkaline or acidic. Consequently, they are harsh for many metals such as copper, zinc, steel and aluminium. Therefore, the metal surfaces must be additionally protected against corrosion. Our innovation can be applied in all the applications where the needs exist to preserve metal surfaces from corrosion and to protect them from the action of microorganisms. Compared to the competition, the main advantage of this coating synthesis is an easy and innovative preparation with desirable superhydrophobic properties. 106 Figure 1: Water droplet on the superhydrophobic surface with contact angle above 150° 107 Cutting Tool Life Estimator Authors/inventors: Anže Marinko, Jože Ravničan, Matjaž Gams PRO: Jožef Stefan Institute, Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School Industrial partner: Unior, d.d. Abstract: In mechanical engineering, a lot of work is performed on lathes, where the cutting tools wear out over time. Replacing cutting tools is expensive and time consuming so it should be delayed if possible. On the other hand, costs and customer dissatisfaction may be caused by products not performing well if cutting tools are worn out. To avoid non-quality products, replacement of the cutting tool should be performed at optimal time. Currently, most of cutting-tool replacement if performed by human operators using either human or specialized sensors for inputs. With our Cutting Tool Life Estimator (CTLE), the human operator relies on CTLE sensors detecting 3D accelerations, and the CTLE artificial intelligence (AI) proposing replacement when needed. The role of the human operator changes from the one getting input information and making subjective decision into a second-opinion generator and supervisor since the CTLE system objectively proposes a decision on its own. Compared to human-only decision making, the new approach enables use of more sensors and combining human with artificial intelligence, which in recent years progressed substantially in performing real-life problems based on complex input signals. The use of CTLE therefore enables better timing of the replacement of the cutting tools. As a consequence, the production is cheaper and of better quality, thus providing an important advantage over competitors in the mature automotive, tool and other mechanical industries. In the future, the CTLE could become more independent, as the program would eventually learn more to predict the time of excessive tool wear and would propose changing the cutting tool at the closer-to-optimal time. Machine learning models in general improve over time when more data are provided. Figure 1: Amplitudes of vibrations in time of one machining cycle. Anže Marinko. 2021. 108 Figure 2: Estimated cutting tool wear during cycles until the cutting tool replacement. Anže Marinko. 2021. Figure 3: User interface of the program. Anže Marinko. 2021. Figure 4: The CTLE systems runs on a PC connected to sensors on a lathe. Application in the UNIOR company. Anže Marinko. 2021. 109 Award announcement Best innovation with commercial potential 13:00 to 13:10 Moderator: Robert Blatnik, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) Evaluation commission members: Dr. Jon Wulff Petersen, Plougmann Vingtoft Matthias Keckl, Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) Nina Urbanič, Slovene Enterprise Fund Gregor Klemenčič, Deep Innovations ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS The evaluation commission weighed all the criteria in the evaluation process and selected two equally ranked winning teams. The award of 1250 Euro goes to the team members: Andrej Seljak, Rok Dolenec, Rok Pestotnik, Matija Milanič, Peter Križan and Samo Korpar, Jožef Stefan Institute for Real-time fluorescence lifetime acquisition system – RfLAS. The award of 1250 Euro goes to the team members: Ita Junkar, Metka Benčina, Rok Zaplotnik and Matic Resnik, Jožef Stefan Institute for Novel surface finishing procedures for medical devices, especially vascular stents. Congratulations! 110 Award announcement: WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy From 13:10 to 13:20 Moderator: Marjeta Trobec, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) Evaluation commission members: Alojz Barlič, Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) Matthias Keckl, Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) GmbH Nina Urbanič, Slovene Enterprise Fund ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNER WIPO IP ENTERPRISE TROPHY Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s a big honour for us to have the World Intellectual Property Organisation and Slovenian Intellectual Property Office among the co-organisers of this conference. By celebrating the achievements of inventors, creators and innovative companies around the world, the WIPO Awards aim to foster a culture in which innovation and creativity are encouraged and appreciated at every level of society. Last year at the 13th International Technology Transfer Conference the WIPO awards were given in Slovenia for the first time. Today we will announce the recipients of two WIPO awards. The awards will be given tomorrow at the conference ceremony between noon and one o’clock and will be accessible via live streaming on the institutes’ TV channel. The selection committee consisting of Mrs. Nina Urbanič, Slovene Enterprise Fund and Mr. Matthias Keckl, Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds who you already know, were joined by Mr. Alojz Barlič from the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office. The WIPO Medal for Inventors will be announced just before the end of the conference. The WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy is awarding a Slovenian enterprise for its good practice in constant and methodological use of the IP system in its business activities. The main criteria for the selection were the following: - the number of cooperations with public research organisations, - no. of employments of your PhDs from public research organisations, - new products or services launched to the market based on TT and IP protected, - public campaigns to promote the appreciation of companies’ IP assets, - encouragements for creative and inventive activity among staff, - programs to use the IP-based business also for public goals and - commercial/marketing strategies based on effective use of the IP system. 111 May I use the words from a member of the selection committee: I am very impressed with the applications, and I think there are a lot of passionate and great people behind the technologies and companies. Among the applications, the jury has decided to give the IP Enterprise Trophy to GEM Motors. Short justification: GEM Motors is actively cooperating with several public-research organisations. They have a clear IP strategy with patents in EU, India, USA, Russia, Japan, China and S. Korea and that is essential for B2B business. Their in-wheel patented technology has been presented at several fairs and conferences. Through the social responsibility programs by promoting the urban e-mobility different project partners, other companies and schools are included. And finally, they constantly and methodologically encourage the creativity and innovativeness among their staff and encourage PhD employments. Congratulations! 112 Keynote speech: PoC funding of research spin-offs From 13:20 to 13:40 Matthias Keckl, Managing Partner, Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) GmbH ABSTRACT OF THE KEYNOTE SPEECH Matthias Keckl is a Managing Partner of the FTTF - Fraunhofer Technologie Transfer Fonds GmbH, an independent Venture Capital unit and financing partner for Deep Tech Start-Ups using Fraunhofer technologies with an investing volume of € 60 million. FTTF invests exclusively in starts-up using Fraunhofer technologies. As a strong entrepreneurial partner with 30+ years of experiences in supporting Fraunhofer start-ups, FTTF offers financing in their pre-seed phase with up to 250.000 euros, and in further funding rounds with additional investments of up to five million euros. FTTF provides fast investments process and on-site support. Moreover, the fund supports entrepreneurs with comprehensive founding experience and a broad network of investors in order to realize the full potential of their companies. FTTF is backed by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the European Investment Fund (EIF). FTTF focuses on bridging the gap – from tech to market - in close collaboration with internal Fraunhofer tech-transfer and incubation programs, like AHEAD and CoLab. FTTF has access to German innovation hubs whilst bridging the gap between scientists as founders and investors. FTTF ensures optimal and efficient setup/ structure of the start-up right from the beginning and provides runway 12 to 18 months. FTTF begins investing in the very early PoC stage of the start-up (pre-seed) giving researchers the opportunity to start the business. FTTF invests in the VC start-ups with growth and exit potential as well as funding requirement. FTTF doesn’t invest only in founded companies that are also in pre-revenue phase – start-ups have already started pilot projects but usually do not yet have revenues. FTTF requirements for a PoC (pre-seed) investment: • Start-up has to have access to technology: ▪ Freedom to operate ▪ Acceptable license fees ▪ Call option to take over IP, or at least option to start negotiations • Founding team is the core of any FTTF investment. Investor has to know and understand the people behind the start-up, drivers of the team and their long-term entrepreneurship. FTTF strictly insists that tech competence is part of start-up and the founders are 100% committed to the start-up. 113 • Business Model characteristics are: ▪ Market entry in attractive niche ▪ Scalable products ▪ Deep understanding of the market environment and problem/ solution fit FTTF standard investment approach focuses on investing 250k EUR as a convertible loan for the 7,5% shares in the start-up equity. FTTF is usually the first investors whilst other investors may also join PoC investments – excluding strategic investors or non-profit organizations. 114 Keynote speech: CEETT Platform – Central Eastern European Technology Transfer Platform From 13:40 to 14:00 Natalija Stošicki, Director, Investments and EU Programmes Department, SID Bank / SID – Slovenska izvozna in razvojna banka ABSTRACT OF THE KEYNOTE SPEECH In 2017 and 2018 Slovene Equity Growth Investment Program (SEGIP) with EUR 100m and Croatian Growth Investment Program (CROGIP) with EUR 80m were launched in cooperation between European Investment Fund (EIF) and SID Banka and Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR), respectively, with the aim to support the growth segment of the private equity market in the two countries. All available funds were transferred to the private equity funds for further equity and quasi equity funding of Slovene and Croatian companies in growth stage. SEGIP and CROGIP deployment exceeded initial expectations, prompting the parties to enhance the collaboration by expanding the scope of the respective program to the next level - Central Eastern European Technology Transfer (CEETT platform) that is based on the ITA Tech best practices. The resulting joint initiative is the first investment program under the Central and Eastern European Technology Transfer (CEETT) initiative, to which SID Banka contributed an additional EUR 10 million to SEGIP, HBOR contributed additional EUR 10m to CROGIP and the EIF made further EUR 20 million available for investment. Thus, the total available funding amount indicatively represents EUR 40 million. CEETT platform will support the most promising technology transfer projects originated at public research organizations in Slovenia and Croatia that would otherwise be considered not mature enough for traditional Venture Capital funds and thus trapped in so called “Valley of Death”. CEETT platform shall actually close two financial gaps (two Valleys of Death) in the TRL ranges 4-9 that are: transition from laboratory to company and scale-up for high-risk innovative start-ups. Existing grants that are dedicated to fund the TRL phases 1-7 are not big enough and not regularly available. Therefore, Tech Transfer Fund (VC TT Fund) that will address financing to the projects at lower TRL, would be established. The fund will be focused on technology transfer activities across various fields providing financing primarily to university and research center spin-offs and to projects at the proof-of-concept stage, also providing follow-on financing to these projects at a later stage. It is expected that projects in the proof-of-concept phase (pre-seed), in terms of the number of investments, will represent a majority focus of the Fund’s investments. Beneficiaries, the enterprises, must be in the seed, start-up or later stage venture investment phase and must originate from a university or research institute. Fund Manager will be looking for investments in collaboration with public research organizations, academia and industry partners on a contract and NDA basis. Fund manager will 115 be looking for private co-investors in projects and spin-outs, but also for private investors on the level of the Fund. Investment program size is for both countries EUR 40m. SID Banka, Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development and EIF can invest additional funds in the platform it has promising pipe-line of projects and start-ups. We hope that Republic of Slovenia will complement the CEETT support of technology transfer also with grants for the TRL phases 1-7 taking part of the risk of closing two valleys of death gap, which will additionally incentivise transfer of research achievements and innovations into economy. 116 Paper presentations: scientific papers on technology transfer and intellectual property From 14:00 to 15:30 Moderator: Tomaž Lutman, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) Title Authors Technology Transfer Fund - Central Eastern European Technology Marijan Leban Transfer (CEETT) platform Špela Stres Software Protection and Licensing Challenges in Europe: An Urška Fric Overview Špela Stres Robert Blatnik European Guiding principles for knowledge valorisation: An Špela Stres assessment of essential topics to be addressed Levin Pal Marjeta Trobec Digital Innovation Hubs and Regional Development: Empirical Bojan Ćudić Evidence from the Western Balkan countries Špela Stres Technology Transfer as a Unifying Element in EU Projects of the Duško Odić Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation Špela Stres Proof of Concept cases at the Jožef Stefan Institute in 2020 and 2021 Marjeta Trobec Špela Stres European Industrial Strategy - a great opportunity to strengthen the Levin Pal role of technology transfer offices France Podobnik Špela Stres Knowledge generation in citizen science project using on-line tools: Jure Ftičar CitieS-Health Ljubljana Pilot Miha Pratneker David Kocman Overview of National Sources of Finance and Supports Available to Vojka Žunič Spin-Out Companies from Public Research Organizations Marta Klanjšek Gunde Application of 3D printing, reverse engineering and metrology Remzo Dedić 117 Željko Stojkič Igor Bošnjak Towards the Market: Novel Antimicrobial Material Tomaž Lutman Marija Vukomanović Technology Transfer in Belarus Alexander Uspenskiy Aliaksei Uspenski Maxim Prybylski 118 Opportunities arising from publicly funded research projects / presentations of successful scientific projects From 15:30 to 16:40 (in Slovene and English languages) Moderators: dr. Vojka Žunič, National Institute of Chemistry, Knowledge Transfer Office, mag. Jure Vindišar, National Institute of Biology, Technology Transfer Office, Tomaž Lutman, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) Title Presenter(s) Organization Vloga glukagonu podobnega peptida-1 Prof. Dr. Mojca University medical center v reprodukciji / The role of GLP-1 in Jensterle Sever Ljubljana Reproduction Does relatedness matter for bacterial Prof. Dr. Ines Biotechnical faculty, University interactions? Mandić-Mulec of Ljubljana Prof. Dr. Nataša Faculty of Medicine, University Kanabinoidni receptorji in zdravljenje Debeljak, Dr. of Ljubljana, Institute of hormonsko odvisnega raka dojke Luka Dobovišek Oncology Ljubljana Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts 6600 years of human and climate Research done in cooperation Doc. Dr. Maja impacts on the environment, recorded in Andrič with Prof. Andrej Šmuc, the lacustrine sediments of Lake Bohinj University of Ljubljana and Prof. Nives Ogrinc, Jožef Stefan Institute. COVID-19: Razvoj postopka za Dr. Polona testiranje zaščitnih mask National Institute of Biology Kogovšek Doc. Dr. Aleš How we developed a living coating Jožef Stefan Institute Lapanje 119 DNA technologies and seafood / DNA Doc. Dr. Andreja National Institute of Biology tehnologije in hrana iz morja Ramšak 120 Award announcement: WIPO Medal For Inventors From 16:40 to 16:50 Moderator: Marjeta Trobec, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) Evaluation commission members: Alojz Barlič, Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) Matthias Keckl, Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds (FTTF) GmbH Nina Urbanič, Slovene Enterprise Fund ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNER WIPO IP MEDAL FOR INVENTORS Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, With the World Intellectual Property Organisation and the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office on-board as co-organisers we wish to announce the second WIPO award recipient today. The WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy is awarding Slovenian enterprises for their good practice in constant and methodological usage of the IP system in their business activities. That award went to GEM Motors. GEM Motors is actively cooperating with several public-research organisations. They have a clear IP strategy with patents in EU, India, USA, Russia, Japan, China and S. Korea and that is essential for B2B business. Their in-wheel patented technology has been presented at several fairs and conferences. Through the social responsibility programs by promoting the urban e-mobility different project partners, other companies and schools are included. And finally, they constantly and methodologically encourage the creativity and innovativeness among their staff and encourage PhD employments. On the other hand, the WIPO Medal for Inventors is awarding a Slovenian public researcher for her contribution to the national wealth and development. The awards will be given tomorrow at the conference ceremony between noon and one o’clock and will be accessible via live streaming on the institutes’ TV channel. The selection committee members were Mrs. Nina Urbanič, Slovene Enterprise Fund, Mr Matthias Keckl, Fraunhofer Technologie-Transfer Fonds and Mr. Alojz Barlič from the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office. The entry criteria for the selection were granted patents or utility models in the last 10 years. Further the patented invention had to show a significant economic and technological impact in Slovenia via: - creation of a new company or - creation of new jobs in the companies that cooperate with the researcher or - the number of new products and services launched to the market. May I use the words from a member of the selection committee: I am very impressed with the applications, and I think there are a lot of passionate and great people behind the technologies and companies. 121 They carefully ranked at all applications and decided that the "WIPO Medal for Inventors" goes to assoc. prof. Marta Klanjšek Gunde, researcher at the National Institute of Chemistry, innovator and a co-founder of a start-up. Short justification: based on a patented invention, prof. Gunde has established a start-up company MyCol. In the company the licensed technology is a base for developing smart labels with temperature-sensitive ink, which permanently color when heated above a predetermined temperature. The invention resulted also in 5 new jobs created in the company. Congratulations! 122 Research2Business meetings (R2B meetings) Parallel session from 10:00 – 13:20 France Podobnik, Robert Premk, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) One of parallel sessions of 14. International Technology Transfer Conference were bilateral meetings between researchers and companies (Research-2-Business, R2B). They took place once again in a virtual form due to COVID-19 restrictions, but also because of good experience from 2020 and how well accepted they were last year. Registration period started already in May 2021 and lasted until the event. In this time 63 participants from 9 countries registered to the event – Slovenia, Belarus, India, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, Spain and Turkey. International component of the meetings was also achieved with active support of Enterprise Europe Network members from Italy, Spain, Serbia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Netherlands and Turkey. Main aim of the meetings was to promote knowledge exchange between academia and companies, especially in terms of cooperation between researchers and company representatives to overcome technology challenges, to discuss available commercially interesting technologies, to find options of cooperation in forthcoming European and other international projects, to get acquainted with experts on specific fields of interest and with the current trends, while also to get familiar with the topics, that might be relevant for companies/researchers in the near future … Participants were in advance informed about the format of the meetings and how the concept of virtual meetings works in practice to avoid any technical issues at the time of the event. During the meetings main organizer was also available for support to the participants via phone and mail. At the meetings participated 27 researchers, company representatives and other stakeholders. Their fields of expertise were diverse and covered robotics, artificial intelligence, new materials, (bio)chemistry, biotechnologies, environment, physics, etc. In total 31 meetings took place between 10:00 and 13:00 (CEST). Virtual concept of meetings allowed participants to attend the meetings from any place at the pre-scheduled time. While the expected time for each conversation was set at 20 minutes, the average length of 31 meeting was around 15 minutes. The shortest meeting lasted 7 minutes, while the longest almost 26 minutes. As results and feedback from the previous years show, we can expect in the following months that established contacts between participants from the industry and research community will lead to cooperation between them. 123 Connecting high-school education system with academia: Presentations of selected research topics from Jožef Stefan Institute and proposals for cooperation Parallel session from 13:20 – 15:20 Moderator: Urška Mrgole, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation About In accordance with the Jožef Stefan Institute’s mission, the Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation promotes scientific work and research accomplishments among young people and the rest of the interested public. The event At the 14th International Technology Transfer Conference a parallel section “Connecting the education system with academia: Presentations of selected research topics from the Jožef Stefan Institute and proposals for cooperation” took place. The section was aimed at primary and high school teachers where selected research topics from the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) and proposals for cooperation were presented. At the beginning, activities for the promotion of science and research work, which Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation at the Jožef Stefan Institute carries out independently or in collaboration with the research departments at JSI, were presented. School visits: every Thursday during the school year, the Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation, with the help of other JSI departments, organizes visits to the Institute that are intended for primary and high schools, faculties and everyone else from the school sphere. Open day at JSI: each year at the end of March, traditional Stefan’s Days take place at the Institute, marking the birthday (24 March) of the great Slovenian scientist, Jožef Stefan. In the scope of Stefan’s Days, the Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation, in cooperation with the JSI research departments, organizes the Open Day at JSI. Visitors can choose from a number of visit programmes and look at the laboratories at Jamova cesta in Ljubljana and at the Reactor Center near Ljubljana. Open Week at JSI: In the scope of Stefan’s Days an open week at JSI is organized, where every day of the week one school is welcomed to JSI for a visit. Preparation and implementation of lectures for teachers and principals: for closed groups of professors the Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation can organize trainings and lectures from the Jožef Stefan Institute’s field of work with the aim of implementing new in-depth knowledge in classrooms. Mentorships for research assignments of high school students: The researchers from the Jožef Stefan Institute offer mentorships for research assignments for high school students. Participation in various European projects and initiatives such as “Science with and for Society”: the Center for transfer technology and innovation at the Jožef Stefan Institute enthusiastically participates in various European projects and initiatives with the aim of promoting science and research work among Youth, e.g. the research festival Znanstival, the European Researchers’ Night, and European projects such as STEM4Youth and SciChallenge. Within the STEM4Youth project nine modules in the field of chemistry were prepared and 124 implemented in 19 Slovenian primary and secondary schools, with 20 mentors and over 500 elementary and high school students participating. In the second part researchers from various research departments presented their work. Dr. Janja Vidmar, Department of Environmental Sciences, O2: The multidisciplinary research of the Department of Environmental Sciences focuses on the combination of physical, chemical and biological processes that influence the environment, man and human activities. One of the recent research projects was related to the investigation of drug abuse in educational institutions using wastewater analysis. Matej Kolarič, mag. biochem., Department of Biochemistry, Molecular and Structural Biology, B1: The mission of the department is related to enzyme analysis, molecular mechanisms of programmed cell death, and the immune response. Areas of research focus on proteolytic enzymes with the aim of treating and detecting diseases and improving the quality of life of patients. At the department the identification and quantification of different proteins, for example in human blood, is done via mass spectrometry. Assist. prof. dr. Peter Rodič, Department of Physical and Organic Chemistry, K3: The department is focused on the investigation of physicochemical processes on the surfaces of solids, such as corrosion and heterogeneous catalysis, as well as the synthesis of new compounds. The goal is to gain new insights and understanding of mechanisms of protection and degradation of materials in different environments. The activities of the department are also related to a phenomenon we all encounter every winter: what is the impact of road salting on corrosion. Sebastjan Nemec, mag. pharm., Department for Materials Synthesis, K8: The research at the Department is devoted to the development of advanced materials. Their main focus of the research are nanoparticles, especially magnetic nanoparticles which can be easily influenced from a distance with a magnet. Mark Zver, M. Sc., Department of Surface Engineering and Optoelectronics, F4: the main activities are focused on plasma generation, sustenance and characterization of the plasma which is later used for tailoring surface properties of various materials. Plasma is the most common state of matter in the visible universe. Low-temperature plasmas are usable for substance removal, surface cleaning, compound application, etc. Erik Novak, mag. prof. mat., Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, E3: The Department for Artificial Intelligence is concerned mainly with research and development in information technologies with an emphasis on artificial intelligence. Their main focus is development of practical solutions useful in the public and private sector. The department cooperates with videolectures.net which is an online repository of lectures from prestigious conferences and events. Dr. Živa Stepančič, Laboratory for Open Systems and Networks, E5: The focus of the laboratory is on research and development of next generation networks, telecommunication technologies, components and integrated systems, information society services and applications etc. The laboratory participated in the SI-PASS project, where hub (network) was established and the national e-services are integrated. Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation at Jožef Stefan Institute wishes to bring the scientific work and accomplishments as close to the youth, teachers and other interested public as possible, believing that nothing can beat the personal experience and direct contact with the laboratories and top-level researchers. The event proved to be very useful and instructive for teachers who gained new ideas for the implementation of lessons at schools and learned new opportunities to cooperate with the Jožef Stefan Institute. 125 The Conference closing From 16:50 to 17:00 Moderator: Robert Blatnik, Jožef Stefan Institute, Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation (CTT) It is time to close this year's conference. The topic of the conference was how to bridge the valley of death – and we received some answers to that question today. While listening to the presentations I will quote dr. Spela Stres from the last year Conference closing: Water dripping day by day wears the hardest rock away (»Tiha voda bregove dere«). Tech transfer is always going to be the silent water almost going unnoticed. But that is how you maximise the impact of tech transfer: by being persistent and persistently professional. But I would like to add also this, that many small springs of water coming together could bring strong river which is irrigating the deserts. From the perspective of the Conference organizing committee we can say that this year's conference has been professional in every aspect. We are happy, though, that the conference is behind us, because there is a lot of work put into it every year, and we would like to thank all our colleagues here at the Center for Technology Transfer and Innovation at the Jožef Stefan Institute who worked tirelessly for the conference to take place in such a diverse format and with such perfect execution. But what actually mattered today was that everyone who followed this conference was able to feel how far we can go with the collective spirit of the researchers from all public research organisations in Slovenia, and we have high hopes that all tech transfer offices are going to join in to that spirit as well. This has been a lovely event, despite the covid-19 situation. We now feel this has been again the best conference we have ever had. Thank you all and see you soon! 126 Day 2 127 CONFERENCE CEREMONY 128 Overview of the Conference Ceremony 8 October 2021 Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia Location: Main Lecture room at the Jožef Stefan Institute (A-building) 12:00 – 12:05 Musical performance / Glasbena točka 12:05 – 12:10 Welcome speech Prof. Dr. Boštjan Zalar Director of Jožef Stefan Institute 12:10 – 12:20 Opening speech Mark Boris Andrijanič Minister za digitalno preobrazbo Republike Slovenije Minister for Digital Transformation 11:20 – 12:25 Greetings Prof. Dr. Mojca Ciglarič Chair of the Programme Committee of IS2020 Dean of Faculty of Computer and Information Science 12:25 – 12:55 Awards of IS2021 prof. dr. Mojca Ciglarič, IS Programme Chair prof. dr. Matjaž Gams, IS Organization Chair prof. dr. Sašo Džeroski, SLAIS President Niko Schlamberger, President of Slovenian Society Informatika prof. dr. Andrej Brodnik, President of ACM Slovenia dr. Mark Pleško, President of Slovenian Academy of Engineering 14. ITTC: Awards ceremony – competition for the best innovation with commercial potential in the year 2021, WIPO Medal for Inventors and WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy 14. ITTC Organising Committee World Intellectual Property Organisation representative / Slovenian Intellectual Property Office representative Awards “Pioneers of computer education in high-schools” 12:55 – 13:00 Musical performance 129 130 Indeks avtorjev / Author index Blatnik Robert .............................................................................................................................................................................. 19 Bošnjak Igor ................................................................................................................................................................................. 53 Ćudić Bojan .................................................................................................................................................................................. 30 Dedić Remzo ................................................................................................................................................................................ 53 Fric Urška ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Ftičar Jure ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 45 Klanjšek Gunde Marta ................................................................................................................................................................. 49 Kocman David ............................................................................................................................................................................. 45 Leban Marijan .............................................................................................................................................................................. 13 Lutman Tomaž ............................................................................................................................................................................. 57 Odić Duško ................................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Pal Levin ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Podobnik France ........................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Pratneker Miha ............................................................................................................................................................................. 45 Prybylski Maxim .......................................................................................................................................................................... 62 Stojkič Željko ............................................................................................................................................................................... 53 Stres Špela ................................................................................................................................................ 13, 19, 23, 30, 31, 36, 41 Trobec Marjeta ............................................................................................................................................................................. 36 Uspenski Aliaksei ......................................................................................................................................................................... 62 Uspenskiy Alexander ................................................................................................................................................................... 62 Vukomanović Marija .................................................................................................................................................................... 57 Žunič Vojka .................................................................................................................................................................................. 49 131 132 14. mednarodna konferenca o prenosu tehnologij 14th International Technology Transfer Conference Špela Stres, Robert Blatnik Document Outline IS2021_Volume_E - TEMP IS2021_Volume_E - TEMP 02 - Naslovnica - notranja - E - TEMP 03 - Kolofon - E - TEMP 04 - IS2021 - Predgovor - TEMP 05 - IS2021 - Konferencni odbori 07 - Kazalo - E 08 - Naslovnica - notranja - E - TEMP 09 - Predgovor podkonference - E 10 - Programski odbor podkonference - E 01 - Leban et al. - CEETT platform 02 - Fric et al. - Software Protection and Licensing Challenges in Europe 03 - Stres - European Guiding principles 04 - Cudic et al. - Digital Innovation Hubs 05 - Odic et al. - EU projects 06 - Trobec et al. - Proof of Concept cases 07 - Pal et al. - European Industrial Strategy 08 - Ftičar et al. - Knowledge generation in citizen science project 09 - Žunič et al. - Overview of National Sources 10 - Bosnjak et al. - Application of 3D printing, reverse engineering and metrology 11 - Lutman et al. - Towards the Market 12 - Uspenskiy et al. - Technology transfer in Belarus 12 - Index - E Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page 04 - Cudic (skrajšano) - Digital Innovation Hubs.pdf Digital Innovation Hubs and Regional Development: 05 - Odic et al. - EU projects 06 - Trobec et al. - Proof of Concept cases 07 - Pal et al. - European Industrial Strategy 08 - Ftičar et al. - Knowledge generation in citizen science project 09 - Žunič et al. - Overview of National Sources 10 - Bosnjak et al. - Application of 3D printing, reverse engineering and metrology 11 - Lutman et al. - Towards the Market 12 - Uspenskiy et al. - Technology transfer in Belarus 12 - Index - E Zbornik_14ITTC_DODATEK_V3_avtorizacije_10_11_2021_cistopis - ML Blank Page Blank Page Blank Page