Wednesday, October 15^th,  9:00-12:00

Management of Regional Innovation System by Science & Technology Parks

 Workshop convenor

 Workshop summary

Professor Hak Min Kim,

Dean of Industry-Academy Cooperation, Soonchunhyang University, South Korea

Regional Innovation System (RIS) is a network where actors from enterprises, universities, research institutes, governments, and business service agencies are working collaboratively in a region to improve technology, production system, and business services. When the various actors learn collaboratively each other to improve R&D, product quality, public service, and culture, the region, in turn, becomes an innovative region with dynamic economic development.

Science and Technology Parks (STP) are the organizations managed by specialized professionals, whose main aims are to increase the wealth of their communities by promoting the culture of innovation and the competitiveness of their associated businesses and knowledge-based institutions. By stimulating and managing the flow of knowledge and technology amongst universities, R&D institutions, companies and markets, STPs facilitate the creation and growth of innovation-based companies.

Therefore, STP should be a hub of RIS. There are three major issues for STP to manage RIS: research & development innovation, commercialization innovation and human resource development innovation. These innovations should be collaboratively conducted by a network of enterprises, universities, research institutes, governments and business service agencies. That is why STP acts as a hub of RIS.

This paper focuses on how STP manages these three issues. The research & development innovation can be operated by open innovation system of the region. The commercialization innovation can be implemented by the technology holdings companies in the region. The human resource development innovation can be achieved by triple helix education system in the region. These three innovation systems should be operated in STP with a network of RIS components.

This paper tries to share some experiences of Korean STPs for the above three innovation issues with other developing countries. For the conclusion and policy implications, the STP’s scope of management of RIS should be extended to the global collaboration level. Thus, R&D innovation, commercialization innovation and human resource development innovation in the regional level can work in the global context.

Wednesday, October 15^th,  9:00-12:00

Commercialization of Innovations

 Workshop convenor

 Workshop summary

Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu,

Director of the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the Singapore Management University (SMU)

Commercialization of innovation can happen due to either technology push or market demand.  Most technology pushed innovations have taken around seventeen years from the idea stage to mass deployment. Market pull innovations are much more readily accepted in a shorter time frame. The workshop will discuss real life examples of technology pushed and market pulled innovations. It will also discuss the different commercialization models that can be deployed for moving innovations from the labs to markets.

Technology innovations arise mostly from universities and research institutes. They are generally created with no clear path to commercialization in mind. This is largely due to the culture in academic institutions and research institutes whose mission it is to explore the creation of innovations that promise long term benefits. This culture of academic freedom leads to a stockpile of technology innovations at their technology transfer offices (TTOs). These offices are often in a dilemma on how best to monetize the technology innovations that are in their custody.

Market pull innovations can address either a need or a want. Innovations that are solutions to a need are easier to commercialize. Innovations that are solution to a want require much more resources for commercialization.

Innovations often include a combination of the following popular types of intellectual properties – Copyright, Trademark, Patent and Trade secret. However, there are often other tacit knowledge inside and outside of these intellectual properties that are critical to successful transfer and commercialization of innovations.

There are three common paths to commercialization – Sale, licensing and start-ups. An intellectual property can be sold outright to an interested buyer, be it a large enterprise or a small company. Alternatively, it can be licensed to one or more enterprises. Or, a start-up can be set up either by acquiring or licensing the innovation. It is important that organizations understand an optimal commercialization path for a given innovation.

This workshop will introduce the concept of needs and wants using compelling examples. It will then examine the means of identifying the best commercialization path for a technology innovation.  It will also discuss the recommended approaches for successful commercialization. The workshop will also introduce some preliminary concepts for valuing innovations.

Wednesday, October 15^th,  14:00-17:00

Technology based local economic development, and the science park's role.

 Workshop convenor

 Workshop summary

Professor Fred Phillips,

State University of New York, USA.
Editor-in-Chief, Technological Forecasting & Social Change