Alison Campbell highlights the importance of universities in economic development and entrepreneurship
Photo: Camila Cunha
The director of Knowledge Transfer Ireland (agency responsible for the promotion, development and management of the country’s knowledge transfer system), Alison Campbell, came to PUCRS’ Science and Technology Park (Tecnopuc) to deliver the lecture Innovation for the Future: The Irish Case, on Dec 6. Alison paid PUCRS a visit to share what has been done in her country to propel the development of the innovation system and, more specifically, to create the right environment for knowledge transfer, especially because they are relatively new in this area. “We’ve been actively engaged in research commercialization over the last 11 years”, said she in an interview as she intends to pass on everything she learned at the University’s ecosystem of innovation.
In Alison’s view, science has a very important role in entrepreneurship and in business competitiveness, but we need to know how to innovate it and use its outcomes to trigger these innovations. “Many scientific ideas can be used as the foundations to start new businesses or may be used as a starting point for companies to work on these ideas since the very beginning and apply their resources, skills and expertise to reach a higher level”, comments she.
Alison stresses the need to have transparent goals in order to keep the industry and the academia in line for the benefit of both. “Everyone needs to be extremely clear about what they want and what they do not want. One of the things we develop in Ireland is a structure that benefits people, companies and higher education institutions to understand the extent to which they should get involved with one another and the driving forces underneath. When working with educational institutions, it is clear for industries what they should expect and how they should behave. There is a structure describing how this relationship needs to be managed and also things that the university needs, such as the need to publish articles”, adds she.
Intellectual Property
The way Alison sees it, universities are too involved with intellectual property, in terms of creating it and keeping it, but they need to use it as the foundations for a new relationship with companies and help in the competitiveness and economic development of society. “We need to have balance and some degree of realism in terms of what intellectual property is and how companies are addressing it. Universities must recognize the effort companies are making, the time, resources and the money invested in order to materialize these initial ideas. Similarly, it is unquestionable that the value of universities goes beyond the intellectual property that has been created. It includes the environment, knowledge and reputation that they may bring to a company. This is equally important and is usually overlooked”, says she.
The role of universities
Photo: Camila Cunha
The role to be played by universities in bringing entrepreneurship and innovation together is to create knowledge and disseminate it. Universities are expected to create favorable environments for these relationships, relying on smart people and good structures, in an effort to speed up and bring companies and academic production together. “Because of the collaborative research that is developed, these institutions are in a good position to come into contact with companies and share their knowledge and resources. Another amazing thing about universities and places like Tecnopuc is how companies that are headquartered there interact with one another, in a way they would not if they were not there”, says she.
Alison commends how PUCRS and Tecnopuc address knowledge transfer to trigger innovation and growth of the country. “It seems to me that you have found great ways to do that. One of the greatest secrets is to know how far you want to go and understand these specific roles of the universities in bringing together, propelling and developing economic growth. Hence, researchers can work in collaboration with companies more frequently, students can rely on the support to be more entrepreneurial. Areas such as technology parks and business incubators can attract businesses.”
Knowledge transfer challenges
Photo: Camila Cunha
All over the world, people work with technology transfer and research commercialization and face similar problems. However, the context and priorities are different. Alison lists 3 major challenges:
– Universities deal with technologies and ideas at a very early stage and the challenge lies in how to develop them, value them and make them attractive for the industry sector;
– More than a challenge, it is an opportunity: look at students as entrepreneurs in terms of what they need in view of their skills for the job market goes beyond a formal course. “It’s to see them as agents of change in the economic development of the future, in terms of jobs and companies they can create.”
– Develop the impact of technology transfer and research commercialization at a level other than numbers. “It’s not just about the number of patents or financial return, it’s about what really has an impact on economic development and its results. We’re still at an early stage as we’re learning how to do it.”
About Alison Campbell
Alison has over 20 years of experience with industries and the academia. She specializes in the development of new businesses, Intellectual Property management, executive education, startup development as well as research and innovation impact. She has served as Director of King’s College London Business Ltd and is one of the founders of Global Alliance of Technology Transfer Professionals (ATTP). She received the Global University Venturing Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2018, and an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of her contribution to knowledge transfer, in 2010.
