Universities are a primary source of discovery and are playing an ever increasing role as economic engines through technology transfer and university spin-outs. Growing a culture of ‘open’ innovation by tapping into resources from the corporate community will further develop entrepreneurial ideas and promote economic innovation.
Research Commercialisation: From Ideas to IPO [17-18 October 2013, Brussels, Belgium – www.idea2ipo-conference.com] is a new cross-discipline partnering event and will provide a platform for promoting university-industry-investor collaboration, technology transfer and start-ups to further research commercialisation and regional economic growth.
Expert speakers from the US and Europe will provide topical insight and first hand case study experience on the challenges, risks and opportunities associated with entrepreneurial projects that commercialise university-owned intellectual property.
Claude Kaplan, Managing Director at IP Pragmatics and one of the conference speakers, notes: “There have been massive advances in facilitating commercial interactions between universities and industry; with new models, better understanding of the different cultures and a convergence of inter-dependency. However significant barriers still exist which are greatly limiting the commercialisation of research and resulting in a very poor rate of research commercialisation. Making the next step-change will require a fundamental shift in the way we fund science, the ways companies interact with universities and the culture of researchers, companies and university research managers."
This conference will address these issues focussing on best practices in technology transfer and bringing research to the market, promoting academic-industry collaboration and providing expert insight into intellectual property and Investment strategies. A key feature will be promoting networking to facilitate future partnerships.
During the two-day programme academic representatives from knowledge transfer departments in leading universities and company executives from start-up companies will share experiences in founding and managing academic spin-off companies. Delegates will learn how university venturing is increasingly important to a region's innovation success and to the academic institutions' own chances of remaining in the top tier.
From an industry perspective: Andreas Jenne CEO and Roman Thomas Chief Scientific Officer of BLACKFIELD AG, Germany are among those who will provide case study insight into the challenges of launching a company and the opportunities for funding. Malcolm Skingle, Director of Academic Liaison, GlaxoSmithKline will cover specific GSK models designed to encourage closer relationships with academia in order to develop new medicines.
For further information on the speaker line-up and details of special delegates rates please visit: www.idea2ipo-conference.com.