KANSAS CITY, Mo., Sept. 6, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- University laboratories hold great promise for spurring high-impact entrepreneurship but are not reaping the full benefits of their research efforts, according to researchers at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
To address the issue, the Kauffman Foundation along with the Technology Transfer Society will convene a three-day conference, Advancing Innovation and Entrepreneurship, on September 28-30, at Kauffman's Kansas City headquarters. In attendance will be approximately 150 top academicians and economic development and technology transfer officials in the area of innovation policy and entrepreneurship.
"We all have an interest in seeing that innovations are more efficiently brought to the marketplace," said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. "Universities want to more swiftly commercialize discoveries from their labs. Business and industry want to capitalize on the products and services that result from breakthrough research. Venture capitalists want to pluck the most promising investment opportunities. And we at the Kauffman Foundation want to see that entrepreneurship is cultivated to the greatest extent possible."
The conference will feature leading authorities who have pioneered major breakthroughs in commercializing university-based innovations. Topics will include: Entrepreneurial Universities; Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy; The Role of Universities in National Innovation Systems; Technology Transfer and Regional Economic Growth; Women in Science and Women Entrepreneurs, among others.
The objective is to better educate faculty to recognize opportunities for innovations and to develop models that will foster cross-university and university-industry collaborations, which according to conference organizers, is a pressing need for many schools.
The Kauffman Foundation, aided by an advisory panel of noted experts in advancing innovation, has conduced research over the past two years, which suggests that many innovations residing in universities are slow getting to market, and many may never reach the market.
"Discoveries and inventions that could lead to new therapeutic drugs, new medical devices and other life-saving or life-enhancing technologies are either being overlooked in university laboratories or, in other cases, languishing in a system that is intended to move them into practical use, but is instead inhibiting their success," said Lesa Mitchell, vice president of Advancing Innovation at the Kauffman Foundation. She added that, to date, while university spin-offs are few in number, they represent a disproportionately large percentage of the highest-performing companies.
Despite an overall increase in commercialization activity from university laboratories since 1980, when the Bayh-Dole Act opened the doors for universities to patent and license the results of research done with federal funds, the Kauffman Foundation assessment reveals signs of chronic underperformance at most of the institutions studied.
Among the findings:
-- A few research institutions account for the bulk of formal
invention disclosures, patents and licensing, while others lag.
Some elite institutions' innovation output is not nearly
commensurate with their research funding.
-- Due to the lack of a more diverse strategy, innovation
activity tends to revolve around the patent-license model,
thereby placing the burden within the university's largely
understaffed technology transfer office. Few universities
understand that innovations can move through multiple pathways,
requiring coordination of various activities across a university.
-- Private sector firms and investors trying to license
university innovations report that their efforts are often
hindered by bureaucratic delays and the lack of efficient and
effective cultures, practices and/or expertise within the
universities.
-- The problems do not appear to be limited to growing pains
that will resolve themselves over time. Rather, there are
signs the situation may worsen and that university-industry
relationships are suffering. For example, to avoid
difficulties some leading firms and investors will now
deal only with certain favored universities or only with
experienced researchers -- a trend that could further limit
the scope of activity and opportunity.
"In a global economy, where researchers around the world are gaining on American universities and companies, we must do more to rapidly and efficiently commercialize innovations developed by university researchers," said Mitchell.
For further information, visit http://www.t2society.org or http://web.kauffman.org/Entrepreneurship.cfm?topic=Innovation.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works with partners to advance entrepreneurship in America and improve the education of children and youth. The Kauffman Foundation was established in the mid-1960s by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman. Information about the Kauffman Foundation is available at www.kauffman.org.