Is the 'Silicon Valley effect' confined to buoyant regional economies with a strong research base? Two recent projects show that, with the right support, university research can also make an important contribution to the regeneration of less-favoured regions.

Reductions in the public funding of academic research are increasingly forcing universities across Europe to turn to industry as a source of research funding. Such funding takes many forms, including research contracts, the licensing of university-developed technologies, and the retention of shares in spin-off companies.

In less developed regions, and those undergoing industrial restructuring, local universities - and the new technologies emerging from their research departments - can be a key element in the success of economic regeneration strategies. The trend towards a clearer orientation to the needs of industry creates an opportunity to develop this role.

However, it is precisely in these regions that academic-industrial networks tend to be weakest, and the infrastructure necessary for dynamic technology transfer least well developed.

Transfer of Know-How

The Transfert project [1] brings together university-industry intermediaries from four Objective 1 and Objective 2 regions [2]. The project's co-ordinator - Promotech in Nancy, France - and the R&D Liaison Unit of the Belgian University of Louvain la Neuve, both have over a decade of experience. In regions which have faced high levels of unemployment following the collapse of the steel industry, each has successfully supported the creation of new enterprises by university researchers.

Like Promotech, the other partners are Business and Innovation Centres (BICs), but are only beginning to explore the potential of research spin-offs. RIZ is based in the Neiderösterreich Sud region of Austria, formerly an important textile and engineering area. BIC Zwickau serves a region affected by large-scale closures in the former East German car industry.

"The aim of Transfert is to give the two younger agencies detailed information about the structures and services which we have found to be most effective," says Jacques Cochard of Promotech, "and to show them concrete examples of our success, which they can use to support their efforts to win backing from their own regional authorities."

Critical Mass

The partners, together with other universities, business incubators, technology centres and intermediaries, have met to address these issues at two seminars - in Austria at the end of 1997, and in France in May this year.

One of the key issues tackled was the need for close links between intermediaries and regional innovation funds. "Speed is important," Cochard explains. "Fund managers are naturally cautious, while entrepreneurs are trying to meet an immediate market need. If it takes too long to put together a financial package, a new enterprise may locate outside the region, or may never be created at all. If the university and the fund know one another well, things can happen much faster."

The University of Louvain generates enough spin-off projects to justify the existence of a dedicated fund, which has close links with the R&D Liaison Unit, although it is independently managed. The four universities served by Promotech are much smaller, and a single Saarlorlux Seed Capital Fund, which Promotech itself manages, has been established as a source of early-stage investment in spin-offs from all four.

"Where the academic base is relatively weak, it makes sense for universities to club together," says Cochard. "You need a certain critical mass before it is viable to establish a fund, or to offer project identification or patenting and licensing services. It can produce other benefits too, in terms of greater co-ordination between institutions which may see one another as competitors."

The project is now completed, but the partners are maintaining contact, in order to create opportunities for collaboration between companies in their four regions. Several staff exchanges have taken place, and BIC Zwickau recently led a delegation of policy-makers from its region to Nancy.

"The project showed them how to create the necessary tools for identifying suitable projects, for training and advice, and for project financing - and the results they could expect from them," Cochard says. "They have used that information to draw up their own plans, and are now seeking the support of their regional authorities. It is a promising sign that their local politicians wanted to come to Nancy to see for themselves what we have achieved."

Good Practice Guide

The Transfert experience has also fed into a second Innovation programme project in which Promotech is involved. The Utrans [3] partners, all experienced university-industry intermediaries, have developed a comprehensive guide to good practice in the field of academic spin-off support, aimed at innovation centres, science parks, universities, chambers of commerce and regional governments.

Designed as an aid to practical action, the guide outlines in concrete terms the operation of each of the key elements, from awareness raising to advice on intellectual property rights. It includes case studies describing the components, costs and results of 22 successful regional schemes. The Utrans partners hope to present the guide at the First European Forum for Innovative Companies in Vienna [4].

Footnotes

[1] Innovation programme project AM 03.

[2] Objective 1 of the European Union's Structural Funds addresses the economic adjustment of regions whose development is lagging behind; Objective 2 focuses on the economic conversion of declining industrial areas.

[3] Innovation programme project ENS022

[4] The Vienna Conference on Innovation and Employment; see edition 5/98.

Contacts

Promotech CEI: J. Cochard
Tl. +33 3 8350 4444
Fx. +33 3 8344 0482
Email: direction.promotech@wanadoo.fr

DG XIII/D-4: J-C. Venchiarutti
Fx. +352 4301 32100
http://www.cordis.lu/ens/home.html

© Copyright European Commission 1999

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