1st Webinar on Tech Transfer co-organized by Uni.Fund and Onassis Foundation
On 24 February 2021, Uni.Fund and Onassis Foundation co-organized the 1st Webinar of the Series of Webinars on Tech Transfer, which are jointly organized by the Athens Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation of the Athens University of Economics and Business, the EPLO Institute for Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation, and the Hellenic Industrial Property Academy. The 1st Webinar was dedicated to “Building a Successful TTO: Structure, Human Capital, Responsibilities and Resources”.
In the 1st part of the webinar, Dr. Shulamit Hirsch, IP Consultant & Leading IP Strategist, WIPA, Head of Intellectual Property, Technion R&D Foundation, Israel, Prof. Hamit Serbest, President of USIMP, Turkey and Prof. Fazilet Vardar, Vice-President of USIMP, Turkey were invited to share their experience on the organizational structure, the responsibilities, and resources of successful TTOs established in Israel and Turkey, respectively.
Dr. Hirsch stressed the importance of the collaboration between Academia and Industry and identified four components of a successful TTOs, i.e., legal clarity, experienced and multidisciplinary personnel, investment resources to bridge the gap between academic research and industry interest, and the promotion of success stories of academia/industry collaborations. In addition, she shared examples from Technion and Tel-Aviv University regarding the organizational structure of a TTO, the legal framework for IP management and the investment resources used by the two organizations to support Tech Transfer.
Prof. Hamit Serbest and Prof. Fazilet Vardar shared best practices from the establishment of TTOs in Turkey. They highlighted the importance of the socio-economic value created through Technology Transfer and explained how TTOs operate towards the alignment of interests between academia and industry. They also presented an overview of the University/Industry collaboration activities that have taken place in Turkey over the last 15 years and explained how those activities led to the current Technology Transfer model adopted by the country.
The 2nd part of the webinar was dedicated to the current landscape for the establishment of TTOs in the Greek University and Research Space. Mrs. Sofia Tsakiri and Mrs. Athina Ikonomidou, representing the Sectorial Scientific Council of Tech Transfer & IP, National Council for Research, Technology & Innovation, referred to the role of the Council in the preparation of the Calls for the establishment and support of TTOs and the legislation for the establishment and operation of Spin-offs in Greek Universities & Research Centers. Identifying two types of institutions regarding technology transfer in Greece, e.i., those that do not operate a TTO and those that already include a TTO in their organizational structure, they suggested that there should be two types of Calls: one that will support activities of institutions that need to increase maturity on issues related to technology transfer, and one that will address the needs of mature entities to develop technology transfer actions and enhance the operation of established TTOs.
Mr. Michalis Dritsas, Head of Cabinet of the Deputy Minister of Development and Investments in Research, Technology & Innovation and Mrs. Lina Ioannou, Scientific Associate to the Deputy Minister for Higher Education at the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, participated in the discussion and referred to the planned activities and the collaboration of the two Ministries for the support of Tech Transfer.
The 1st part of the webinar was co-ordinated by Dr. Prodromos Tsiavos, Head of Digital and Innovation, Onassis Group, Director IPR-I, EPLO, who stressed the importance of capacity building on Tech Transfer and referred to the programs that are currently designed by the Onassis Foundation to address this need; the 2nd part of the webinar was co-ordinated by Assoc. Prof. Katerina Pramatari, Partner, Uni.Fund, Head of the Sectorial Scientific Council of Tech Transfer & IP, National Council for Research, Technology & Innovation, who mentioned that the target for the next two years is the establishment of structures that will act as points of reference for Technology Transfer in each University/Research Center in Greece, as well as the establishment of Technology Transfer Hubs that will be the points of reference for the Technology Transfer activity of the whole country.
The next webinar, entitled “How a TTO protects technologies through patents and other forms of intellectual property: An overview of policy, compliance, terms and agreements”, will take place on 31 March 2021. Further information will be available soon. Stay tuned…
