From Knowledge to Impact: EURICE Rewinds the European Commission's Flagship Event

EURICE recently joined the European Commission’s conference From Knowledge to Impact: Shaping Europe’s Next Innovation Wave in Brussele, showcasing two of the team’s key initiatives: the European IP Helpdesk and the Impact Licensing Initiative.

EU policymakers have taken key steps to consolidate the policy landscape, leading to making knowledge valorisation one of the strategic objectives of the proposal put forward by the Commission for Horizon Europe 2028-2034. The event added momentum to the rollout of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, adopted a few months ago,and of the European Strategy on Research and Technology Infrastructures as it marked the launch of a public consultation on the future Charter of access for industrial users to research and technology infrastructures.

Speakers underlined the key role of knowledge transfer professionals and of research and technology infrastructures in well-performing innovation ecosystems. They also identified supporting elements such as agile regulatory frameworks and the increased availability of capital throughout the innovation pipeline.

Have a look at our round-ups of two selected sessions below. The full recording of the event is available online.

• FROM RESEARCH TO MARKET: TOWARDS A BLUEPRINT ON LICENSING AND SPINOFF CREATION

  This session offered us an opportunity to discover the journey involved in the making and the rollout of Ireland’s National IP Protocol, adopted in 2019, which provides research institutions and funding agencies a framework for research commercialisation. The Irish recipe for success includes strong government ownership of the initiative and extensive stakeholder consultation from the start.

  A game-changing element was the creation of a dedicated office, Knowledge Transfer Ireland, to drive and coordinate the strategy which relies on clear intellectual property (IP) agreements and standardised templates. This approach is similar to that of NOVA University Lisbon which is renowned for its excellent track record in industry-academia co-creation thanks to strategic partnerships with commercial partners and to clear rules and guidance making knowledge valorisation actionable for researchers and innovators.

  These reflections will feed into the Commission’s work on the upcoming Blueprint for licensing, royalty- and revenue-sharing and equity participation for academic institutions and their inventors, expected in 2026 as part of the Lab to Unicorn Initiative announced in the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy.

• EMPOWERING TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OFFICES FOR BETTER VALUE CREATION

  Building on the previous sessions of the event which focused on research and technology infrastructures and on the next European research framework programme, this session put the spotlight on the backbone of innovation ecosystems: knowledge and technology transfer offices.
  The latest economic study released by the EPO’s Observatory on Patents and Technology focusing on the role of European public research in patenting and innovation provided evidence for the discussion.

  Its findings point towards an increased representation of universities as patent owners in Europe hinting at PROs occupying an increasingly more prominent role in innovation ecosystems. The situation remains however uneven throughout Europe, meaning that technology transfer professionals’ skills need to be strengthened to adapt IP strategies to business needs. This was illustrated by the experience of the University of Algarve for which highly skilled technology transfer staff (CRIA - Division of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer) and a close-knit innovation ecosystem prove to be instrumental in creating and scaling spinoffs.

  Technology transfer offices need, however, to be supported by stronger networks with industry and with investors throughout Europe to bring breakthrough technologies closer to the market and to society. Impact-oriented funds such as Vesna Deeptech Fund, which supports innovation ecosystems in Slovenia and in Croatia, are crucial actors in this regard.