nowEurope

We are still in the early phase of our publishing effort here at nowEurope connected with the Centrope ICT transfer project and keep identifying the main issues and common interests in our region of the Central Europe.

Technology transfer is a term widely used but it is often understood in quite different ways. Some people even take it just as another buzzword and so let’s take a closer look what it represents for us. For you. What are the topics or concrete questions interesting you and us the most?

The Wikipedia defines technology transfer as the process of sharing skills, knowledge, technologies, … among industries, universities, governments and other institutions to ensure that scientific and technological development are accessible to a wider range of users who can further develop and exploit the technology into new products, processes, applications, materials or services.

The description includes also links to several keywords connected with the topics. Many of them lie in the middle of our attention and have been already covered by our NowEurope posts - angel investors, technology incubators, commercialization, innovation, intellectual property, seed money and startup companies.

I would like to remind you of two useful resources recently linked here - Innovation Manifesto and the Gate2Start study based on a survey among technology transfer officers at universities, spin-offs and venture capital funds. Links to more resources have been collected in the CITT Delicious pool.

Last, but not least, we offer a few questions we would like to discuss and bring all the answers to the strategy development process that will be started later this year:

• Who are the Central European individuals, companies and research institutions who are leading innovation in the region?
• What are the barriers to innovation in the region and how can they be addressed and overcome?
• What are the sources of funding (public and private) for companies innovating ICT and products?
• What ICT areas/sectors are the strongest in your region? Which have the largest potential for international cooperation (through FP7 or other channels) and why?
• Can you see an interesting R&D related trend, project or event on your market?

Let’s use this post for collecting more ideas and issues that you have on your mind and that should be addressed at NowEurope. And let’s be concrete and practical as much as possible…