Academic Excellence and

Knowledge Transfer to

Society

Hearing on Horizon 2020 and the EITHearing on Horizon 2020 and the EIT

Panel: Academic excellence and knowledge Panel: Academic excellence and knowledge

transfer to societytransfer to society

19 February 201419 February 2014

BrusselsBrussels

Joseph SifakisJoseph SifakisEPFL, LausanneEPFL, Lausanne

Center for Integrative Research, GrenobleCenter for Integrative Research, Grenoble

2

Achieving Excellence

1. Attract the best from Europe and worldwide - make academic careers more attractive

Competitive salaries – R&D labor market is global! Recognition - create an environment that recompenses master

researchers who continue to grow, evolve and perform Flexibility in resource management – reduce bureaucracy! Meritocracy in career management

2. Create Critical Mass: Centers of Excellence

Integration on a regional basis of fragmented research centers into single site and under unified governance

Appropriate balance between basic/applied/technological research! Gathering teams covering a broad spectrum of skills and

competencies - multidisciplinary expertise is needed to bring a project to fruition!

3

Achieving Excellence

3. Collaboration with industry and enterprises Industry can reinvigorate research by bring new problems and

resources Academic research should recognize the importance of applications

in the evaluation criteria Break up with the pseudo-dilemma: theoretic research or applied

research?There is only good research or bad research i.e. non applicable applied research or bling-bling theory

ACADEMIA INDUSTRY

Small teams Large teams

Unrelated disciplines Multidisciplinarity

Optimization in the small Global optimization

Risk taking, long term Low risk solutions

Formalization Ad-hoc, pressurized

Public, Multiplicative Secretive

Achieving Excellence – US vs. EU

US supremacy in R&D is largely due to Centers of Excellence which combine critical mass and industrial relevance

Europe has a large research potential, well-trained engineers and strong basic research teams.US attract the majority of best researchers in Centers of Excellence and provide the majority of high quality research publications and scientific breakthroughs.

European research landscape is too fragmented - labs lack critical mass

There is no European equivalent to MIT, CMU, Stanford, Berkeley.

European academic institutions lack efficient mechanisms for transferring innovative results to industry. US research institutions are propelling innovation through the creation of start-ups and leadership in ambitious R&D project

EIT is just a set of "Knowledge and Innovation Communities", composed of networks of existing businesses, institutes and education institutions

Changes and Trends in Knowledge TransferChanges and Trends in Knowledge Transfer

Corporate R&D executed by

a single playerhaving the exclusive

rights on the results

Academic Research

1945 1990 2000 2013

R&D addressing generic problems on a cost & risk sharing approach IP is shared!Reusable Technology Platforms and Components!

Company-specific problems addressed on an exclusive basis

GLOBAL R&DInnovation Ecosystem

InnovativeInnovative

ProductsProducts

&Services&Services

INNOVATIONINNOVATION

CoE

CoE

Startu

ps

Startu

ps

S

killsS

kills

Know

ledge

Know

ledge

P

rototypes

Prototypes

Creative

Creative

CultureCulture

HumanHumanCapital

Capital

Life

Qua

lity

Life

Qua

lity

LargeLargeCompaniesCompanies

ResourcesResources New ProblemsNew Problems Know-howKnow-how

Global Global

MarketMarket

Domestic

Market

Global Vision&Policy

Global Vision&Policy

R&D programs, Incentiv

es

R&D programs, Incentiv

es

Tax Policy, IP protectio

n,

Tax Policy, IP protectio

n,

Public Infra

structure,

Public Infra

structure,

Access to fo

reign technology

Access to fo

reign technology

Government

Government

FinanceFinance

Venture capital,

Venture capital,

Bank loans,

Bank loans,

Nasdaq-style stock market

Nasdaq-style stock market

Te

chno

logy

Tech

nolo

gy

Hig

h gr

owth

High

grow

th

The Emergence of Innovation EcosystemsThe Emergence of Innovation Ecosystems

7

The Virtuous Innovation Cycle

BASIC RESEARCHBASIC RESEARCHPredictability & ConstructivityPredictability & Constructivity

TECHNOLOGICAL

TECHNOLOGICAL

RESEARCH

RESEARCH

Products & Services

Products & ServicesAP

PLI

ED

RE

SE

AR

CH

Pro

of o

f Con

cept

GlobalGlobalR&DR&D

Supremacy in innovation is largely due to Centers of Excellence which have

successfully and advantageously implemented the Virtuous Cycle of

Innovation increased financing, and new problems for basic research Innovative results for industry

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For European Strategy for Innovation and TransferFor European Strategy for Innovation and Transfer

1. A framework implemented through structural measures and reforms intended to enhance assets, reshape the landscape of available forces, and ease their synergy for the emergence of innovation ecosystems

Align all EU policies to restore consistency and credibility of political decision-making: Economic and Competition Policy, State Aid, R&D, Justice

Better funding for high-tech start-ups Improve efficiency and effectiveness of EU funding – tighter

management, stricter evaluation against well defined success criteria!!

Improve skilled labor supply through more technology-oriented education and targeted immigration

We need a pan-EU high-tech strategy rather than

separate national strategies spreading money too thinly across different geographies and sectors

99

For European Strategy for Innovation and TransferFor European Strategy for Innovation and Transfer

2. Priorities and associated action lines targeting a set of sectors vital for European sovereignty and economy such as automotive, manufacturing industry, mobile platforms, smart grids, avionics and space, food technology, medical technology and robotics

Matching strengths and promising prosperous growth With concrete technical objectives intended to grow selected

industrial segments through concerted actions …. not just a list of buzzwords!

3. Discernible roles to the main players and stakeholders and sets up incentives and measures for their harmonious collaboration. Create pan-EU Clusters of Excellence and Innovation gathering together

High-performing companies (European champions) + Leading research Institutes

committed to use the results in case of success avoid “amateurs” seeking only subsidies

EADS with Airbus is a good example of pan-EU collaboration

A Revolution not to Miss!

We are living a revolution due to the accelerating technological convergence

Blurring boundaries between sectors e.g. the Internet of Things

New interoperability standards e.g. converged services, converged

network infrastructure

Breaking down of the walls of niche markets and opening of global

markets

In less than five years, IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Google have been transformed into devices and services companies!!

While the US has maintained a world-leading ICT sector, Europe is losing ground in key high-tech markets. Some examples:

Rise of Samsung and Apple - decline of Nokia (acquired by Microsoft),

Bankruptcy of BenQ Mobile ( formerly Siemens Mobile)

Exit of Ericsson from the Sony-Ericsson joint venture

Continued decline of Alcatel-Lucent

Facts are stubborn things Facts are stubborn things

Let’s face reality Let’s face reality

Political courage and will Political courage and will matter!matter!

1111

Changes and Trends in Knowledge TransferChanges and Trends in Knowledge Transfer

The post-war R&D model based on a clear separation between academic and corporate R&D has radically changed in the 90’s

Long-term research has become a luxury only a few monopolies can afford e.g., decline of the big corporate R&D laboratories: Bell Labs, Xerox Park, IBM Yorktown

modern technology firms are much less vertically integrated the rise of venture capital has smoothed the progress of

innovation into products big companies rely on Centers of Excellence for much of their

basic research and to tap into fresh ideas and young talent at universities

The boundary between research and development is blurring acceleration of the innovation cycle : how to turn results/ideas

into commercial innovations? competition is fierce and the time to market can be instantaneous

13

The Virtuous Innovation Cycle – My Story

VERIMAG LaboratoryVERIMAG LaboratoryCritical Systems Design ToolsCritical Systems Design Tools

AIRBUS

AIRBUS

Fly-by-wire Technology

Fly-by-wire Technology

VE

RIL

OG

VE

RIL

OG

SW

Eng

inee

ring

SW

Eng

inee

ring

Sta

rtup

Com

pany

Sta

rtup

Com

pany

GlobalGlobalR&DR&D