The Presto4U project supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) — Grant Agreement 600845

Commercialisation of Research Results – The Challenges and Issues

Paul WallandIT Innovation Centre

FIAT/IFTA Workshop, 22-October-2014

2 Presto4u - Technology for Digital Audiovisual Media Preservation: www.presto4u.eu / www.prestocentre.org

Research versus Product Development What’s the difference? How does academic research differ from industrial research?

• Timescales• Funding and justification• Responsiveness, flexibility and innovation

Pros and Cons of Open versus Proprietary solutions

SO … What characterises research? Who are the stakeholders? What is involved in commercialising research?

COMMERCIALISATION OF RESEARCH RESULTSWHAT WORKS, AND WHAT DOESN’T WORK

3 Presto4u - Technology for Digital Audiovisual Media Preservation: www.presto4u.eu / www.prestocentre.org

Research is not yet available commercially Research standard output is proof of concept rather than rugged

and reliable (good algorithms, poor interfaces) A research result may or may not work, it may or may not do the

job, it may or may not be a viable economic proposition Research is targeted at the future, so it seeks to answer questions

that are only just emerging, expected to emerge or hypothesised Researchers are being clever, not commercial – they don’t think in

the same way as salesmen An applied research result may not be used in the way the original

researcher envisaged

COMMERCIALISATION OF RESEARCH RESULTSRESEARCH VERSUS PRODUCT

4 Presto4u - Technology for Digital Audiovisual Media Preservation: www.presto4u.eu / www.prestocentre.org

Different stakeholders with different motivations: IPR owner / researcher

• Wants to see their results used!• Financial return a bonus

Commercial entity• Needs to stay in business• Has the cost of investment or needs investors• Needs to provide ongoing support

User• Needs a reliable tool that does the job• Needs support from the supplier• Has a financial limit (as low as zero!)• Wants to use the tool, not develop it

COMMERCIALISATION OF RESEARCH RESULTSWHO ARE THE STAKEHOLDERS?

5 Presto4u - Technology for Digital Audiovisual Media Preservation: www.presto4u.eu / www.prestocentre.org

Economic viability Technical readiness Investment needed to commercialise Ongoing support Longevity of product Licensing and IPR

COMMERCIALISATION OF RESEARCH RESULTSTHE CHALLENGES OF CREATING A USABLE TOOL FROM RESEARCH

6 Presto4u - Technology for Digital Audiovisual Media Preservation: www.presto4u.eu / www.prestocentre.org

COMMERCIALISATION OF RESEARCH RESULTSRESEARCH OUTPUT TAKE-UP WORKFLOW