An interesting study of Australia’s innovation system and useful reading for those engaged in innovation was published by the Australian Government, Senate Economic References Committee, December 2015.
Simplifying universities complex IP policies
Of the five recommendations (below) one area that I believe requires significant attention is “measures to enhance collaboration and the free flow of knowledge between the university system and the private sector”. It is often the case that the transfer of IP to industry is hampered by complex IP policies & prohibitive initial costs. Perhaps other universities could learn from a leading example pioneered in the US & Israel: Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute take a refreshingly straightforward approach to Intellectual Property (IP).
Their IP Model positions the Jacobs Institute as an investor in companies that spin out of the Runway program. Universities typically engage in lengthy negotiations to license technologies developed on campus, even when funding does not impose restrictions. In contrast, the Jacobs Institute gives companies an exclusive, perpetual and royalty-free license to use the technology they develop, in exchange for a stake in the company comparable to the value of the support provided by a “Runway Award”.
More info on the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute IP model here.
Low interest loans for startups
Another element that is currently missing from Australia’s innovation system is the availability of low-interest loans for Startups. There is currently great focus on VC and “Accelerator” programs, however, this is surely only one dimension of a vibrant innovation ecosystem?
From Skift:
Accelerators aren’t for every startup and many founding teams emerge from them no better than when they entered. There are more than 200 accelerator programs worldwide that have worked with more than 6,200 startups, according to accelerator data site Seed-DB. They’ve given more than $18 billion in funding and received more than $5 billion from more than 800 exits. Some 30 of the 235 accelerators on Seed-DB’s list have “accelerator” as part of their names.
Those figures may seem impressive in terms of the amount of funding delivered but there can be a substantial number of failures — as the number of exits indicates. For Techstars, a leading accelerator, more than 10 percent of its startups fail on average and other top accelerators have similar failure rates. That figure would be far lower than startups in general.
I would like to see opportunities for Australian Startups to access low interest loans to support promising business propositions.
The recommendations from the senate report on Australia’s innovation system
Recommendation 1
That the Australian Government commits to maintaining stable, coherent and effective administrative arrangements for innovation policies and programs, based on a long-term strategic framework and a target to lift investment in research and development to three per cent of GDP.
Recommendation 2
The establishment of an independent government agency with a mandate to administer and coordinate innovation system policies and programs. Such a body would be responsible for maintaining a continuous and consistent approach to innovation policy across the whole of government.
Recommendation 3
That the Australian Government, as part of its long-term innovation strategy, includes policy options to address the structural and strategic barriers that inhibit innovation, including: measures to enhance collaboration and the free flow of knowledge between the university system and the private sector; increasing the size of the research and development workforce employed in industry; and ensuring that public funding to support science, research and innovation is long- term, predictable and secure.
Recommendation 4
The committee recommends that the Australian Government, working in collaboration with State and Territory governments, adopt a range of measures to support the role of local and regional innovation ecosystems.
Recommendation 5
The committee recommends that the education system be accorded a central focus in the Australian Government’s long-term innovation strategy, thereby acknowledging the central importance of the interplay between the STEM subjects and the humanities, social sciences and creative industries.
Innovation Wish-list
- Simpler IP policies from the university system.
- Low-interest loans for startups.
- Creative approaches to innovation support.
Refs:
The senate report was originally spotted by the Idea Spies here.
Ross.
