Synergy, focus and alignment, key ingredients for success

INESC TEC’s motto – science-based innovation – illustrates the principles of its strategy quite well. The intervention and the impact capacity, and the long-term sustainability, depend on the capability to explore synergies between upstream research activities and technology transfer, including advanced consultancy and training, as well as the establishment of new companies, particularly relevant in sectors where market supply is low.

These synergies are crucial and take place in the two directions: the knowledge and technology developed in upstream research activities, are valorised in the scope of technology transfer activities – which, in turn, generate resources that contribute to the investment in new research topics and support the economic sustainability. The scientific excellence of the knowledge generated ensures the differentiation and the ability to add value through innovation, both nationally and internationally. In the opposite direction, technology transfer activities enable the identification of unsolved problems, and the definition of new research lines to be pursued in the future.

The realisation of these synergies requires alignment and focus, which in turn call for an articulation between the scientific strategy (Clusters) and the strategy for liaison with the various economic sectors and societal challenges (TEC4s). Naturally, without the ability to assign the available resources to a defined set of research lines, these will become dispersed, without critical mass, and it will become difficult to achieve scientific excellence and international recognition, as well as the ability to add value through innovation – particularly in the technology intensive sectors. Moreover, it is more challenging to valorise knowledge and technology within fields that are farthest from the most significant areas of technology transfer.

In addition to the persistence in some scientific and technological domains, the ability to place bets on new and disruptive areas is also vital, in order to ensure the required participation in the evolution of the state of the art, and to assure the major areas of the future, thus reducing the risk of stagnation. In other words, the definition of the research lines is not static, and it is important to review it regularly, according to the evolution of the state of the art and the opportunities within the market.

The ability to protect the generated intellectual property is implicit. A strategic and well-planned action allows the balance between the open publication of the knowledge generated through upstream research activities with the protection of the technologies created, using specific instruments – from patents to industrial secrets, whose applicability and relevance should be evaluated case by case, aiming to increase simultaneously the potential for dissemination and for economic and social valorisation.

Luís Carneiro, Member of the Executive Board