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U.S. White House Office of Science & Technology Issues ... Request For Information (RFI) on University Research Commercialization

Colleagues,

Yesterday, the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) published an RFI (Request For Information) soliciting ideas on how to accelerate U.S. commercialization of federally funded Academic research...

...
Federally-funded research has played a major role in the development of multiple recent emerging markets, including: the Internet, electronic design automation, mass digital storage, speech recognition, parallel computing, computer graphics, workstations, and medical diagnostics, prevention and treatment...

... This RFI is seeking input from a wide-range of stakeholders (including universities, companies, Federal research labs, entrepreneurs, investors, and non-profits). Input from the RFI will be used by OTSP and the National Economic Council to shape national policy increasing the economic impact of Federal investment in university R&D and the innovations being fostered in Federal and private proof of concept centers (POCCs)...

... I encourage MedTech-IQ members to let the White House know what you think about "Triple Helix" ... Academic, Industry, Government ... collaborations. I know you are among the world's most knowledgeable experts on this topic. You may even be able to have an impact on future government policy in this space!

See link to the federal register: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2010-03-25/html/2010-6606.htm

ENJOY!

CC
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The President's Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposes to double the National Science Foundation's Partnership for Innovation program. This program provides grants to increase Academic engagement in innovation and entrepreneurship; the impact of university innovations through commercialization, industry alliances, and start-up formation, and develop a regional communities that support the ``innovation ecosystem'' around universities...

Similarly, the Department of Commerce is focusing on new ways to support Academic-Industry collaboration, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has indicated that translational medicine is one of its top five priorities ... .


... The first section of the RFI seeks public comments on how best to encourage commercialization of university research...

... The second section of the RFI seeks public comments on whether POCCs can be a means of stimulating the commercialization of early-stage technologies by bridging the ``valley of death.''...

... POCCs arise primarily from not-for profit research institutions such as hospitals and foundations as well as from Federal laboratories and the private sector ... State and local governments also provide resources to promote new business development...

... The National Economic Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy will use the input from this RFI to shape the Administration's future policy on the commercialization of federally funded research.


... RFI Guidelines:

... The RFI Response deadline is April 26, 2010.


... RFI Questions:

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Economic Council are interested in:

Part I: With Respect to University Research, Promising Practices and Successful Models

* What are some promising practices and successful models for fostering commercialization and diffusion of university research?

* What is the evidence that these approaches are successful?

* How could these promising practices be more widely adopted? Examples include, but are not limited to:

- Business plan competitions;

- Coursework, training programs, and experiential learning that give faculty and students the skills they need to become entrepreneurs;

- Programs that encourage multidisciplinary collaboration between faculty and students in different disciplines, such as science, engineering, business, and medicine;

- Technology transfer and sponsored project offices that can negotiate agreements with companies in a timely fashion, and that have a mandate to maximize the impact of their university's research as
opposed to maximizing licensing income;

- ``Templates'' for agreements on issues such as intellectual property, sponsored research, material transfer agreements, and visiting industry fellows that can reduce the time and cost required to commercialize university research and form university-industry partnerships;

- Models for promoting open innovation and an intellectual property ``commons'';

- University-industry collaborations that increase investment in pre-competitive research and development that is beyond the time horizon of any single firm;

- University participation in regional economic development initiatives and efforts to strengthen ``clusters''

- Supportive university policies such as ``industrial leave'' that allows faculty members to work for a new or existing company to commercialize their research

* Bootstrapping

* Innovation Ecosystems:
Some universities participate in regional innovation ``ecosystems'' with dense concentrations of venture and angel investors, experienced entrepreneurs and managers, and a mix of large and small firms. These
universities also have faculty who have been involved in commercialization of research and entrepreneurship, and can serve as mentors and role models to faculty or students. How can universities
and their external partners expand their ability to commercialize research in the absence of these favorable conditions?

*Metrics for Success:
What are appropriate metrics for evaluating the success or failure of initiatives to promote commercialization of university research?

* Changes in Public Policy and Funding:
What changes in public policy and research funding should the Obama Administration consider that would promote commercialization of university research? How could existing programs be modified or
augmented to encourage commercialization of university research?


Part II: With Respect to POCCs

* Underlying Conditions and Infrastructure

- What underlying conditions are necessary to enhance the success of a POCC?

- How can regions with less significant angel and VC investment cultures support POCCs and start-up business activity?

- Can current POCC successes transfer to other regions and universities?

- How important is active participation by strong local business community in a POCC?

- Describe how you integrate them into the POCC ecosystem?

- How can Federal agencies, research institutions, Federal researchers, and the private sector work together to foster more successful POCCs that accelerate commercialization into the marketplace?

- How can we leverage NSF's and industry's investment in Engineering Research Centers and Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers to speed the development and commercialization of new
technology that has already reached the proof-of-concept stage?

- In addition to Federal resources, what existing state, regional or local government funded resources or programs supplement the POCCs in bridging the ``valley of death''?

- Describe any alternative sources of private funding/financing that might be available such as not for profit entities or charitable foundations.

* Successful Practices

- What are examples of successful practices?

- What are the key ingredients responsible for this success?

- Is there any evidence that indicates POCCs are an effective mechanism to foster local or regional economic development and job creation (e.g. research related to the needs of particular clusters, participating in regional networks, making shared facilities available to local firms, addressing the need for skilled labor in particular sectors)?

- What lessons can be learned from other successful models such as technology-based economic development organizations that support POCCs?

- Describe educational programs associated with POCCs that better prepare students to work in entrepreneurial environments?

- To what extent do interdisciplinary services (legal, accounting, business plan training) contribute to POCCs successes?

- At POCCs, what lessons have been learned regarding: Leadership and team composition, project selection, optimum scale of effort, importance of brick-and-mortar facilities, geographic scope of
participation, and multi-agency involvement?

* Success Metrics

- How do you define the success of a POCC?

- What are the relevant inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts for success metrics?

- What is the time period needed to measure success as applied to different types of technologies?

- Would the appropriate success metrics for a POCC affiliated with a university be different than one affiliated with a Federal research lab?


* Other Questions

- For those institutions with POCCs, how would you describe what you do and how you do it?

- How can research and development assets supported by the Federal Government be leveraged to support POCCs, such as a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary database of supported research?

- How could such assistance also bolster State and local government programs?

- What other administrative policies/practices should the Administration consider modifying, adopting or implementing to enhance the success prospects of POCCs, including streamlining reporting requirements?


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