News: 1 April 08
Finding markets for great ideas
Inventions often find commercial success in areas the inventors don’t expect, says an expert brought to New Zealand by the Foundation? for Research, Science and Technology.
This highlights the need to consider a range of ways to take novel ideas to market, says Steve Brown, a commercialisation consultant and former Technology Licensing Office Ambassador for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Mr Brown has been in New Zealand at the Foundation’s invitation to lead a series of workshops with more than 120 senior science leaders on the challenges of commercialising inventions. The Foundation wants to improve commercialisation of science and technologies developed through publicly funded research.
“Many people with a new idea tend to conduct an exhaustive search for a buyer,” Mr Brown says. “That’s important, but it is equally as important to publicise your invention in an accessible way so that unknown users with unknown applications for the idea can find the inventor.
“It’s common for the ultimate user to find the inventor rather than the other way around. In these circumstances, the question becomes one of how you can help the market find the inventor more quickly."
Mr Brown encourages inventors not only to publish articles in respected science journals and present papers at conferences, but also to put general information about their new idea on web sites and science blogs.
“It’s also important to seek early feedback from potential users about appropriate markets for novel ideas. If you describe what your invention does without divulging how it does it, you can get this feedback without jeopardising your patent position. The feedback may cause you to dramatically change the focus and priority of your research.
“Turning a good idea into a successful technology is not a linear process. The majority of ideas undergo huge changes between inception and their eventual application as they are adapted to suit what the market wants.”
These changes in focus make it harder to administer research resources. Accelerating rates of commercialisation require flexibility to reallocate resources easily to other more currently promising projects based on market feedback or technical roadblocks.
He says it’s impressive that several New Zealand funding programs, including some run by the Foundation, provide researchers with this flexibility, which is often not available elsewhere.
Few researchers outside of New Zealand have the kind of in-house commercialisation teams found in our universities and crown research institutes, Mr Brown adds.
“Many researchers are unaware of the challenges and skill required to commercialise new ideas successfully and, therefore, they don't fully take advantage of their commercialisation teams.”
Another opportunity to increase the rate of commercialisation is to concentrate resources. “Resources are often spread too thinly. I have seen a number of projects which were allocated one tenth of somebody’s time. Generally the projects that get allocated at less than one half of a person year never get the critical attention needed to advance.”
Overall he says a mix of earlier publicity for new ideas, more frequent market feedback, easier reallocation and concentration of resources, and greater use of embedded commercialisation resources should accelerate the rate of innovation in New Zealand.
The Foundation for Research, Science and Technology recently established a commercialisation team, led by Dr Suki Siriwardena, to work with commercialisation teams within universities, Crown Research Institutes and other research organisations. The goal is to improve commercial outcomes from more than NZ$3 billion of Government funds invested in research and development over the last decade.
Dr Siriwardena says the workshops were designed to improve science leaders' understanding of commercialisation processes and challenges.
"We are working to bring about a cultural transformation in the research sector so there is much earlier engagement between scientists, the commercialisation staff within their organisation, outside specialists and potential investors and other partners. Steve Brown has worked across these areas, so is well placed to advise on this topic".
Other priorities for the Foundation's commercialisation team include identifying research programmes with the highest commercial potential and working with commercialisation staff in research organisations and experts from New Zealand and overseas to fast track the delivery of strong commercial outcomes.
This highlights the need to consider a range of ways to take novel ideas to market, says Steve Brown, a commercialisation consultant and former Technology Licensing Office Ambassador for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Mr Brown has been in New Zealand at the Foundation’s invitation to lead a series of workshops with more than 120 senior science leaders on the challenges of commercialising inventions. The Foundation wants to improve commercialisation of science and technologies developed through publicly funded research.
“Many people with a new idea tend to conduct an exhaustive search for a buyer,” Mr Brown says. “That’s important, but it is equally as important to publicise your invention in an accessible way so that unknown users with unknown applications for the idea can find the inventor.
“It’s common for the ultimate user to find the inventor rather than the other way around. In these circumstances, the question becomes one of how you can help the market find the inventor more quickly."
Mr Brown encourages inventors not only to publish articles in respected science journals and present papers at conferences, but also to put general information about their new idea on web sites and science blogs.
“It’s also important to seek early feedback from potential users about appropriate markets for novel ideas. If you describe what your invention does without divulging how it does it, you can get this feedback without jeopardising your patent position. The feedback may cause you to dramatically change the focus and priority of your research.
“Turning a good idea into a successful technology is not a linear process. The majority of ideas undergo huge changes between inception and their eventual application as they are adapted to suit what the market wants.”
These changes in focus make it harder to administer research resources. Accelerating rates of commercialisation require flexibility to reallocate resources easily to other more currently promising projects based on market feedback or technical roadblocks.
He says it’s impressive that several New Zealand funding programs, including some run by the Foundation, provide researchers with this flexibility, which is often not available elsewhere.
Few researchers outside of New Zealand have the kind of in-house commercialisation teams found in our universities and crown research institutes, Mr Brown adds.
“Many researchers are unaware of the challenges and skill required to commercialise new ideas successfully and, therefore, they don't fully take advantage of their commercialisation teams.”
Another opportunity to increase the rate of commercialisation is to concentrate resources. “Resources are often spread too thinly. I have seen a number of projects which were allocated one tenth of somebody’s time. Generally the projects that get allocated at less than one half of a person year never get the critical attention needed to advance.”
Overall he says a mix of earlier publicity for new ideas, more frequent market feedback, easier reallocation and concentration of resources, and greater use of embedded commercialisation resources should accelerate the rate of innovation in New Zealand.
The Foundation for Research, Science and Technology recently established a commercialisation team, led by Dr Suki Siriwardena, to work with commercialisation teams within universities, Crown Research Institutes and other research organisations. The goal is to improve commercial outcomes from more than NZ$3 billion of Government funds invested in research and development over the last decade.
Dr Siriwardena says the workshops were designed to improve science leaders' understanding of commercialisation processes and challenges.
"We are working to bring about a cultural transformation in the research sector so there is much earlier engagement between scientists, the commercialisation staff within their organisation, outside specialists and potential investors and other partners. Steve Brown has worked across these areas, so is well placed to advise on this topic".
Other priorities for the Foundation's commercialisation team include identifying research programmes with the highest commercial potential and working with commercialisation staff in research organisations and experts from New Zealand and overseas to fast track the delivery of strong commercial outcomes.