Aren’t Technology Vouchers backwards?
April 3rd, 2010 | Published in comment | 2 Comments
I applied for a technology voucher some time last year. The process roughly runs like this …
- You apply for a voucher, outlining an area of expertise you would like assistance for from the University Sector. In my case, I applied for a review of the literature related to medical compliance.
- Your proposal is approved or denied. If you don’t have someone in particular in mind to help you then you are given a list of contacts in the major universities to whom you can send your proposal to. I sent off a modified version of my proposal to about 10 designated contacts. They then distribute the proposal internally and if someone is interested, they contact you directly. I received one reply, although there wasn’t a fit in terms of what I was looking to have researched.
The Enterprise Ireland co-ordinator of the Innovation Voucher scheme is currently helping me to dig a little deeper and see if we can’t find someone who might be willing to help. So far its been a pretty painless process.
Something has struck me as odd about the whole thing though. I send in a proposal, and researchers decide whether (a) they are suitable to work on it and (b) they have time (c) they can be bothered. I’m taking it that I got no feedback to a proposal that must have been sent to upwards of 30 relevant researchers. I’m guessing that this was probably because of (a) and (b) but there is no way to know if it was sometimes (c).
I’m not so sure how much valuable IP is locked up in Irish Universities, but right now, the system leaves it up to lecturers to decide whether they want to help with technology transfer to the SME sector. As a sometime taxpayer, shouldn’t I be able to dig around in the research areas and get access to the right support when I need it rather than waiting for it to come to me? Think of it a little like a freedom of information request – but for knowledge. Shouldn’t I be able to get a list of researchers working in a relevant area and be given their contact details directly? Shouldn’t researchers be mandated to help companies where they can?
April 8th, 2010 at 2:34 pm (#)
Interesting stuff. I’ve heard about vouchers being used in a large organization I’m associated with but I didn’t know how they worked.
It all depends on how you view universities. Are they a business? Do they manufacturer educated minds? With a diploma being the quality mark of the finished product. In that case you, the taxpayer, could be considered either a shareholder or a customer.
If you are a shareholder the university has an obligation to only “invest” in work that will give it a reasonable return or will in some way increase the quality of its product.
But if you’re a customer then yes, its reasonable to expect some part of the education service to respond to your request for help.
In this case I think being a taxpayer is irrelevant. You’re a customer. Through Enterprise Ireland you’re offering the university business that will generate revenue and lead to a better quality “researcher product”.
Do other countries offer a similar idea? Maybe its time to think beyond Ireland?
April 8th, 2010 at 3:59 pm (#)
Hi Colm –
I guess what struck me was the way technology is transferred at the moment. As I understand it – spin outs from universities are driven by individuals within those universities who have the drive to take a risk and try and leave behind a tenured existence for the chance at building a worthwhile company based on their research. Thats great. At a guess however, I’d say that there is plenty of potential in research that never gets out of the ‘lab’ simply because those working on it aren’t that way inclined.
Someone needs to open the kimono on what is going on in terms of research so that businesses can understand and get access to relevant advances. I guess the taxpayer bit is a little irrelevant – but if the government really wants to encourage commercialisation of the technologies it has already paid for the development of, then innovation vouchers are a great idea. The only trick is, they still rely on individuals in those institutions making an effort.
If I were working in the third level education sector, I might not be all that interested in working with a small business like ourselves. It might sound like more trouble than the €5k on offer. That might mean that, in effect, these vouchers are only really useful to mid to large companies. That doesn’t seem right either.
I’m not sure if anyone else offers a similar service in other countries. What a good idea. Lets see.