7 troulos 20141204v3 mare - from research to innovation - sev experiences - copy

From Research to Innovation: The experience of SEV

Costas Troulos Project Manager Hellenic Federation of Enterprises

Bridging Energy Research and Innovation in the EUROMED area 5 December 2014

• 20 years experience in research, innovation and the ICT industry

• Owner of broadbandprime.com

• Passionate about research infrastructures, innovation management and an all inclusive information society

• Have coached and supervised 35 scientific teams

• Head of ΜΑΖΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΚΚΙΝΗΣΗ at Demokritos Campus

[email protected] -$ whoami


Agenda and context

About Ekinisi Lab

Observations

Challenges

Conclusions


Business pre-acceleration and acceleration - technology transfer

Brings entrepreneurship closer to the scientific community

Have supported more than 70 business teams and startups

Established in 2013, a ΣΕΒ initiative

Has currently 4 offices

Athens (2), Volos (1), Crete (1)

About Ekinisi Lab


Observation 1: Entrepreneurial Profiles

Researchers Students Professionals

Technology innovator Age: 30-40 years

Product innovator Age: 20-30 years

Organization innovator Age: 40-50 years

Advantages: • Technical expertise

Disadvantages: • Inexperienced

Advantages: • Enthusiasm

Disadvantages: • Inexperienced

Advantages: • Market experience

Disadvantages: • “knows the risks”


Observation 2: The Greek Research - Industry Gap

Significant body of research -publications, scientific papers, participation in EU funded projects

Few exploitation plans, fewer patents, even fewer startups

Researchers do not solve the real problems of the industry and the market

Industry imports technology and innovation


Observation 3: Innovation is a tough nut to crack Innovation can be viewed as the application of better solutions that

meet new requirements, inarticulated needs, or existing market needs. The term innovation can be defined as something original and, as a

consequence, new, that "breaks into" the market or society.

Wikipedia

Innovation is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought

Albert Szent-Gyorgi, 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine

Source: TEDX talks - Ernesto Sirolli Case Study: The Isolator


Challenge 1: Define your product and service well

Source: Ten Types of Innovation: The Discipline of Building Breakthroughs by Larry Keeley

Customer Profiles Features

Service Delivery Research &

Development Production

Technical Support Business

Case

Make the product simple and intuitive

Ensure that the product addresses well defined market needs

Be ahead of your time but not too much

Work the numbers

Money Technology Market Product


Challenge 2: Protect your intellectual rights

Patents, trademarks and copyright

Patents are not scientific papers – they are expensive

– You need to have an exploitation plan before you apply for a patent

– Think about the timing of the patent: It is a critical element for the ultimate success

You can’t talk money with someone if you don’t have a patent for something patentable

Mask out critical information when talking to outsiders


Challenge 3: Visualize information

Take the data out, leave information in

Make your message stand out

Use visual tools (don’t overdo it)

– graphs, diagrams, 2D, 3D representations – avoid tables and too much text – make it simple

Tell a story – you can’t win your audience if you talk like a text book


There’s an arrow missing! Involve the most important ideas

Visualize information: Be simple, be clear


Before

In relation to the latter, the over of a decennial scientific involvement and international recognition of the work of XXXXXXXXX and his team, significantly increases the chances of success and rapid market penetration for XXXXXXX. One of the major competitive advantages of the company is the patent of its research results with a series of patents both in Greece and abroad.

After

The management team will contribute significantly to the realization of these goals as it brings into the mix:

– Patented research results and methodologies, internationally

– Long-time partnerships and relationships with key service providers in Greece and abroad

– Top scientific results - the work of XXXXXXXXXXX and his team, enjoys international recognition

Visualize information: Get the message out, fast


Challenge 4: Motivate the team

Assign roles (aka responsibility and recognition) – Roles motivate people

However, work together, collaborate, brainstorm

Manage change, uncertainty, risk AND failure

Find new ways to motivate yourself and the team

Just set the bar lower and start winning points. Winning points motivates and lifts the bar at the same time. YA

What if I had not quit. SF

I usually try to start something unknown to me, in any field not just work, that makes me feel like a beginner and a fool again. AA

I think about my daughter. LA

I sit down and think of how far have I come till now. NB

I just remind myself why I started in the first place. VM

I find one small next step that I can take immediately to put me closer to my goal. SS

Source: Faceboook, Quora


Conclusions

Policy makers should bring closer the worlds of industry and the academia – Technology driven research + Market driven applications = Innovation

Innovators should maintain proximity between the two worlds (industry and academia) – Blend the best from the two worlds

Before trying to do breakthrough innovation start with the basics first – Align your innovation with your business strategy

Investors and industrial partners are searching for people not products or knowledge alone – Knowledge is a sacred cow but milk it simply and efficiently

Venturing researchers have the courage; they only need to find the strength


Questions and Answers

Costas Troulos, Project Manager

Entrepreneurship Unit, Hellenic Federation of Enterprises

[email protected]

211 500 61 34

210 650 32 87

mailto:[email protected]

7 troulos 20141204v3 mare - from research to innovation - sev experiences - copy

Business

energy research

innovation management

types of innovation

term innovation

wikipedia innovation

euromed area5

research infrastructures

years product innovator