The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine Industry Innovation Lab (SAIIL) is a brand new initiative, being pioneered by the St. Augustine Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (STACIE) which is modelled off Connect Bogotá, a successful knowledge and technology transfer programme from Colombia. It comprises two phases 1. Identifying challengers and 2. Connecting to solvers. Technology transfer encompasses successful transfer of the the know-how from the creators to the users. The UWI SAIIL programme aims to position UWI as the go to partner for research through a mutually beneficial partnership. This gives opportunities for funding for research to advance the revenue revolution mandate of The UWI.
Invent a solution that can be implemented in industry processes
Representatives from the different Departments and Faculties around campus gathered to learn more about Technology transfer and how to make it attractive to companies on the first day of the workshop. Laboratories have the power to undergo a paradigm shift, whereby industry partners transform the focus and type of research to advance modernization and provide fresh inspiration for research ideas. Technology surveillance and competitive intelligence to selectively capture and filter information were underscored. The final step was the business dimension to identify the solution most tailored to the customer. This important step takes a solution from a technological product to a commercial product, to capitalize on market opportunities. The valley of death between Technology Readiness Level - TRL5 in the lab (technology push) to scaling up to TRL 6 in industry (market pull) can best be overcome by effective technology transfer process and working with intellectual property (IP) at every TRL and having adequate resources for research and marketing. The importance of negotiation, agreements and technological support and R&D contracts in formalizing arrangements, and ownership of the results in university industry collaboration were also differentiated and highlighted.
Orient the University to think about current real-world problems
The second day brought together key industry persons from a variety of sectors. Dr. Graham King, Director of STACIE, started by explaining the competence of The UWI as an R&D partner. Dr. Johann Osma, Connect Bogotá, opened the industry partners’ eyes to the value of employing an open innovation strategy where there is innovation through cooperation with an external organization to lead to collective intelligence. Fresh perspective can lead to devising a non-obvious solution to a problem. Industry partners were advised to keep an open mind and not postulate a solution prematurely to the problem. There was fruitful networking after the workshop. STACIE looks forward to receiving exciting research problems that can lead to successful technology transfer.
