University industry linkages in Italy

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1 Workshop University Industry Linkages: From Theory to Policy Università Roma Tre, Rome, May 2014 University industry linkages in Italy Donato Iacobucci Università Politecnica delle Marche Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

2 Content Facts and figures Questions Policy indications

3 University University industry linkages Firms Teaching Research Technology transfer Higher education apprentiship (DL 167/2011) Industrial PhD Contract research Contributions to scientific research Collaborative research (national and EU funds) Human capital R&D Strategic consortia (local, national and EU clusters)

4 University industry linkages I refer to collaborations between firms and universities that require a formal agreement between the two organizations: i.e. collaborations that are authorized by the board of a department or the board of the university and are subject to specific regulations This means excluding other forms of knowledge flows from university to firms such as: consulting activity by academicians (only allowed for parttime professors) Participation of firms to workshop, seminars and conferences.

5 University industry linkages Despite the presence of a formal agreement between the firm and the university, there is an important asymmetry in the role of individuals involved in university industry collaborations: Employees in a firm behave according to the strategy of the firm and the guidelines received by firm s managers University researchers are much more autonomous from their organization and are not subject to a formal hierarchical authority (except for the moral suasion in a research groups) This means that we should talk of organizational incentives to collaborate when referring to firms and individual incentives to collaborate when referring to academicians

6 Institutional aspects (1) Contract research ( conto terzi in Italian) Contracts specify the object of the research and the expected results; the latter are owned by the financing firm It is considered a commercial activity for universities (not part of its institutional missions); as such it requires the issue of an invoice and the payment of taxes and VAT Depending on university regulations: A percentage of the sum is retained by the university to cover general expenses most of the sum raised from contract research can be given to the academicians participating in the research as additional income > strong financial incentive for researchers and universities to raise funds through contract research

7 Institutional aspects (2) Contributions to research ( convenzione di ricerca in Italian): Funds given by firms to sustain university research The contract specifies: the content of the research (finalized research), the ways it will be carried out (it is often address to sustain research grants) The expected results However: The university does not take responsibility for results Research results are jointly owned by the university and the firm External funds sustain the institutional mission of the university There is no invoice by the university (which means no VAT and taxes) Funds are all spent for research (no fee for general expenses or income for academicians)

8 Institutional aspects (3) Collaborative research: Formal agreements to contribute in a common research project No financial transaction from the firm to the university Most often done to raise public funds (at regional, national and EU level) Consortia Permanent organization (legal entity) to carry out joint research activity The main object is to create a governance (board, scientific committee) to design research strategy and allocate research funds Most of them are instrumental to raise public funds

9 Some figures about Italian Universities (2013) Number of universities 92 Permanent researchers and teaching staff Non permanent research staff Students State funds ( 13% from 2009; 20% in real terms) Total funds (including students fees) 53.4 (thousands) 27.4 (thousands) 1.75 (millions) 6.8 (billions of Euros) 9.0 (billions of Euros) Source: ANVUR,

10 Technology transfer in Italian universities Patents ( )* Portfolio 1,321 New patents per year (2010) 467 revenues per year (2010, millions of Euros) 1,6 Spin offs active spin offs (end of 2012) 1,000 new spin offs per year (average) 80 revenues from spin offs (dividends) Negligible Consortia for technology transfer* consortia in which universities have shares 831 involvement in management 434 Source: NetVal, ; Anvur

11 Technology transfer in Italian universities Patents ( ) Portfolio 1,321 New patents per year (2010) 467 revenues per year (2010, millions of Euros) 1,6 Spin offs active spin offs (end of 2012) 1,000 new spin offs per year (average) 80 revenues from spin offs (dividends) Negligible Third party funding average per year (millions of Euros) 500 revenues per year (millions of Euros) 100 Source: NetVal,

12 Contract research in Italian Universities In the period Italian universities raised 3,267 million Euros of contract research ( conto terzi ) The distribution is highly concentrated: CR4 = 24.8% ; CR8 = 41.3% Total amount per year (average in million euros) Total amount (million Euros) 467 Amount per researcher (thousands Euros) Average per university per year Min Max 40.0 (Polimi) (Sant Anna)

13 Contribution to research Source of university R&D spending 72 Million Euros 1.4% of total Contract research is not considered within the R&D of the university (why?) The amount refers only to the contributions to research. Source: ISTAT, R&S in Italia

14 Relevance of firms university financial flows From the point of view of firms funds raised by university from firms (contribution to research + contract research) accounts for less than 5% of the firms expenditure in R&D From the point or view of the university Contributions to research is a negligible share of R&D expenditure Contract research is a significant and raising share of university funding

15 European comparison Share of R&D expenditure in the higher education sector financed by firms Source: Eurostat

16 Total intramural R&D expenditure by the higher education sector (billions of Euros) Source: Eurostat

17 A comparison beween Italy and Germany Italy Germany Firm contribution to universities Contribution to universities / firms' R&D Firms' R&D on universitity research R&D of the Higher Education Sector (Bn Euros) R&D of firms (Bn Euros)

18 Factors hampering university industry linkages The demand side Prevalence of small and medium sized firms Prevalence of low /medium tech industries The supply side Academicians are not willing to collaborate with firms (incentives? Culture? Mismatching between research and industry in terms of domains and location)

19 A model of «innovation without research» Performance of Italy (EU average = 100) Source: EU innovations scoreboard

20 A «closed» model of innovation (within the production chain) Sources of information of Italian innovative SMEs Source: ISTAT, Community Innovation survey

21 Policy: financial incentives There is a close relation between in house R&D and external collaborations > raise the R&D investment of firms > raise the incentive to collaborate with universities Tax incentives at national level (91 million Euros available for 2014) on the increase in R&D spending from the previous years Several measures at regional level for the allocation of EU funds

22 Policy: strategy Much could be done to raise the productivity of available resources by allocating them along specific strategic goals. This requires a better functioning of the triple helix model at national and regional level. It requires the availability of data and information on R&D capabilities in universities and firms (maps of competences) > Map of competences by Confindustria > some regional portal (

23 Map of competences by Confindustria Too much industry oriented Weak in identifying potential relations between scientific, technological and production domains

24 Policy: strategy at national level National Plan for Research ( ) Identification of a limited number of thematic projects Raising the innovation capabilities of firms through technology transfer MIUR funds: 6.3 billion Euros in 7 years National technology clusters (9) linking university, research centres and firms (MIUR 2012): Ambient assisted living, Smart manufacturing, agri food, etc. Agreements between universities and firms (and regions) at local and national level; Creation of a governance body of the cluster at national level

25 Policy: strategy at regional level Much can be done at regional level through a close collaboration between universities, regional government and firms In Italy innovation policy is mostly managed at regional level (with EU funds) Space matters in university industry linkages Within the new programming period (Horizon 2020) much of the structural funds will be directed to R&D & innovation In the Marche region (1.5 millions people) 100 M Euros will be available in 7 years (45 EU funds, 55 Italian funds) for research and innovation.

26 Policy: strategy at regional level The crucial question will be the allocation of public funds in terms of: Linking research and innovation rather than just sustaining innovation Concentrate resources in specific domains in which the link between the research capabilities and production specialization at local level are likely to produce the best results in terms of innovation This is the challenge of the smart specialization strategy (S3) that EU commission asked to European regions as a condition for receiving EU funds. Iacobucci D. (2014) Designing and Implementing a Smart Specialisation Strategy at Regional Level: Some Open Questions, Scienze Regionali Italian Journal of Regional Science, Vol.13 n. 1,

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