From Science to Business Value – An European Perspective

Abstract: One of the major challenges of applied research is to turn scientific results into real innovations – providing sustainable business values. Basic research is an important base, but it must not end in itself. Successful transfer of technologies requires effective mechanisms and an active commitment from research. Within the Center for Computing and Communication Technologies (TZI) of the Universität Bremen (Germany) research investment is also understood as an investment in regional development. The European Integrated Project wearIT@work (Wearable Computing to support the Mobile Worker) demonstrated how regional development strategies and research projects can be aligned to secure continuous developments beyond the end of the project. This project e.g. was the base to establish a showroom for innovative mobile  technologies at the university. This showroom is a “window” to scientific innovation that transforms abstract research to understandable demonstrators. Several exhibits are demonstrating results from the wearIT@work project and serve as marketing and promotional tool with a double purpose:

• diffusion of knowledge, making it accessible to people, showing the usability and benefits from technologies in practical applications to improve the social acceptance;
• serve as a forum, an encounter point for experts, to attract technology & innovation developers, users and beneficiaries, linking researchers, entrepreneurs and policy makers.

This concept is currently further developed on European level within the INTERREG 4b project  BONITA. This project was initiated to form a strong European cluster for transfer of scientific knowledge within the Baltic Sea Region and establish a network of several showrooms within Europe.  One important topic of this network is to promote the application of wearable computing technologies. Furthermore, the  wearIT@work  project has led to several regional innovation clusters in north west Germany  (so called Living Labs) to foster industrial take up of wearable computing technologies. Within these clusters research and industries are developing mobile solutions in the field of car manufacturing and to deal with the demographic change in the workplace.

The presentation will shed some light on specific transfer activities to illustrate how research can be brought into closer dialog with industries.

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