Public research is the source of many of today’s technologies. Public research institutions (PRIs) and universities are also a breeding ground for entrepreneurial ventures, from biotech start-ups to student start-ups such as those that led to Internet giants like Google. Today, globalisation, greater openness in accessing research data, and new forms of financing such as crowd funding for research are changing the way institutions promote the transfer and commercialisation of public research results. This report presents new trends and policies for the transfer and commercialisation of public research in OECD countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, the European Union and the United States.

Public research in universities and public research institutions (PRIs) are the source of many of today’s technological innovations from recombinant DNA technology, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the MP3 technology to Apple’s Siri voice recognition technology. But recent data on the number of patents, licenses and companies created at universities and PRIs show a general slowdown since the late 2000s. This has raised concern among policy makers and practitioners about the effectiveness of commercialisation policies and mainstream technology transfer practices at universities and PRIs. This has in turn generated interest in new approaches to turn science into business as well as in new indicators for measuring the two-ways flows of knowledge and technology between public research and business.

Public research – i.e. research primarily funded with public resources and carried out by public research institutions (PRIs) and research universities (hereafter both referred to as public research organisations [PROs]) – plays an extremely important role in innovation systems. Its sphere of influence touches education, training, skills development, problem solving, creation and diffusion of knowledge, development of new instrumentation, and the storage and transmission of knowledge. But public research has been also the source of significant scientific and technological breakthroughs that have become major innovations, sometimes as by-products of basic scientific research goals and sometimes with no vision of any direct application to a valuable commercial activity. Well-known examples include recombinant DNA techniques, the Internet, the scanning electron microscope and superconducting magnets. While it is inherently difficult to quantify the impact of public research, it has been suggested that around a tenth of innovations would have been delayed in the absence of public research (Mansfield, 1991). In some sectors – such as pharmaceuticals and semiconductors – innovation is far more dependent on public research results.

This chapter describes the main channels of knowledge transfer and commercialisation and discusses their “relational intensity” (i.e. the degree of interaction between knowledge creators and receivers), their significance to industry, the type of knowledge involved, and their degree of formality. It shows that there are multiple ways in which public research knowledge can be transferred, exploited and commercialised that go beyond patents, licenses and spin-offs. For example, personal contacts and labour mobility are important channels for knowledge transfer and commercialisation.

National-level data on knowledge transfer and commercialisation of public research provide a partial picture of how well universities and public research institutions (PRIs) perform in terms of patenting, licensing and spin-off activity. Data of key performance indicators show that growth has stalled in major OECD economies and regions in recent years. Attention is also drawn to surveys of other channels for knowledge transfer and commercialisation, such as the mobility of students and researchers between sectors, but also broader access to public research data. The need for new metrics is stressed.

Within the past three decades, there has been a rise of initiatives by OECD member countries and public research organisations (PROs) to foster the transfer and commercialisation of public research results. This chapter sets out the context for the development of various initiatives, provides a taxonomy, and discusses recent trends, both at the institutional and governmental level. The strategies and policies reviewed include legislative initiatives, new bridging organisations, collaborative IP tools and patent funds, new technology transfer office (TTO) models, “open science” and “open research data” initiatives, monetary and non-monetary incentives to researchers to disclose and share research results, and initiatives to foster greater entrepreneurship in PROs.

The financing of public research-based spin-offs – from research to market – takes place at various stages in the firm development cycle. National policy instruments have focused on the seed funding stage, but support has shifted to proof-of-concept and prototype funding. Universities and PRIs are also providing institutional support, ranging from institutional risk capital funds, mentoring and incubation support to IP assessment services and business development plans. Corporate venturing, research crowdfunding and using IP for financing purposes represent additional sources of financing for public research spin-offs, but the scale of financing remains limited in most cases.

Government policies and institutional practices have an important impact on the commercialisation of public research. This concluding chapter on policy implications finds that there is a strong policy bias in favour of codified flows in the form of patents and licenses. Drawing on new survey findings, case studies, statistical analysis and an inventory of cutting-edge initiatives pursued by governments and public research organisations, it makes the case for a more holistic approach to policy making that recognises the importance of people-based channels such as student entrepreneurship and the mobility of staff for the transfer, exploitation and commercialisation of public research results. It also calls for policies to support two-way flows of knowledge between industry and academia.