What is needed for faster technology transfer? Conference at VŠB-TUO offered answers
24. March 2025Technology transfer as part of the innovation ecosystem was the main topic of the 12th National Transfer Conference, hosted by VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava on March 19 and 20. It brought together around a hundred key players in technology transfer in the Czech Republic from academics, companies, public administration, as well as from innovation and transfer centers.
The prestigious event was sponsored by Transfera.cz and the partners were the Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic, the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Center (MSIC) and the REFRESH project for the transformation of the Moravian-Silesian Region.
“We are facing a major challenge: how to ensure that the results of science and research will be increasingly applied in practice also in Europe and form the basis of our prosperity. Among other things, this requires a change in our way of thinking, and this is also one of the goals of our university. We need to motivate students to go into business,” said Václav Snášel, Rector of VŠB-TUO, at the beginning of the conference.
Technology transfer is one of the important pillars of the REFRESH strategic project, which also participated in the preparation of the conference. “The project, which is the largest in the history of the university, has already made a significant impact not only on science and research, but is also starting to move the transfer at both universities. The proof is not only the patents filed, but also two licenses sold to industrial partners,” emphasized Igor Ivan, Vice-Rector of VŠB-TUO and Director of REFRESH, who also participated in the panel discussion entitled Industry and Technology Transfer: From Innovation to Economic Growth.
According to the chairwoman of Transfera.cz, Růžena Štemberková, the conference is always a “national celebration of technology transfer”. Every year, “transferors” from universities, various agencies, representatives of the application sphere or ministries meet there to discuss where the weak and strong points are and where the transfer should go. “Technology transfer has long ceased to be just about searching for suitable innovations in laboratories, but it is necessary to create synergies and the entire innovation system. Each of us has specific conditions in his region and it is great that we can share and use our experiences with each other. New ideas, influences and topics are permanently coming, which we take account of in the programs of each year of the National Transfer Conference. That is why each meeting is a little different and very important,” explained Štemberková.
Martin Bunček, Director of the Office of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, presented the area of technology and knowledge transfer as a clash of two worlds. From his point of view, at the beginning of the whole process, there are always representatives of two parties, i. e. scientists and companies, who are interested in reaching an agreement. However, for reaching an agreement, they need to understand each other and their motivations, which, according to him, is not always evident.
“When I was asked to contribute and participate in the panel, I came here with the idea that it was necessary to open some unopened topics. That is, to talk about basic things and principles and not solve things from the middle. It was also clear from the related debates that the topic I raised resonated among the participants. In my opinion, this is one of the causes of potential failure, that is, that both parties do not understand each other. We already have got the other conditions, whether they are transfer centers, technology scouts or, for example, support for the protection of know-how. We can improve these, but the most important thing is always the beginning of the negotiations as such, it means that the partners shall be prepared for them,” said Bunček.
The discussion panel How to create a sustainable ecosystem of cooperation between science, industry and the community was sponsored by MSIC. “I am pleased that we have finally started talking about things that have been successful in transfer and about which not much is known. It is also significant for me that all three panels agreed that it is important to communicate, to have an intermediary between academics and companies and to connect people. Success always depends on the approach of the individual participants of a specific technology transfer. I also consider it a positive thing that specific examples of really working transfer were mentioned here and that there is long-term running cooperation between academia and the industrial sector,” said Adéla Hradilová, CEO of the Moravian-Silesian Innovation Center.
Bohuslav Čížek from the Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic also left satisfied. “I was pleased with the great interest, while the hall was full until the end of the conference. I am glad that both sides, i. e. representatives of companies and scientists, confirmed that the situation has been changing in recent years and the interest in cooperation is growing all the time. The transfer of results into practice is coming to the fore. The fact that we are talking about positive examples as well as about problems only deepens this cooperation,” he said.
“The conference certainly met our expectations, since important representatives of universities, companies and innovation centers were gathering here. Current topics and examples of good practice were discussed, and discussions continued in the informal part of the program, too. I am also very happy that we were able to contribute to the Ondrášek Mobile Hospice. Because we believe that technology transfer, and therefore the current conference, should have positive social impacts, we donated 50,000 crowns from the conference fees to the hospice. We really appreciate their work,” added Michaela Manová, head of the organizing Technology Transfer Centre VŠB-TUO.
Next year, the National Transfer Conference will take place in České Budějovice.