From science to business

From Science to business

With more than 1,800 research institutions, the CENTROPE Region boasts an immense know-how that is highly valuable for the economy and must be used more intensively in the future. The joint cross-border initiative centrope_tt was therefore called into life to strengthen the process of technology transfer among the CENTROPE countries. The three key instruments of the initiative are the centrope_tt map, the centrope_tt voucher and the centrope_tt academy. The twofold objective of these measures lies in creating faster access to research within the CENTROPE region for enterprises and offering financial support for international cooperation between business and research.

A concrete example of the successful promotion of cooperation between business and science is the cross-border project centrope_tt, an international expert network in CENTROPE concerned with innovation and technology transfer in this border region between Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The project is implemented within the context of the CENTRAL EUROPE programme and budgeted at Euro 2 million for a three-year period. Coordinated by ecoplus, the Business Agency of Lower Austria, 15 project partners are developing measures to improve cross-border technology transfer between universities and enterprises in the four countries. The objective lies in creating more transparent and faster access to research activities, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of the enterprises involved. The research institutions, too, stand to benefit from this initiative, as close cooperation with their customers (enterprises) helps them to identify concrete research demand and thus to avoid research efforts that do not meet the needs of the market. This expert network creates a win-win-situation for both sides and should be viewed as a mutual impulse generator.

In the short time since project inception, centrope_tt has already produced three concrete and measurable results. The first of these is the centrope_tt voucher. This is a financing instrument for funding 50 cross-border ventures for research cooperation. Enterprises and research institutions that set up a joint interregional venture may expect financial support up to a maximum of Euro 5,000. In this way, the project wants to motivate both sides to engage in international cooperation and to share the financial burden at the outset.

However, since smaller enterprises often do not dispose of resources for time-consuming and complicated subsidy applications, inquiries, searching for contacts, etc., the project team established the centrope_tt academy as a second support instrument. This is a training service that provides technology experts with a comprehensive understanding of the different subsidy and financing structures in the CENTROPE countries. Moreover, the experts also receive intercultural communication training.

To promote the network efficiently among the various stakeholders, the project team has opted for new technologies: the third product, the centrope_tt map, offers an online database listing over 2,200 R&D institutes and enterprises in the CENTROPE Region at the site www.centrope-tt.info. Searching by region and discipline enables both company executives and scientists of research institutions to obtain quick and targeted information about research providers in the adjoining regions. Through centrope_tt, the potential for interregional cooperation is to be optimally utilised and exploited.