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Testimonial of Roy Tubb, TII Expert Coach in Latvia:
The counselling scheme in Latvia provides support for establishing a national Technology Transfer System which will undertake and coordinate commercialisation activities from publicly-funded research institutes and higher-education establishments. The initiative, which arises as a priority action for developing the Latvian Innovation System, is intended to enhance the uptake of research results and technology by the private sector.
A Technology Transfer System Programme will be supported through the EU Regional Development Funds 2007-2013, as part of Latvia’s efforts to meet the goals set by the Lisbon strategy for growth and employment. The programme,~guided by Valdis Avotins of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency, will be an ambitious one which will face up to the challenges set by the erosion of the research base in Latvia~during recent years, and the current lack of strong interactions between researchers and enterprises. Nevertheless, Latvia has strong traditions in research and in fields of industrial relevance.~Therefore, the opportunity now presents itself to design and implement an effective and well-functioning system of R&D commercialisation, with the full support and cooperation of the broad range of
stakeholders, and with the introduction of high-level business management methodologies and skills, from the outset.
After a detailed appraisal of the current situation in Latvia, my coaching started with the animation of a preparatory workshop which considered, among other things, the objectives and criteria to be met, the activities to be supported (both centralised and de-centralised), integration within the innovation system as a whole, revenue-generating models, and the ways in which public funding would be applied to develop the system. Based on the output from the workshop and from individual interviews, a detailed set of guidelines for the programme were drawn up and discussed at a second
workshop.
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