The role of science in business
Jan Staniłko, an expert on industrial innovation, noted that the role of science in the entire innovation process should be defined as the provision of scientific services. For an innovation to come to fruition, it is not enough for a scientist to end a project with a patent, or merely figure out how to solve a problem. – It’s not like an engineer prepares a project, implements it, and ends up with a demonstration – and his role ends there. An effective innovation process is complex and should start with the principles of cooperation and end with the implementation stages, J. Staniłko said. He added that, in the context of science-business relations, it is necessary to primarily discuss a complex process of inter-organisational cooperation rather than narrowly defined interpersonal cooperation.
– For us it is an everyday occurrence; we have been providing so-called scientific services for years, noted Prof. Jerzy Lis, dr hab. Eng., Vice-Chancellor of the AGH University of Science and Technology. – At our university, we are well prepared for this. We are able to translate intentions and visions into business opportunities. We have adequate resource; and for large projects, we are able to select a team of experts from a network of scientific centres also outside of AGH, such as Łukasiewicz Network, Prof. Lis pointed out. Furthermore, he added that AGH not only educates young manpower for industries, but in general has emerged as a centre for “delivery” and creation of new technologies in these areas.
Advanced services
President P. Dardziński acknowledged that getting into cooperative mode in the case of the Łukasiewicz Research Network was not a simple task, but it was a success. Currently, Łukasiewicz receives about 70 (per month) inquiries from the private sector for high-quality R&D services.
– These are not requests for simple certificates or quality confirmations, but for advanced business research services, which we specialise in. We support companies in solving their technological problems, conducting research and development projects, upgrading equipment, helping to create new products, making technologies work better, cheaper and more efficient, president P. Dardziński stressed.
One of the most difficult subjects, when it comes to cooperation between business and science, is the issue of intellectual property.
– For high-tech companies with global potential, companies like ours, this is crucial. We are very firm on this subject, it is in our interest and the interest of our customers to have the ability to dispose of intellectual property without restriction, F. Granek commented. Private companies use such strategies to avoid problems in future.
