THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO RESEARCH FOUNDATION Translating Research into Business Ten years promoting technological innovation THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO RESEARCH FOUNDATION Carlos Vogt President Marcos Macari Vice-president BOARD OF TRUSTEES Adilson Avansi de Abreu Carlos Vogt Celso Lafer Hermann Wever Horácio Lafer Piva Hugo Aguirre Armelin José Arana Varela Marcos Macari Nilson Dias Vieira Júnior Vahan Agopyan Yoshiaki Nakano EXECUTIVE BOARD Ricardo Renzo Brentani Chief Executive Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz Scientific Director Joaquim José de Camargo Engler Administrative Director Translating Research into Business Ten years promoting technological innovation Projects supported by FAPESP in the Partnership for Technological Innovation and Technological Innovation in Small Businesses Programs 2005 Catalogação-na-publicação elaborada pelo Centro de Documentação e Informação da FAPESP The State of São Paulo Research Foundation. Translating research into business : ten years promoting technological innovation : projects supported by FAPESP in the Partnership for Technological Innovation and Technological Innovation in Small Businesses programs / The State of São Paulo Research Foundation – São Paulo : FAPESP, 2005. 256 p. : il. ; 28 cm. Tradução de: A pesquisa traduzida em negócios : dez anos de incentivo à inovação tecnológica : projetos apoiados pela FAPESP nos programas Parceria para Inovação Tecnológica e Inovação Tecnológica em Pequenas Empresas. I. Título II. Título: Ten years promoting technological innovation. III. Título: Projects supported by FAPESP in the Partnership for Technological Innovation and Technological Innovation in Small Businesses programs. 1.FAPESP 2. Pesquisa e desenvolvimento – São Paulo 3. Ciência 4. Tecnologia 5. Inovação tecnológica 6. Inovação Tecnológica em Pequenas Empresas 7. PIPE 8. Parceria para Inovação Tecnológica 9. PITE 04/05 CDD 507.208161 Depósito Legal na Biblioteca Nacional, conforme Lei n.º 10.994, de 14 de dezembro de 2004. 2005 Direitos reservados à FAPESP - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo Rua Pio XI, 1500 – Alto da Lapa 05468-901 – São Paulo – SP Tel: (11) 3838-4000 Advancement of Knowledge with Development of the Economy ver the last 50 years, Brazil has developed a competitive academic capability in the activities of the advancement of knowledge and the training of human O resources. There has been a six-fold increase in scientific production since 1980 – a rate of growth well above the world average –, whilst the highly suc- cessful state drive to support post-graduates over this period nowadays enables the qual- ification of 9 thousand new PhDs each year. All of this indicates the existence of an aca- demic base comparable to that of many member countries of the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development (OCDE), which derives from the complemen- tary drive of research support agencies such as the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the Coordination for the Training of University Personnel (Capes), the Financier of Studies and Projects (Finep) and from state research support foundations including the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). This base enables the country to meet with increased chances of success, the enormous challenge of introducing research activity into businesses, bringing an increase in tech- nological competitiveness and in the capacity for innovation. FAPESP, one of the main support agencies for scientific and technological research in Brazil, has played a key role in this endeavor to engage the academic base by means of the training of human resources and cooperative projects, with Research and Development (R&D) in the business world. Just over ten years ago, the Foundation’s programs geared towards Technological Innovation began to produce a revolution in the way scientific and technological research was financed in Brazil, as well as obtaining results of high impact in very competitive areas. Brazilian scientists, in partnership with national and transna- tional technology-based companies, developed original projects which resulted in inno- vations with a potential for competing with technologies produced in the great world centers. Some examples of this are synthetic diamond drill bits for use in dentistry, advanced devices for fiber optical communication, technology for the early and more accurate diagnosis of skin cancer, a new type of fibrocement to replace asbestos, or improvements in the control and planning strategies of the operation of oil refineries which resulted in tens of millions of dollars in benefits. FAPESP’s first initiative in the direct funding of innovation occurred at the end of 1994, when it decided to put into practice a program for research projects, which in addi- tion to supporting the training of researchers and the creation of knowledge, also sought its dissemination and application, facilitating the interactions for the transformation of knowledge into wealth. In tune with society’s wishes, FAPESP accepted the challenge of adding to its mission to promote scientific research, the commitment to creating opportunities to support eco- nomic development, financing research projects created and developed in partnership between academic institutions and private enterprise. The concern was to engage the aca- demic sector’s research offer with the demand from the business sector. The main novel- • Translating Research into Business 6 ty was the requirement for a partner business that demonstrated real interest in the trans- fer of technology which the project proposed to create. With risks and costs shared, this would also guarantee the possibility of overcoming prejudices in the relationship between the academic and business environments. Backing businesses Thus, in 1995, the first of the current twelve programs geared to Technological Innovation began to operate. Conceived in the Scientific Directorate and approved by the Foundation’s Governing Body, the Partnership for Technological Innovation Program (PITE) began to accept proposals that year. And, after ten years of activity, it now numbers 90 approved projects and an investment of over R$ 90 million, or US$ 37,5 million – 46 per cent of which contributed by partner businesses. The program is open to researchers from research institutions based in the State of São Paulo in partnership with businesses of whatever size regardless of whether they are headquartered in Brazil. The part of the pro- ject financed by FAPESP is developed in the academic research institution. Brazil: according to the UN, an outstanding region for investment in technology Index of Technological Achievement Leaders Potential leaders Dynamic followers Marginalized No data avaliable Classification according to technological innovation Points 16 - maximum 4 - minimum Translating Research into Business • 7 In addition to promoting partnerships between academic institutions and businesses, FAPESP perceived that there existed in São Paulo a scientific and technological base capa- ble of creating and developing small innovative businesses. Consequently, it set up the Technological Innovation in Small Businesses (PIPE), which supports scientific and tech- nological research projects undertaken in small businesses. Created in 1997, in its first year of activity PIPE received 82 proposals and 32 of them were awarded finance. Today, more than R$ 71 million, or around US$ 29,5 million, have already been invested in the 435 approved projects. Of these, 64 per cent are in the second phase or are actively seek- ing capital for the commercialization of their results in Brazil or abroad. PIPE is based on the Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR), main- tained by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States. The projects are developed in three phases, within the small business, they do not require the investment counterpart and they must lead to an innovation with commercial value. In phase 1, the viability of the proposal must be studied. In phase 2, a prototype of the proposed inno- vation is developed. In phase 3, aimed at the development of products, the Foundation may finance a small business through partnerships such as that made possible by the Support for Research in Businesses Program (Pappe), run by Finep which is an agency of ADO Ç SIRIO CAN • Translating Research into Business 8 the Ministry of Science and Technology. Partnership with the Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Businesses in São Paulo (Sebrae) is another means of support for the development of business plans. One of the assumptions is that micro and small businesses are important vectors of technological development, that is to say, they are capable of creating technology which could reach the production line or be licensed by larger businesses. The program also seeks to encourage undergraduate and post-graduate students to set up businesses, with a strat- egy of incorporating knowledge produced in the academic environment into a product, developing research aimed at innovation. Expansions The confirmation that investments of this nature do indeed bring significant socioe- conomic returns opened perspectives for the formation of groups of businesses from the same economic sector, in partnership with teaching and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, for the solution of shared technological problems. This perception led FAPE- SP to offer a third form of university-business cooperation: the Sectoral Consortiums for Technological