UNI2B: Bridging Italian SMEs and University Expertise online

1. Andrea Berti Technology Transfer Office University of Padua, Italy WIPO Forum, Geneva, Sept. 14th, 2007 For Italian SMEs research is just a mouse click away

2. Introduction • Italian universities have plenty of scientific and technical knowledge that could be useful to enterprises. • In the university laboratories there are many advanced scientific tools and facilities that companies could use for their tests. • Universities are willing to offer their own expertise and scientific tools to entrepreneurs. Andrea Berti

3. The university-enterprise relationship • Italian enterprises, especially SMEs, often don’t know how to find a consultant or an expert on a specific technology within university. Sometimes they ignore these opportunities or they simply don’t know whom to call. • University is usually considered to be far from business; only a few entrepreneurs have direct contacts with the researchers. • Even when a contact is created, entrepreneurs and researchers speak different languages, so it is difficult to cooperate. Andrea Berti

4. Solution • UNI2B is a user-friendly search engine that allows the client-entrepreneur to find useful tools or expertises within the Italian research world. • In support of UNI2B, a network of Industrial Liaison Offices, with qualified staff, puts enterprises in contact with researchers and make the communication easier. Andrea Berti

5. What is UNI2B? • It’s a search engine on the Internet (www.uni2b.it) where the entrepreneur can find: • the expertises of university professors which are more suitable to satisfy companies' needs for technological innovation • the scientific tools and equipment in University labs available for external use • the patents owned by University and available for licensing Andrea Berti

6. The project partners • MiUR (the Italian Ministry of University and Research), within its policy to develop Industrial Liaison Offices with the aim of transfering the technology from University to industry, funded4 universities: Padua, Pavia, PerugiaandTrieste • Cineca (a non profit Interuniversity Consortium) developed the database software and the search engine • AIRI (the Italian Association for Industrial Research) and Rete Ventures (a technology transfer firm) contributed to the planning process Andrea Berti

7. Why UNI2B is different from other academic search engines • Because it is tailored to the entrepreneur that doesn’t know the academic world and the university organisation; • Because it is user-friendly and gives direct and simple answers; • Because it shows only the fundamental information and doesn’t confuse the client with useless data (i.e. departments, research groups, publications); • Because it is rich in information and always up-to-date, thanks to the staff that manages it every day; • Because it already gathers 4 important universities, but it will be extended to other universities and research centers, becoming the main search engine of university expertise of industrial interest; • Because the entrepreneur gets in touch with the ILO manager, a skilled person that speaks the language of the business and makes the cooperation with the researcher easier; • Because it works! Andrea Berti

8. How does it work? It’s just a click away: www.uni2b.it Andrea Berti

9. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! Andrea Berti University of Padua Tel. +39 049 8273096 andrea.berti@unipd.it Andrea Berti