FITT (Fosterring Interregional Exchange in ICT Technology Transfer)

1. FITT (Fosterring Interregional Exchange in ICT Technology Transfer)

2. Partnership Management • Partnership management is essential to assure the best relationship and cooperation, business or research, between TTO’s and industrial partners. • Relationship Management with partners and customers enables to: • Have more efficient exploitation of the research results • Create mutual trust, long-lasting and positive relationships • Pave the way for future transfer opportunities • Successful partnership management brings mutual benefits: • Identify opportunities • Stay aligned to market needs/expectations • Identify & solve specific problems

3. Partnership Management • This practice is supported by three main pillars:

4. The satisfaction survey Satisfaction survey is a tool that shows how the Public Research Organizationis perceived by clients and partners • Satisfaction survey impacts the organization at different levels: • The organization’s culture • The internal processes • The main objective is to identify sources of dissatisfaction and to initiate improvement actions with specific indicators that allow a close follow-up. • Hints: • Conducting a “mirror” survey is strongly recommended to compare the perception of partners’ satisfaction with the staff’s point of view Identify the gap between internal and external perception andinitiate actions to reduce it • Outsourcing the survey could overcome impartiality issues

5. The satisfaction survey process The survey process: • Select indicators according to what you want to measure and your objectives  assure the follow-up of the indicators over time • Prepare the questionnaire according to the communication channel and reduce the bias • Segment your clients and partners before picking up the sample  All the relationship with them must be closed at the start of the survey • Run the survey by phone (for instance) complemented with face to face interviews with clients and partners expressing a high degree of dissatisfaction • Process the qualitative and quantitative data, stress strengths and suggest improvements • Disseminate result across the organization

6. The impact of research results • Impact Assessment is a “tricky” practice to put in place due to the choice of the relevant indicators • A long time span is very often required to assess the impact of the research results to be considered as reliable: more than 5 years in most cases • It is difficult to isolate the impact of a transferred result from other organizational activities, decisions, etc. • The impact of the results must only be assessed after their transfer Impact assessment is a tool to enable an in-depth evaluation of impact of public research and transfer activities on economic, environmental and social fields.

7. Impact survey: some indicators

8. Stakeholders • Satisfaction survey: • Quality service (2 full-time persons) Coordinate the survey, present the results to the staff, recommend and engage actions • Top and middle Management  Communicate the results inside the five CRP Henri Tudor’s departments. Disseminate the results among the research teams • CRP Henri Tudor’s Board of directors Presentation of the results and recommendations • Partners and clients  feedback on the survey results and the actions engaged • Impact assessment: • Project management office (1 part-time person)  Define the process and coordinate the related activities • Other potential stakeholders: • Governmental organisms : Ministry of the high education and the research, Ministry of the economy and the Research National Fund (FNR)  Set the performance contract terms as a function of impact achievements

9. PRO’s & CON’s PROs CONs • Remain aligned with the clients/partners and market expectations • Engage the organization in a constant self-improvement process • Assess the impact of the transferred results  Realize the real value of the PRO in its region or country • Satisfaction indicators are in most cases too global do not providing specific feedback to the teams or individuals • These practices impact the culture and process of the whole organization  Big changes require to be managed carefully

10. Rationale • Use the Satisfaction survey if : • Your clients’ and partners’ satisfaction is part of your mission or objectives • You mainly provide solutions to real problems and need feedbacks from the market, clients or partners • You assess the performance of your organization in a key performance indicators (KPI) basis • You are ISO 9001 certified and you have to fulfill the quality requirements • Use the Impact assessment if: • You have to express before your stakeholders how valuable your organization is for your region/country • You want to assess the real performance of the organization and its alignment with its mission

11. Outcomes • Evaluation of the real contribution of the satisfaction survey requires a longer time horizon  at the current state it is too early to claim their real contributions of this practice • Impact Assessment of the transferred research results has not been successfully implemented yet (at CRP Henri Tudor)  Rethinking in progress Partnership management requires time to see tangible results: start the process, monitor it and above all…be patient

12. Lessons Learned • Satisfaction survey • Clients and partners segmentation is paramount to be successful in the evaluation of theirsatisfaction • Tracking the clients and partners satisfaction over time is critical to evaluate the evolution of organization’s performance and the relevance of the actions engaged • Selection of the right impact and satisfaction indicators are critical to have reliable assessments  take into account your organization's objectives • Impact Assessment • Research results Impact Assessment is a “tricky” practice to put in place  get active advice and support from the organizations having already succeeded to implement it • Impact surveys conductedtoo early create frustration and not reliable results: > 5 years in average

13. Suggested Readings • Link to bibliography • “Responsible Partnering. Joining Forces in a World of Open Innovation. A Guide to Better Practices for Collaborative Research and Knowledge Transfer between Science and Industry” - Guidelines published by European University Association, European Association of Research and Technology Organizations, European Industrial Research Management Association, ProTon Europe • “University-Industry Research Relations in the United States” - by Bronwyn H. Hall • Link to relevant websites • http://www.innovation.gov.uk/lambertagreements/ • http://www.industrie.gouv.fr/guidepropintel/outils_contractuels/contrat_de_consortium.htm