East Mediterranean Expert Workshop

Knowledge Transfer from Universities and Public Research Institutes:
Developing Strategies, Capacities and Skills

3 September 2012, 10 – 18 hrs
University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

The contribution of universities and public research organisations in Cyprus, Greece and Israel to economic development is increasingly recognised. However, there are severe challenges for all stakeholders involved in knowledge transfer: Universities need to implement strategies and policies for knowledge transfer and professionalise their intellectual property management. Companies need to become more involved in collaborative research. Agencies funding research and innovation need to adopt a more coherent approach. There needs to be a longer term commitment to the funding of knowledge transfer offices and to increasing the status of the knowledge transfer profession. This workshop was intended to discuss challenges of knowledge transfer, good practices, and ways towards more systematic approaches.

This workshop supported the implementation of the European Commission's 2008 Recommendation on the management of intellectual property in knowledge transfer activities and Code of Practice for universities and public research organisations (http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/pdf/ip_recommendation_en.pdf ). The event was part of a workshop series covering 39 European countries in 2011 and 2012.