Following our meeting this evening, this is the organisation I spoke about [from original message posted in March] where IFSO could possibly contribute to the "Guidelines for the successful commercialisation of research currently being drafted by government advisory board the Irish Council for Science, Technology & Innovation" especially as an alternative to Irish Software Assoc vision. But maybe we're too late. Have just taken a look at their website and seen new "National code of practice for managing intellectual property from publicly funded research". www.forfas.ie/icsti/statements/icsti040407/index.html Not sure if it's the same thing. Will check out after my exams.
Teresa
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The Irish Software Association gets the wrong end of the stick entirely regarding IP, patents, etc.:
"Ireland must establish itself as the most intellectual property rights-friendly country with very low barriers to technology transfer and commercial exploitation within Ireland," she said.
"There is a great opportunity for Ireland to benefit from the area of IP," she said. "Ireland needs to be the place where companies go to file patents and do research. ... http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040316/95/eopkt.html
Tuesday March 16, 05:26 PM
New models for software R&D urged
By Anthony Quinn
The Irish software industry must find more successful models of commercialising third level research, according to the Irish Software Association.
Ireland's EUR1.3 billion indigenous software market needs to commercialise more research from third level institutions if it is to remain a serious competitor in the global software development market, according to Bernadette Cullinan, Performix Technologies' chief operating officer and an ISA executive member.
There is currently little effective collaboration between the Irish software sector and third level institutions, noted the Performix Technologies COO at the second ISA-sponsored Open Forum series. "But we believe there is tremendous opportunity to sharpen Ireland's competitiveness and to generate research that is commercially viable," she said.
"The software sector is seeking a way for effective and commercially viable management of intellectual property rights creation between the industry and the third level sector," Cullinan added.
Currently EUR2.5 billion of the National Development Plan is spent on research and 50 percent of the SFI's EUR646 million research funding is going to software research," noted John Shiel, chairperson of the Irish Software Association competitiveness sub-committee.
"The fact is it is difficult to identify a company with more than 10 employees that has emerged from a university, which strongly suggests that the current model is broken," he said. The ISA will be working to develop a proposed model that will address these issues, said Shiel.
One of the main problems in Ireland is that it is often unclear who owns the intellectual property (IP) for research, according to ISA director Kathryn Raleigh. If it is jointly-funded research, there may be barriers in place or conditions attached, she said. "Investors often won't touch the research if that is the case," she told ElectricNews.Net.
"Ireland must establish itself as the most intellectual property rights-friendly country with very low barriers to technology transfer and commercial exploitation within Ireland," she said.
"There is a great opportunity for Ireland to benefit from the area of IP," she said. "Ireland needs to be the place where companies go to file patents and do research. It is relatively easy to commercialise and transfer technology but there is a lot more that we can do," according to Raleigh.
There is willingness for collaboration on all sides, added Professor Kevin Ryan of the University of Limerick. What has hampered the progress is the misunderstanding between industry and academia on use of research and goals, he added.
Guidelines for the successful commercialisation of research are currently being drafted by government advisory board the Irish Council for Science, Technology & Innovation.