Leveraging Practical Use of Science for Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship

Project is developed to tackle a problem of relatively weak ability to turn region’s scientific and labour assets into innovative outputs and economic prosperity. Preliminary studies indicate that in the technologically highly developed Nordic countries cooperation between academics and industry is very well established. This cooperation will be a subject to research within this project, which results will be used in order to establish solid bases for development of cooperation between these two fields in the frame of this project. Project originated to leverage scientific potential in order to render scientific services on national and international level as efficiently and openly as possible. Thus, the main objective have been set to enhance cooperation possibilities amongst entrepreneurship and science fields to produce innovation-driven products and services by improving accessibility of scientific services and equipment to entrepreneurs. To reach this, there will be foreseen both implications–theoretical & technical. On theoretical level info about current constrains and future expectations on mutual collaboration amid science and entrepreneurship fields will be studied. This will be done by holding devoted focus groups and seminars for representatives of both fields. Via these events methods will be sought how to tackle insufficient accessibility and use of scientific services and equipment amongst entrepreneurs who focus on rendering services and producing goods of high added value. When theoretical knowledge obtained, technically a mechanism which compiles info on available scientific services and equipment will be developed. This will be done at two stages: 1)internal Registries of Research Equipment and Services (RRES) at the partner universities will be established, where all the info about research equipment and related services will be collected;2)RRES will be linked in Portal www.scientificservice.eu (domain is already booked), thus allowing for those interested to browse and book necessary equipment/services of all member universities online. Thus, services&equipment, which are in possession of universities of the partnership, will be made available via joint Portal. As a result, project will help entrepreneurs use bigger potential when producing high added value goods&services. Added value of project is vested into its durability as units to run RRES will be established at the universities as well as software of RRES will be available for download free of charge for those universities and other institutions that might be willing to join Portal (network). Plus, structured system will improve effectiveness of utilization of available scientific equipment as no duplication (purchase of the same equipment although rarely used) will be possible once the information will be gathered into one joint system. This will also ease both internal bureaucratic processes as well as external,e.g.,rendering scientific services outside university.

The UseScience project enhanced the cooperation opportunities among entrepreneurs and fields of science to produce innovation-driven products and services by improving the accessibility of scientific services and equipment to entrepreneurs, in order to turn the region’s scientific and human resource assets into innovative outputs and economic prosperity. To tackle the problem, the project established a comprehensive and openly available system – the Registry of Research Equipment and Services (RRES) – linked with the portal www.scientificservices.eu through which universities are able to meet their scientific equipment and service needs online. In addition, information about current constraints and future expectations in science and entrepreneurship fields has been studied, by holding devoted focus groups and seminars.