Polish Technology Transfer Offices Discuss Technology Transfer in Different Innovation Ecosystems at Jubilee Conference in Katowice

The conference programme addressed key issues at the heart of TTO operations, affecting their day-to-day work and success in commercialising university-developed solutions. Discussions covered new digital tools, including AI-assisted systems, for managing processes related to R&D activities, intellectual property management, and commercialisation. Considerable attention was devoted to enabling environments for innovation, the impact of regional innovation ecosystems, and the importance of research-and-implementation cooperation at city level and with business support institutions, such as technology parks and special economic zones, supporting regional competitiveness and entrepreneurship, using Katowice and the surrounding metropolitan area as an example. The event also featured case studies of science-business cooperation that resulted in the market deployment of solutions developed at Silesian universities. Further sessions explored the growth of academic entrepreneurship, the role of academic business incubators, pathways from concept to start-up, and opportunities to finance the technological maturity of solutions through venture capital funds.

An important element of the conference was the exchange of experience as part of an international forum. Practical approaches to innovation programming, technology transfer, spin-off creation, and TTO support network models were presented by experts from peer institutions at the University of Cambridge in England, the University of Colorado Boulder in the USA, Atrineo AG in Germany, Transfera in Czechia, University College Cork in Ireland, SATT Nord in France, and LaiKITT in Denmark.

Considerable attention was also devoted to intellectual property protection, Unitary Patent procedures, and strategies for building technology portfolios in the context of legal, financial, and market changes affecting the direct and indirect commercialisation of university-derived solutions.

The 20th PACTT National Conference provided an excellent opportunity to establish new connections, discuss the future of innovation, build supportive ecosystems that enable innovation, foster science-industry collaboration, and explore directions for development and challenges for PACTT in the coming years. Great importance was attached to the event’s new workshop format, interspersed with lectures and panel sessions, aimed at strengthening the role of PACTT and university special purpose vehicles (SPVs), initiating mechanisms for closer inter-institutional cooperation, and raising awareness of the collective potential of home-grown solutions.

PACTT currently brings together over 100 Technology Transfer Centres and Offices based at higher education institutions, research institutes, and the Polish Academy of Sciences. The association supports the exchange of knowledge, experience, and good practice in knowledge and technology transfer, as well as the commercialisation of scientific research. PACTT representatives now see a need to give the association a new direction and return to its founding aims: moving beyond the professional integration of those working in academic knowledge and technology transfer, as well as the exchange of knowledge, experience, operating standards, and good practice, to focus primarily on the professional development of TTO personnel, collaborative commercialisation of research findings, and unified representation before public administration bodies, employers' associations, and other entities active in innovation and science-industry collaboration.

The conference concluded with the election of a new PACTT coordinating council, which takes office at a time of ongoing changes in the higher education system, an intellectual property landscape increasingly shaped by AI, and changes in national research funding models. The new council will advocate for academic commercialisation and the professionalisation of TTOs, with these activities viewed in the context of the Draghi report's discussion of their role in strengthening EU competitiveness.

The conference was organised by the PACTT Foundation together with its regional partner, the University of Silesia, and its special purpose vehicle, SPIN-US Sp. z o.o.

The event was held under the honorary patronage of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship, the Mayor of Katowice, the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, and the Rector of the University of Silesia. Event partners included the Katowice Special Economic Zone, OPTeam, the Polish Chamber of Patent Attorneys, the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP), and the Polish Development Fund (PFR). Media patronage was provided by TVP 3 Katowice, TVP Info, Radio Katowice, and Forum Akademickie.

Programme:
https://20.pactt.pl/agenda