ESTABLISHING THE JOURNAL ON TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENTREPRENEURS
To show the commercialisation success stories of scientific discoveries, to dispel myths about the reluctance and inability of the researchers and companies to communicate, to inspire those who have been afraid of cooperation – for this purpose, Riga Technical University and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia are launching the Journal «Innovation».
According to the Ministry of Economics, the precondition for competitiveness of the Latvian economy is the increase of productivity – growth should be based on technological factors, production efficiency, and innovation. Cooperation of science and business sector has already created innovative and creative products and services that are competitive on the global market. At the same time, it is believed that entrepreneurs and scientists speak different languages, the business does not understand the significance of discovery, while researchers are not able to solve business problems. Is it true? Is the cooperation really passive? Who is impeding and promoting it? What are the parties gaining from cooperation? What is the benefit of it for the national economy? When can the fruits of cooperation be enjoyed by the society? Can each scientist be a successful businessman and is it necessary at all? Answers to these questions will be sought in the new Journal «Innovation».
Riga Technical University (RTU) has defined the commercialisation of the ideas and products created by scientists as one of the cornerstones of its development.
The establishment of systematic cooperation between entrepreneurs and researchers is also an important part of the work of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA). To facilitate cooperation, LIAA functions have been expanded – to promote innovation and technology transfer, within which the LIAA will further engage in various activities related to innovation promotion and technology transfer.
With the help of the Journal, RTU is willing to create a unified information platform in Latvia, promote cooperation between higher education institutions and industry, enhance understanding of technology transfer, as well as increase the contribution of science and higher education institutions to the national economy. That is why the Journal will share not only the ideas and scientific discoveries of RTU researchers, but also present success stories of other higher education institutions and research organisations in Latvia, discuss the achievements of companies, as well as introduce readers to bright ideas of start-ups.
The Journal will carry popular science content, providing its readers with analytical material on commercialisation issues, policies that affect the development of commercialisation and national economy, the role of innovation in the development of various sectors, support mechanisms for the transfer of scientific technology, as well as the creation and strengthening of start-up environment. Attention will also be devoted to various forms of co-operation initiated by the parties, as well as, through the personality prism, to people who are actively involved in promoting innovation and cooperation.
The Journal will be published every quarter in Latvian and English, in printed and digital form. The Journal «Innovation» is issued with the financial support of the European Regional Development Fund project «Technology Transfer Programme».
