MISSION 3 – Innovation and Technology Transfer
The society and industry of the future will be characterized by increasingly advanced and challenging environments and technologies, in which telecommunications networks will form the backbone of communication and information society, enabling a connection of high quality and stability in any place and at any time. In this scenario, innovation is essential.
Mission 3 of the RESTART program aims to facilitate innovation by creating awareness of new opportunities enabled by innovative technological components and systems in the telecommunications industry. This includes materials, antennas, low-power devices, Open-RAN software modules, integrated fiber-wireless systems, zero-touch systems, spectrum-agile private networks, and more.
Mission 3 has the ambition not only to stimulate the medium-low TRL research in telecommunications, but also to increase the TRL of results generated by the RESTART projects to transfer research achievements into innovations to be exploited in new products and solutions.
At this scope Mission 3 has the ambition to create favorable conditions to allow the researchers involved in the activities within RESTART to be active in technology transfer by proposing their innovations, prototypes, and patents to Industry for their possible exploitation. At the same time, the mission seeks to incentivize national companies and industry leaders to leverage the project results to strengthen their position in international markets.
Collaboration between universities, research centers, and industries will be fostered, considering joint management of exploitable innovations, including intellectual property rights (IPR) and licensing agreements.
- Presentation of Mission 3 Scope and Procedures:
In January 2023, the mission responsible Roberto Sabella (Ericsson) presented Mission 3 scope and procedures to the RESTART community during the kick-off meeting. - Contribution to RESTART Objectives:
It was established that Mission 3 contributes to the quantitative KPIs of RESTART objectives O3.3, O3.4, and O3.5. - Seminar on Intellectual Property Rights and Patents:
In February 2023, a seminar on "Intellectual Property Rights and Patents" was conducted by the mission responsible. This seminar was directed at the RESTART program community, particularly the Principal Investigators (PIs). - Four-Phase Process for Innovation Value:
A four-phase process (setup, initial inventory, periodic assessment, and “prepare to transfer”) was established to maximize the impact of the RESTART program by recognizing and leveraging emerging innovations. This process was presented at the RESTART plenary in Bari in July 2023. - Innovation Survey:
A web-based "Innovation Survey" with eight open questions was prepared for Principal Investigators to highlight potentially transferable innovations. This tool aims to uniformly track innovations using a dynamic database with periodic updates. So far, 24 innovations have been proposed. A specific process for identifying potential receivers and facilitating technology transfer was also established and presented to the RESTART community. Follow-up on exploitation opportunities for these innovations began in February 2024. - Second Seminar on Innovation Protection:
In November 2023, the mission responsible led a seminar titled "Protection of Innovations in RESTART," exploring the opportunities and challenges of safeguarding intellectual property within the RESTART program. - Plenary Dissemination Workshop:
In January 2024, the Plenary Dissemination Workshop took place in Bologna. This public event presented the results from the first year of activity and outlined future initiatives. The mission responsible presented the achievements and plans for Mission 3 in a talk titled “Strategy for Innovation and Technology Transfer.” - Presentation to ASSTEL:
In April 2024, Mission 3 initiatives were presented to a high-level representative of ASSTEL, an association representing telecommunications companies and a member of Confindustria. - Enhancing Technology Transfer Effectiveness:
From May 2024 onwards, efforts have focused on enhancing the effectiveness of the technology transfer process by connecting innovative ideas from Structural and Focused projects with potential recipients. These connections aim to channel innovations to the market as new products or services, thus maximizing the impact of the RESTART program. - Private Partner Interest Questionnaire:
In May 2024, a new questionnaire was prepared to gauge the interest of private partners in the innovations from RESTART. The web-based form aims to collect opinions on the feasibility and potential impact of these innovations. Based on the responses, the process for each private partner is as follows:- Interest without doubts: Facilitate contact between the partner and the innovation proponents, suggesting possible technology transfer channels.
- Interest with doubts: Promote discussions to improve the proposal and subsequent technology transfer.
- Lack of interest: Contact the partner to understand their specific interests. Innovations without interest within the Partnership will be presented to external companies.
- Analysis of Collected Responses:
In July 2024, all responses were systematically analysed using pie and bar charts to visualize the data. For example, the domain of "Photonics and Radio Frequency Integration" captured the interest of 45.5% of participants, with an additional 18.2% expressing potential future interest. - Collaboration with Borsa della Ricerca:
A partnership began with the "Borsa della Ricerca" initiative to explore synergies for maximizing interactions between RESTART innovation proponents and potential receivers. On May 6th, Mission 3 was presented at a PNRR Live event, part of online workshops designed to discuss PNRR-funded projects and objectives. This one-hour live-streamed workshop allowed participants to engage directly with the mission responsible and explore technology transfer opportunities.
- KPI3.3: at least 1 innovated product per industrial partner and at least 20 patent filed.
- KPI3.4: at least 1 EU project proposal (submitted or accepted) per RESTART partner and at least 3 new business lines/units across all industrial partners.
- KPI3.5: potential of at least 10% energy consumption reduction in at least 3 relevant products or processes.