KTI annual report shows 39 new products and services brought to market in 2020
Knowledge Transfer Ireland has announced the results of their Annual Knowledge Transfer Survey (AKTS). The AKTS is an annual scorecard for Ireland’s knowledge transfer community and assesses the status of collaboration between industry and publicly funded research in Ireland.
According to report, 39 new products or services were brought to market in 2020 through collaboration between industry and publicly funded research – up 13 from 2019 – covering fields such as diagnostics, energy, digitalisation and plant varieties.
Research and development activity continues to be a priority for Irish businesses, with a total of 3,681 new engagements with Irish public research in 2020, a 39% increase on the previous year. Small and medium enterprises continue to have a strong appetite for research and development, with three quarters of collaboration agreements between industry and publicly funded research originating from the sector.
Spin-out companies from universities, Institutes of Technology and other publicly funded research bodies also grew in 2020 with 30 new spin-outs formed. There are a total of 128 Active spin-outs that are three or more years in existence, and these companies employ 1,112 people. Nine companies that started life as university spin-outs were acquired in 2020, with a combined value of €7.9 million.
Alison Campbell, director of Knowledge Transfer Ireland, said: “Events of the last 18 months have shown how vital an engaged and proactive knowledge transfer community is. With significant increases in live collaboration projects, new products and services launched, and new jobs in spin out companies to name a few, it is clear that Irish enterprise recognises the very real part that working with the third level on R&D can play in helping them innovate their business for the future. The continued engagement of the SME sector is particularly notable as we know that those who collaborate with the third level on R&D are proven to be more competitive than those who don’t.”
KTI has brought to 247 projects to market since the first Annual Knowledge Transfer Survey was published in 2013.
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