ACADEMIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP:'IT IS essential that we have the means of converting research, development and innovation into commercialised products and services delivered by companies based out of Ireland." (Excerpt from "We must be ready when the global upturn comes" by Minister for Enterprise Mary Coughlan, The Irish Times, December 30th, 2008.)

Tough times call for tough measures, forcing countries to reconsider their approach to economic development. With knowledge now the fundamental basis of competitive advantage, development agencies are looking for ways to create technology-based start-ups. Recognising the need to generate knowledge-based jobs, policy makers and university heads here are showing more interest in spin-offs.

Much has been achieved over the last decade through investment and technology-transfer infrastructure to accelerate academic entrepreneurship. NovaUCD, the technology-transfer unit at UCD, is now one of the leading facilities in the world, but it has proved to be the exception rather than the rule.

According to Enterprise Ireland figures from 2005-2007, the average spin-off rate from our major institutions is just one company per year, with UCD and NUI Galway leading the rankings, generating seven and six spin-off companies, respectively. Compared to leading universities in the US, the figures are inadequately low.

While Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the State body responsible for supporting academic research, was only set up in 2000, I fear that spin-off figures will remain low for the foreseeable future, unless entrepreneurship education in Irish institutions is overhauled.

Only through the cultivation of strong entrepreneurship structures can a university hope to break down the walls between university innovation and the commercial world. Universities must change the mindset of academics towards commercialisation in Ireland. Academics will not understand the legitimacy of commercialisation unless it is supported from the top of the institution, as well as by proper communication structures and leadership.

Simply sponsoring activities is not enough. There has to be a strategy of establishing new priorities and re-allocating resources to optimise the technology-transfer process. It is imperative that business schools get more involved and help overcome the roadblocks that exist for Irish universities attempting to commercialise their inventions.

I have identified a number of strategies of action that can be employed by business schools to help stimulate academic entrepreneurship.

First, a centre for entrepreneurship should be established in each Irish university. Traditionally, entrepreneurship education has been confined to business students. With the introduction of modularisation, and with the drive to create knowledge-based enterprises, there is an opportunity for change.

A centre for entrepreneurship would co-ordinate entrepreneurship programmes across campus, rather than in business schools only. Such a centre would direct entrepreneurship research and training. It would ensure the promotion of entrepreneurial learning among the academic community, both in classroom and extra-curricular. Centres would work with a technology-transfer office and new venture support units (as outlined to the right).

A typical entrepreneurship programme for science and engineering students will include a module that addresses the processes that move innovations out of the lab and into the marketplace. It will show students how to identify emerging market opportunities relevant to their research; how to secure the necessary resources to exploit opportunities; and the best ways to build and finance a successful start-up.

As a result of introducing a similar initiative, the National University of Singapore saw an increase in enrolment in its “technopreneurship” courses, from less than 200 in 2001 to over 1,300 by 2005. A similar story is recorded at Stanford. As late as 1995 its new venture programme offered a single entrepreneurship course to a maximum of 65 students. It now offers 13 courses with 1,500 places. UCD has recently introduced modules offering PhD students training in entrepreneurship and commercialisation skills.

There is a need for graduate programmes to be introduced that enable engineers and scientists to be taught alongside MBA students. This could involve these students linking up with Science Foundation Ireland research teams, or combining with TechSearch, the Enterprise Ireland “technology for licensing” initiative. This would help MBA studentsdevelop a go-to-market strategy for products developed by academic researchers. MIT’s iTeams module has been an outstanding success and could be easily applied to an Irish context.

An entrepreneurship centre could also link teams of MBAs with Irish high-potential start-ups. This would help solve the problems a founding team will face when scaling its business. It would be a good idea if programmes allowed students to work one day a week in a university spin-off company. Again, a similar module has been a success at MIT.

Entrepreneurship centres would also develop links between universities and external ventures and investors. A good example would be the Arthur Rock Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard, which helps to make connections with potential technology, funding and marketing partners. Entrepreneurship centres would hold conferences for chief executives, alumni, venture capitalists, and other key players.

Executive education programmes could also be developed. This would encourage more synergy between businesses and academic institutions.

Mentoring services would help budding scientific entrepreneurs test the feasibility of their ideas.

Modern educational institutions are under growing pressure to provide a platform for high-tech start-ups while also ensuring that faculty and staff have sufficient opportunities and resources to engage in entrepreneurial behaviour.

There are many ways in which universities can make a positive contribution to economic development and each institution must seek to organise and implement its entrepreneurship programmes in the manner which best suits its own resources and situation.

Despite the choice of programmes available, there are a number of structural interventions that university heads can employ to promote further academic entrepreneurship across campus. However, in order to accelerate and promote a culture of entrepreneurship, there is a real need for the establishment of university-wide centres for entrepreneurship.

Run effectively in a country the size of Ireland, these centres could quickly affect research institutions and dramatically improve the prospects of would-be academic entrepreneurs looking to bring their ideas out of the laboratory and into the commercial marketplace. With the current economic uncertainty, there has never been a more important time to achieve this goal.

Dr Rory O’Shea is a lecturer at the UCD school of business and is the academic programme co-ordinator of the BComm degree. He is co-editor of the forthcoming book, Building Technology Transfer within Research Universities: An Entrepreneurial Approach (Cambridge University Press, 2009)