Cotec and Csic presented the meeting 'toward a public commitment - private research'
on July 26, 2013
The Fundación General Csic and the Cotec Foundation they have worked in the approach routes and suitable formulas to establish a compromise between the private sector and the public sector for the advancement of the Spanish investigation. This joint effort has organized, within the framework of the courses of summer of the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (Uimp), 'towards a commitment to public-private research' meeting to be held in Santander on 5 and 6 September.
The director-general and coordinator of programs and strategies of the Csic General Foundation, Miguel García Guerrero and Luis José de Miguel, and director general of Cotec, Juan Mulet, participated in the presentation of the meeting to the media at the headquarters of the Fundación Cotec in Madrid.
Miguel García Guerrero noted in his speech that the current economic dimension of research and its relevance to the development and well-being of our societies are redrawing the roles traditionally allocated to public and private initiatives. And how, each time with greater forcefulness, required public officials an effort to align its activities with the needs of the companies, at the time expected of those who increase their level of stewardship for the great challenges of society. Concluding that "This calls a private commitment in research".
Moreover, José Luis de Miguel has put on the table the support of public authorities, in other countries, for the establishment of stable mixed centres between companies and public research centers to meet business needs of applied research.
In this context, the key question arises: which mode of research we are talking about? For the director-general of Cotec, Juan Mulet, is the applied research which is carried out jointly between the public and private sectors in order to generate new knowledge, and that allows companies to define its strategic positioning in the future and develop new products, services or processes.
For Juan Mulet, in Spain, but with ample room for improvement, it can be said that the public and the private sector have learned to work together with the aim of applying existing knowledge to the solution of practical problems and the development of products or processes. "However, this other type of strategic partnerships between public and private initiative in order to generate new knowledge in a planned manner, has been and is virtually non-existent"
The Csic General Foundation and Cotec agree that a priori, two aspects appear to be indispensable for the development of this model successfully. The first, which mainly affects companies, is the requirement that they have included in their business strategy a clear commitment by research. This aspect would be more decisive than the size, so that a truly technological SMEs could benefit from this type of cooperation as the best way to grow.
The other has to do with the way in which the public researchers carry out research. Collaboration with the private sector will reduce its current freedom, every time that it necessarily includes a better planning of research. For this reason, it will be necessary to create new incentive schemes. All this on the basis that the key aspect where you match all the companies that are already involved in this kind of collaboration is the excellence of the involved researchers.
Highlight is that the meeting 'toward a public-private engagement in research' will be also addressed two other important aspects of public-private engagement in research: research as a way to meet the objectives of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and the research object of sponsorship and patronage by major private entities.
