Universities are facing challenges such as reduced research funding, increased operational costs, larger pools of competitors and multi-channel research capacity of multinational companies. Rapid advances in technology and knowledge-based economies have triggered the need to innovate at scale and at speed. Universities no longer have the option not to collaborate, and similarly, businesses want solutions that universities can provide.
Individual researchers, their departments, and universities will all benefit from these solutions. Universities that join The Research Exchange are able to benefit from a variety of its features.
Technology Readiness Level or TRL is a universally accepted measure of a project maturity and readiness to be commercialised. Each technology project is evaluated against the parameters for each technology level and is then assigned a TRL rating based on the project’s progress. There are nine technology readiness levels. TRL 1 is the lowest and TRL 9 is the highest. The TRL calculator is embedded into the platform, and researchers can register through their universities to use the system. This adds another level of credibility to the projects being showcased on the platform as due diligence by the universities is also being carried out.
The economic value of an invention is hard to estimate, but such analysis can be used to compare different inventions, which is a parameter that both inventors and investors can use to put value to their projects. It can also be used to highlight the advantages of the invention or its potential for growth.
The goal of the patent valuation calculator is to analyse and attempt to quantify the impact of the invention and give investors a benchmark to which they can stack various inventions together. The patent value calculator provides a quick idea of the value of a patent if a company is intending to acquire a license or buy the patent and implement the patent into the market.
The platform also hosts a business plan generator where researchers can fill their pertinent information into a system that will create a business plan that they can use to promote their research. The business plan will investors the ability to understand the feasibility of the research and guide them in how the product or service can be developed to the point of commercialisation. The business plan will also give the researcher the space to enhance their product, service, technology, or processes in a manner that will be crucial to the long-term success of the research.
The Innovations Catalogue is a searchable database for showcasing the University’s completed research. The catalogue content is not peer reviewed, but it has passed highly controlled quality standards. The open source status of the innovations catalogue is essential to its nature and serves its function as a connective and transitional layer between academic discourse and commercialisation, thereby giving opportunity for interested parties the opportunity to form collaborations.
