COLLABORATION BETWEEN UNIVERSITY AND INDUSTRY
INTERFIRM TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATION
ATTRACTION OF TECHNOLOGY-INTENSIVE ACTIVITIES
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Public support for technology transfer
Technology transfer policy received a significant boost from the European Commission's Fourth R&D Framework Programme, which defined the priorities relating to levels of technology development and the dissemination of innovation. The Programme was sub-divided into four activities, dealing with: special R&D programmes, international collaboration, dissemination of R&D results, and training and mobility of researchers. The principal objectives of the programme are: (1) promoting broad application technologies to as many productive activities as possible, and (2) promoting the dissemination and spread of the results of R&D activities.
The first activity, which covers 83% of its budget, is based on the development of generic technologies. The main applications include information and communications technologies (28.2% of the project's budget), energy technologies (18.5%), industrial technologies (16%), biomedicine and biotechnologies (13.1%), and environmental protection technologies (9%). The Programme includes also three activities focusing on R&D transfer and dissemination. The second concerns international collaboration, and absorbs 4% of the Programme's budget. The third is rooted in the experience of the Value and Sprint Programmes, and focuses on the dissemination and exploitation of research results, absorbing 2.5% of the budget. The fourth and final activity, which focuses on the researchers themselves and accounts for 6.2% of the budget, is designed to support and promote training and mobility.
In Greece, the main orientations of technology transfer policy for the period 1994-1999 originate in the Community Support Framework and are described in the Operational Research and Technology Programme. This Programme has a total budget of 580 million ECU, 27% of which is expected to come from the private sector, while the rest will be covered by Community Funds and national contributions. It consists of five sub-programmes, each of which comprises a particular number of actions and policy measures.
The first sub-programme, which accounts for 26% of the budget, supports programmes submitted by consortia of research companies and institutions in five socio-economic domains: environmental protection, life sciences (agricultural and medical applications), information technology, new materials, and socio-political development. The second sub-programme, with 46% of the budget, is oriented towards industrial research, innovation, technology transfer, technology of culture, electronic networks and development of data bases, as well as international collaboration in Science and Technology. The large single chunk of the budget will go to direct encouragement for innovation and technology transfer, supporting demonstration programmes, technology brokering, technology audits and technological assessment. It also promotes the development of science parks, research and technology institutions, technical museums, contact points with university and public sector research centres, and industrial design institutions. The third sub-programme (18% of the budget) supports the development of new or existing R&D laboratories and institutes. A specialised programme will study how effective public sector R&D units are at providing services to industry. Marine research is expected to receive substantial support, while plans are going forward for the foundation of new institutes in the fields of information technology, industrial automation, health, transportation and cultural technologies. The fourth sub-programme focuses on financing university research and is intended to increase the numbers of those actively employed in research in this country. This programme favours post-doctoral research, and thus supplements the activity of the State Scholarship Foundation. One of its proposals is for the establishment of a research and training centre in the field of science and technology policy. Finally, the fifth sub-programme is devoted to studies on Science and Technology policy, and the evaluation, dissemination and management of the programme as a whole.
One of the critical features of the national research system is the limited participation of the business sector in the financing and practical application of R&D. Most recent policies focus on helping companies and the public become aware of the importance of research and technology, and to awaken their interest. Available survey (1993) statistics on industrial R&D show that companies spent 21 billion GDR on R&D (20% of gross expenditure on R&D) and carried out research worth 30 billion GDR (29% of gross public expenditure on R&D). The difference was made up chiefly from public coffers (national and Community). In comparison with the previous survey (1991), there has been a significant increase in the numbers employed. In 1993, 14.4% of gross expenditure on R&D came form the CSF and 1.3% from international organisations and other foreign sources, while the contribution of the Community Structural Funds to Greek long term operational R&D programmes supplied another 15%. Half the funds from the CSF were absorbed by the universities and 28% by public sector research institutions, while only 23% went to companies.
Interfirm collaboration and technology transfer in Central Macedonia
Paralleling collaboration between industry and research and public support for technology transfer, a substantial fraction of technology transfer is effected through interfirm technology collaboration (sub-contracting, licensing, founding of new companies), as well as through foreign investment.
Sub-contracting and technology transfer: In Central Macedonia, sub-contracting is concentrated in the clothing and footwear sector. In the clothing sector, sub-contracting is a far more common phenomenon than in all the other sectors, traditional or otherwise. Companies contract out part of their production, because of limited production capacity and/or lack of adequate machinery. In this sector, the predominant form of sub-contracting is that which is developed between Greek companies or between Greek and foreign companies. This type of sub-contracting excludes specialisation and innovation, thus preventing companies from growing and developing. Here, the sub-contractor produces consumer goods to designs and specifications and with raw materials furnished by the client company. The relationship of dependence affects the commercial as well as the productive sphere, which has a negative effect on the sub-contractor. In general, the terms on which sub-contracting functions in Central Macedonia constitute an obstacle to the improvement of the productive and technological capacity of the contracting firm. The production process is labour-intensive and the potential for the sub-contractor to expand into the design and initiation of product lines is extremely limited.
Production collaboration and technology transfer: In Central Macedonia, collaboration between companies extends to numerous countries and geographical areas. Of the total number of co-operative arrangements recorded in approximately 200 companies, 40% are with companies in the same or neighbouring Prefectures, another 40% with foreign companies (13% in the European Union, 16% in the USA, Canada and Japan), and the remaining 20% with companies in the Athens area. The objects of these arrangements include: (1) product development, (2) production, and (3) promotion, distribution and commerce via dealers and wholesalers. In each instance, collaboration was also a channel for information and technology transfer. Technology transfer is extremely limited and occurs only in the case of enterprises which by reason of their position or operation have a broad range of information and a close eye on production and the market, as in the case of collaboration involving large companies, suppliers of production machinery and systems, and companies applying new technologies.
Licensing and technology transfer: Greek industry covers most of its technology requirements by purchase from abroad. At the beginning of the 1980s, R&D expenditure accounted for 0.03% of industrial production, while expenditure on royalties accounted for 0.14-0.21%. In other words, the amount spent on purchasing technology was 5-7 times greater than that spent on in-house development and adaptation. By the middle of the decade the ratio had improved, but expenditures on technology purchase were still three times expenditures on research and development. The distribution by sector of royalties payments is uneven, being heaviest in the fields of manufacturing of chemical products and electrical machines and appliances.
Payment of royalties is chiefly associated with product development and production processes. However, more recent royalties agreements include consultancy services on matters of management, marketing, personnel management. The analysis of 675 agreements covering the period 1960-1987 indicate that the main technology flows emerging from these agreements relate to: (1) leasing of technology equipment, (2) turn-key plants, (3) use of trade marks, (4) technical assistance in methods, consulting, organisation, and (5) training of technical personnel in Greece between 1960-1987.
Data on 160 companies in Central Macedonia shows that, during the 1980s, 25% of the companies polled acquired production technology and created their products by means of licensing. A larger percentage, in the neighbourhood of 32.5%, used licensing as an external source for the acquisition of technology in general, while other sources of technology were (in smaller percentages for the remaining companies in the sample) collaboration with other companies, the parent company, and collaboration with Greek universities and technical colleges. Most of the factories which imported technology are located in industrial areas around Thessaloniki and in neighbouring Prefectures. Of the factories in Thessaloniki itself, only 18% reported having imported technology. By sector, the heaviest consumers were: rubber, plastics and chemicals, followed by foods, beverages, textiles, clothing and machinery.
Foreign investment and technology transfer: Most foreign investment is focused on traditional industrial sectors (foods and beverages) or sectors with a wide consumer market (electrical machines and appliances). The heaviest investment occurs in the tertiary sector (insurance companies, banks, transport companies), as well as in commerce, with a series of super-stores which have located on the outskirts of Thessaloniki in order to tap the consumer market of neighbouring Prefectures as well.
Major investments exploit innovative forms in both production processes and product lines, forms which are integrally imported from the parent company. Requirements in specialised personnel are not covered by importing staff, but by training staff locally. The links and collaboration between the foreign companies and their local partners are minimal, and are mainly limited to the absorption by the foreign firm of a tiny fraction of production, or to small-scale sub-contracting undertaken by local enterprises (bottling and packaging part of the total production).
