Paying Dividends For New Zealand

Excerpts from a speech delivered by NZVCC Chair Professor Roger Field at the launch of the publication University research commercialisation - paying dividends for New Zealand appear below.

"In 1988, the University of Auckland took the first step down the road of commercialisation by establishing Auckland UniServices. From a quiet start it has now grown to a business with revenue of almost 90 million dollars in 2007 and patents in nearly 250 areas. All the other universities have gone down the same path and now the sector is thriving with a turnover of 350 million dollars a year.

"In 2005, the commercialisation entities at the eight universities set up UCONZ, the University Commercialisation Offices of New Zealand, to help promote the sector, UCONZ also provides a forum for the exchange of ideas on how to advance research commercialisation and the benefits it brings to this country.

"In its Tertiary Education Strategy for the years 2007 to 2012, the Government set out its expectations and priorities for New Zealand’s tertiary education system. It also set out the key outcomes it expected from the sector. One of the priority outcomes is “Improving research connections and linkages to create economic opportunities”.

"The Government’s strategy for tertiary education recognises that it is important for the New Zealand economy to shift its focus from a reliance on commodities towards more high value and knowledge-based products. The intellectual resources of the tertiary education sector play an important part in this. To achieve this shift in our economy and secure future economic prosperity we need to get a better return on the research activities of our tertiary education organisations.

"The linkages between universities, other research providers, and private business are especially important in a small country like ours. Many firms are too small to engage in research and development themselves. Universities help by providing the expertise and knowledge to carry out this research. But it requires strong linkages at each stage of the transfer process to ensure that the full benefits from this research are captured.

"Statistics New Zealand’s R&D survey for 2006 showed that research in New Zealand universities was worth 593 million dollars a year. That is one-third of the R&D performed in the country. The universities’ contribution is complemented by the research produced by the now eight Crown research institutes which has been valued at just over 400 million dollars a year.

"The universities are the single most important research organizations in this country. They have over half the country’s research staff and the bulk of its fundamental research capability. They produce half New Zealand’s patents and train nearly all its postgraduate students - the researchers and professionals of the future. They are also at the forefront of commercializing research results.

"The business R&D spend in New Zealand is about one-third of the OECD average. But our universities are making a contribution in line with that of their counterparts in other OECD member countries. Further, they can help the economy by assisting the private sector to increase its R&D contribution. Taking the results of university research and getting it into the marketplace – turning bright ideas into commercial realities – is where the two sectors can work together for the benefit of the country.

we are celebrating tonight are just a few of the successful marriages brokered by UCONZ members between university researchers and the business sector. UniServices, AUT Enterprises and the other UCONZ members have been active over the past 20 years in helping the business sector. Their success is a well-kept secret that we at the NZVCC thought it was time to share with the rest of the country.

"We can show the pay off to New Zealand from the substantial investment the Government and public make in the universities. That pay off comes from the education we provide to the young and not so young in skills for professional careers. It also comes from helping the Government to attain its economic and social goals through our research and the commercialisation of research.

"In compiling this brochure we found it was not a matter of what to put in but what to leave out. What has been included I think gives a good indication of the wide range of research being carried out in New Zealand universities that has the potential to be turned into gold or something approaching that value. The safe transmission of electric currents, cheap and efficient energy generation in the home, and a number of medical advances are highlighted in this publication. All have the potential to change our lives for the better and to produce a financial return that will justify the investment.

"Much work has still to be done on many of these ideas before they reach their full potential. The universities are full of ideas. But as you will have gleaned from the news in the past week or so, one thing we are short of is the funding to develop the ideas. That is where UCONZ helps by putting our ideas in touch with those with the skills to turn bright ideas into commercial reality."