IAWEEK 2020: A place where university talent and the business world of the innovation sector come together
On October 27 and 30, 2020, the IdeAcademy Week (IAWEEK 2020) was held, in which RTDI has actively participated. Organized by PREFET, a FET-Open project specialized in proactive detection, participation and support for researchers with the potential to create something innovative in the long term, of great benefit to society.
This event mixes visibility and networking activities, value-added training and disseminates trends in future and emerging technologies (FET: Future and Emerging Technologies).
The aim of this programme has been to provide valuable information to researchers in multidisciplinary areas, especially from ongoing Horizon 2020 projects. SMEs and high-tech companies have also been able to seek profit. Creativity and invention of new activities have skyrocketed.
We would like to highlight some of the interventions:
Rachel Armstrong, Newcastle University:
“Innovation is a very broad term, while innovation frameworks are still too narrow, rigid and brief.
‘Open source ideas’ would greatly enrich this landscape.”
“Generous collaborators are key to developing high-impact technological visions, even if they are not 100% understood.” We need enriching mechanisms to accredit contributions.
Ana Maiques, Neuroelectrics:
“Think about the importance of what needs to be solved and what can be solved. The EC-FET program makes you really think big about these issues; be really ambitious; be revolutionary.”
“After thinking about a challenge and a solution, you have to look for the best way to achieve it, keeping an open mind to adapt and change it so that it really has a big impact.”
“The path from prototype to product is not path of roses. If as a researcher you want to have positive impacts on life, participate in the evolution of the results towards society”.
Carlos Borlado, Satoshis Games:
Importance of communication: “Adapt the messages so that they are attractive for each audience and for each scenario. Communicate from the beginning, even if sometimes it seems useless. Go beyond the most consolidated channels.”
“Communication about technological advances is also to show that you are going in the right direction, even if you haven’t gotten results yet. You can use hackathons, meetings, specific social media, beta testing platforms, streaming tools… etc.”
“It’s not about communicating the technology itself, but what it brings. I think this has been a mistake in Blockchain. I did research in materials science, and I can’t imagine talking about molecular boundaries, for example, we talk about resistance, etc.”
Rafael Espinosa, ESPORTSBUREAU:
“A very difficult thing is to know what to measure. For new technologies, standard metrics are lacking. That’s why we offer the Esports Metrics initiative at the European level.”
“Communicating technologies at very early stages to engage a community is more difficult because we still don’t know what it really looks like and how to bring it to its full potential.”
“The eSports community is very active in part thanks to the technology we use for communication, which allows them to say what they like or dislike. LISTEN to them to stay active: work on what they say/use feedback.”
Sergio Larreina, Isern Patents and Trademarks:
“Intellectual property may be the smallest part in an R&D project, but the most important to generate impact and promote greater investment in it.”
“We monitor technologies continuously, there is much more than we think, and we could access results to complement our efforts. It’s not just about patenting, it’s not just about protecting.”
Eugene Sweeney, H2020 IPR Helpdesk:
“Fragmented management and accountability / Lack of coordination and structure in IP management is more challenging in cooperative projects and crucial to address”
“Intellectual Property is much more than patents. In fact, it’s really a strategic plan.”
“Best practices in intellectual property management are to identify ALL of the project’s intangible assets/intellectual property, the best means of protection, and all possible options for their exploitation.”
The intellectual property of a project, as well as confidentiality, also affects members of advisory boards, subcontracts, end users of tests …”.
Walter Van de Velde, EC:
“Going beyond what is considered possible and interdisciplinarity remain the main pillars of Pathfinder at Horizon Europe. 60% of FET projects that deliver more novel results come from consortia that are not based on past collaborations.”
EIC approach from visionary technological visions (Pathfinder program to TRL4) to disruptive entrepreneurship (EIC Accelerator to TRL9) through the new Transition to Innovation instrument (for pre-financed projects from TRL4 to 6)”
Marta Calderaro, FET NCP Italia, APRE:
The Pathfinder instruments for Horizon Europe are based on two pillars:
1) Support innovative ideas and the people behind them
2) Create ecosystems around them to generate socioeconomic impact.
Nicolás Ojeda, FET NCP Spain, FECYT:
“We need to prevent ‘ultra-competitiveness’, i.e. really low success rates, and prove that Pathfinder is really worth trying, as FET has been for the last 2 years.”
Eva García Muntión, founding partner at RTDI:
Fundamental elements of a project idea, in future and emerging technologies.
Eva García Muntión, founding partner at RTDI:
Graphic summary of training on new ways of talking about future and emerging technologies:
During the weekend, at IAWEEK 2020, the “Futuristic game jam” was held in which some young game developers participated, who worked hand in hand with three investigations in emerging technology. Very good experience.
Link to see the result: Games.
By clicking on this link you can see a video summary of what iaweek 2020 was, via PREFET: Video.
All recordings of IAWEEK 2020 (debates, contents and presentations).