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Istitute for Science, Technology and Global Sustainable Innovation

Best Practices Guide

The ICT Sustentável Global Best Practices Guide aims to contribute to the promotion of actions directed at the generation, co-participation, dissemination and application of knowledge that results in sustainable and innovative solutions to problems with political, social, economic, environmental and cultural impact.
The ICT Sustentável Global recognizes that, for the process of innovation and value creation, knowledge transfer and cooperation among stakeholders - Scientific and Technological Institutions (STIs), teaching and research institutions, private sector, third sector, government, liberal professionals, and civil society organizations - fit as primary sources for the formation of partnerships, whose relationship is mutually beneficial through the interaction between scientific and market knowledge, with appropriation of laboratories, researchers, resources for investments, capacity to implement practical solutions that, through innovative research, will lead to the generation of competitive differentials that will contribute to the expansion of knowledge and development of new processes, products, and services.
For ICT Sustentável Global the complexity and abstraction present in technological research can always be overcome by the effectiveness of partnerships, where the diversity of objectives, interests, and expectations, as well as cultural norms, regulatory barriers, and government policies may be aligned and adjusted with the establishment of adequate contractual conditions and by the constant flow of information between the parties.
In this perspective, ICT Sustentável Global recognizes that the following steps contribute to the development of productive partnerships:
  • All parties involved must establish and share their goals, interests, and expectations in a clear, objective, and detailed manner;
  • Intellectual property and technological intelligence enforcement tools should be used in selecting partners, mapping competencies, and defining technological challenges;
  • Critical identification and assessment of possible risks should be applied in the scope of technology, sustainability and investment to be made;
  • Surpassing any diversities that may exist between the parties from the beginning of the partnership, allowing the collaboration to be positive and long-term;
  • The establishment of leadership based on knowledge and action over the largest number of sectors/segments/areas involved, is essential to stimulate interaction and communication between the parties;
  • The search, analysis and employment of innovation tax incentives, external funding sources and fostering opportunities allowed by the National Code of Science, Technology & Innovation (Decree No. 9,283/2018) should be considered and contribute to the effectiveness of partnerships.
  • In order to align the understanding of the suggested steps, we present the following breakdown:
  • Objectives, Interests and Expectations
  • Each party involved needs to know what it effectively wants and present it clearly and objectively for the other partners' understanding. This requires preparation and planning to define what it seeks with the collaboration and how it will play its role, considering the collective purpose
  • The treatment of issues on intellectual property, ownership, commercial exploitation and technology transfer must be open, facilitating the understanding of all its contents, providing greater agility in any negotiations.
  • Consulting, Service Provision, Licensing, Product Commercialization and Partnership Agreements for RD&I are examples of business models that must be established and be known to all.
  • Everyone involved needs to have the same understanding of the end goal, which makes it necessary for each to assist the others in realizing the potential of a low-maturity technology and its advantages when taking on the inherent technological risk.
  • Indentification and Choice of Stakeholders
  • The proper identification and selection of the institutions that will make up the partnership includes understanding the objectives of each and also the people who will represent them, since they will be the ones acting in the interaction. This implies establishing trust, proper mapping of competencies, and alignment of motivation in relation to the challenge/opportunity presented.
  • Business opportunities can be identified from the evaluation of patent documents, as they indicate the technological intelligence of a potential partner and should serve as input to the selection process.
  • Identification factors include the most appropriate match between technological competencies and solutions with new business development needs
  • The selection of partners with qualified intellectual capital, capable of generating relationships based on trust and mutual respect, increases the possibility of building a long-term partnership.
  • Risk Identification and Assessment
  • All parties involved must identify and assess the risks to be assumed in relation to the investment to be made, considering that the low degree of maturity of an innovation makes the risk in the investment and the corresponding financial return high in the short term.
  • The risk assessment must choose between partnering or in-house development, considering criteria involving, among others: confidentiality, intellectual property risks, technical capacity (absent or effective), adequate infrastructure, costs involved, business focus, and technological risk.
  • Surpassing Diversity
  • Differences between the parties exist, but they will not be barriers to collaboration if addressed and adjusted from the beginning of the partnership. The urgency for change and the breaking of paradigms often oppose the academic bias, but all must live together in harmony, so that advances in science and technological innovation can be obtained.
  • Flexibility and acceptance are essential characteristics for the development of the mindset stimulating connection and exchange among all, resulting in the achievement of entrepreneurial actions and sustainable innovation.
  • Honesty and transparency tend to generate trust and reliability, these being values that take time to be earned and that, when present, facilitate learning, coexistence and respect between the parties, contributing to the longevity of the relationship.
  • Establishing and Acting on Leadership
  • The leadership positions of the teams that make up the partnership must be exercised by professionals with the appropriate profile for management and possessing greater knowledge and performance about sectors/segments/areas involved.
  • The recognized exercise of activities in the sectors/segments/areas involved gives the leader more understanding about the realities of each one, enabling him to act with empathy and generating more confidence in the led.
  • Stimulating constant interaction between the members of the partnership is part of the leader's agenda, so that besides being successful, the partnership can be long-lasting. With this, the lack of communication between the parties is eliminated, known to be one of the biggest problems that occur during long periods of interaction.
  • Conducting meetings for follow-up and progress review, must be planned and organized, so that communication happens objectively and fluidly, without noise and conflict and contributes to the alignment of expectations.
  • The leadership must encourage contact between the parties involved, in order to generate new relationships and greater understanding about the reality of each party involved, by organizing seminars, lectures or even informal exchanges.
  • Incentives and Foments
  • The parties involved should consider the fostering opportunities offered by external sources and tax incentive mechanisms for innovation and, in particular, the opportunities regulated by the National Science, Technology & Innovation Code.
  • The incentives for the formation of partnerships must be objectively defined, as well as the framework of the parties.
  • The possibility of obtaining mutual benefit through the application of the legal arrangements that are contained in the Legal Framework for Science, Technology and Innovation, already regulated in the National Code of Science, Technology & Innovation, must be the object of understanding to be reached by the parties, as they provide elements that contribute to the formation of the partnership.
  • The consolidation of partnerships in a more systemic and natural way can be achieved with the creation of innovation environments, as provided for in the Legal Framework for Science, Technology and Innovation, constituting or increasing the physical and laboratory structure or the intellectual capital and technologies of all parties involved, encompasses the incorporation of skills and not only financial resources.
  • Final Considerations
    This Best Practices Guide does not end here, it must be read and practiced with the Statute, the Internal Regulations, the Compliance, Integrity, Ethics and Transparency Policies, and the Ethical Conduct Manual of the Institute of Science, Technology and Global Sustainable Innovation, as well as with all related legislation, which together encourage, strengthen and undertake integral human formation and the continuous development of actions to improve the global ecosystem. Besides contributing to the promotion of healthy relationships, productivity and quality of the Institute, internally and with partner institutions.