Academic Excellence and Knowledge T ransfer to S ociety

1. Academic Excellence and Knowledge Transfer to Society Hearing on Horizon 2020 and the EITPanel: Academic excellence and knowledge transfer to society19 February 2014 Brussels Joseph Sifakis EPFL, Lausanne Center for Integrative Research, Grenoble

2. Achieving Excellence • Attract the best from Europe and worldwide - make academic careers more attractive • Competitive salaries – R&D labor market is global! • Recognition - create an environment that recompenses master researchers who continue to grow, evolve and perform • Flexibility in resource management – reduce bureaucracy! • Meritocracy in career management 2. Create Critical Mass: Centers of Excellence • Integration on a regional basis of fragmented research centers into single site and under unified governance • Appropriate balance between basic/applied/technological research! • Gathering teams covering a broad spectrum of skills and competencies - multidisciplinary expertise is needed to bring a project to fruition! 2

3. Achieving Excellence 3. Collaboration with industry and enterprises • Industry can reinvigorate research by bring new problems and resources • Academic research should recognize the importance of applications in the evaluation criteria • Break up with the pseudo-dilemma: theoretic research or applied research?There is only good research or bad research i.e. non applicable applied research or bling-bling theory 3

4. Achieving Excellence – US vs. EU • US supremacy in R&D is largely due to Centers of Excellence which combine critical mass and industrial relevance • Europe has a large research potential, well-trained engineers and strong basic research teams. • US attract the majority of best researchers in Centers of Excellence and provide the majority of high quality research publications and scientific breakthroughs. • European research landscape is too fragmented - labs lack critical mass • There is no European equivalent to MIT, CMU, Stanford, Berkeley. • European academic institutions lack efficient mechanisms for transferring innovative results to industry. • US research institutions are propelling innovation through the creation of start-ups and leadership in ambitious R&D project EIT is just a set of "Knowledge and Innovation Communities", composed of networks of existing businesses, institutes and education institutions

5. Changes and Trends in Knowledge Transfer Company-specific problems addressed on an exclusive basis Academic Research • R&D addressinggenericproblemson a cost & risk sharing approach • IP is shared! • Reusable Technology Platforms and Components! Corporate R&D executed by a single player having the exclusive rights on the results GLOBAL R&D Innovation Ecosystem 1945 1990 2000 2013

6. The Emergence of Innovation Ecosystems Global Vision&Policy R&D programs, Incentives Tax Policy, IP protection, Public Infrastructure, Access to foreign technology Government CoE Global Market • Skills • Knowledge • Prototypes Creative Culture Domestic Market Innovative Products &Services • Resources • New Problems • Know-how Large Companies Life Quality INNOVATION Human Capital • Technology • High growth Venture capital, Bank loans, Nasdaq-style stock market Startups Finance

7. The Virtuous Innovation Cycle TECHNOLOGICALRESEARCH Products & Services APPLIEDRESEARCH Proof of Concept Global R&D BASIC RESEARCH Predictability & Constructivity • Supremacy in innovation is largely due to Centers of Excellence which have successfully and advantageously implemented the Virtuous Cycle of Innovation • increased financing, and new problems for basic research • Innovative results for industry 7

8. For European Strategy for Innovation and Transfer • We need a pan-EU high-tech strategy rather than separate national strategies spreading money too thinly across different geographies and sectors • A frameworkimplemented through structural measures and reforms intended to enhance assets, reshape the landscape of available forces, and ease their synergy for the emergence of innovation ecosystems • Align all EU policies to restore consistency and credibility of political decision-making: Economic and Competition Policy, State Aid, R&D, Justice • Better funding for high-tech start-ups • Improve efficiency and effectiveness of EU funding – tighter management, stricter evaluation against well defined success criteria!! • Improve skilled labor supply through more technology-oriented education and targeted immigration 8

9. For European Strategy for Innovation and Transfer • 2. Prioritiesand associated action lines targeting a set of sectors vital for European sovereignty and economy such as automotive, manufacturing industry, mobile platforms, smart grids, avionics and space, food technology, medical technology and robotics • Matching strengths and promising prosperous growth • With concrete technical objectives intended to grow selected industrial segments through concerted actions …. not just a list of buzzwords! • 3. Discernible roles to the main players and stakeholders and sets up incentives and measures for their harmonious collaboration.Create pan-EU Clusters of Excellence and Innovation gathering together • High-performing companies (European champions) + Leading research Institutes • committed to use the results in case of success • avoid “amateurs” seeking only subsidies • EADS with Airbus is a good example of pan-EU collaboration 9

10. A Revolution not to Miss! While the US has maintained a world-leading ICT sector, Europe is losing ground in key high-tech markets. Some examples: • Rise of Samsung and Apple - decline of Nokia (acquired by Microsoft), • Bankruptcy of BenQ Mobile ( formerly Siemens Mobile) • Exit of Ericsson from the Sony-Ericsson joint venture • Continued decline of Alcatel-Lucent • We are living a revolution due to the accelerating technological convergence • Blurring boundaries between sectors e.g. the Internet of Things • New interoperability standards e.g. converged services, converged network infrastructure • Breaking down of the walls of niche markets and opening of global markets • In less than five years, IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Google have been transformed into devices and services companies!!

11. Facts are stubborn things Let’s face reality Political courage and will matter! 11

12. Changes and Trends in Knowledge Transfer The post-war R&D model based on a clear separation between academic and corporate R&D has radically changed in the 90’s • Long-term research has become a luxury only a few monopolies can afford e.g., decline of the big corporate R&D laboratories: Bell Labs, Xerox Park, IBM Yorktown • modern technology firms are much less vertically integrated • the rise of venture capital has smoothed the progress of innovation into products • big companies rely on Centers of Excellence for much of their basic research and to tap into fresh ideas and young talent at universities • The boundary between research and development is blurring • acceleration of the innovation cycle : how to turn results/ideas into commercial innovations? • competition is fierce and the time to market can be instantaneous

13. The Virtuous Innovation Cycle – My Story AIRBUS Fly-by-wire Technology VERILOG SW Engineering Startup Company Global R&D VERIMAG Laboratory Critical Systems Design Tools 13