What actually exists between the university and the company?
Seminar debates interaction between
academic production and the productive sector
Luiz Sugimoto
20 years ago, cars only had two or three electric motors, basically those for the starter and windshield wipers. A modern-day BMW, from the 700 series, has at least 250 electric motors: windows, mirrors, trunk, antenna, seat and headlight adjustment, digital air conditioning... This means that the car is no longer a purely mechanical product to be much more electronic. And any worker trained in this sector must necessarily have mastery of different technological areas.
Nanotechnology is yet another area that has seen rapid development in the last decade. Touted as one of the technologies of the future, it is what allows medicine to have such sophisticated and precise procedures and the operation of an infinite number of machines, without which this modern technological society would not exist. On the cell phone we have another example of something that was unattainable not so long ago. Thanks to effective distance communication resources and advances in the compaction of components, it is here, providing us with so much comfort and mobility that it has become one of the biggest businesses on the planet.
Above are some milestones of technological innovation. And the interaction between university and company for new progress in this area is the theme of the Campinas Inova seminar, an event that will be organized and hosted by Unicamp on June 18, with sponsorship from Finep (Fundação de Estudos e Pesquisas, MCT agency) and support from Siemens do Brasil. The different agents in the segment will be brought together – public authorities, research institutions, civil society organizations and the private sector – around a proposal: that everyone present their ideas on the production of social goods through the enhancement of mechanisms that range from generation of knowledge until the final product.
Professor Douglas Zampieri, superintendent of the Technology Center (CT) at Unicamp and member of the organizing committee of Campinas Inova, and marketing consultant Eduardo Gurgel do Amaral hope that the seminar will attract great participation from the university community, and also from the media, which has a fundamental role in helping the population understand how so much equipment is made available that they never even dreamed of, and why the advancement of science and technology is such an important and valued goal.
Zampieri explains that, within the scope of Unicamp, the subject arouses divergent opinions as it brings several facets. “If there are people who defend technological innovation and the existence of organizations at the university with the role of promoting this objective, others believe that we should stick to the academic career, attributing investments in the sector to companies and the government. This event aims to create a favorable environment for such opinions to be well evaluated and understood, allowing everyone to know the scenario, context and implications, making a better value judgment on the issue. The meeting could provide input for defining Unicamp’s future goals in technological innovation.”
What is – For those who are not clear on the concept of technological innovation, Eduardo Gurgel explains: “It is the application of research or technological knowledge into a product or service that becomes an asset for society. The population incorporates technology into their daily lives, but never stops to think about the effort behind this evolution. And universities participate in this effort, with basic research, the training of human resources, the application of knowledge in laboratories”.
Within the higher education system, the three public universities in the State of São Paulo have a peculiar characteristic: they have the majority of their professors working full time, a very large scientific production and a high level postgraduate course. Unicamp, in particular, has several postgraduate programs with dimensions equal to undergraduate courses and, often, more doctoral students than master's students.
Finep, in turn, shows concern in disseminating, through events like this seminar, what technological innovation is, what its bottlenecks are and what stage the country is at. On the other hand, the media has insisted that, although the academic-scientific production of the three universities in São Paulo presents levels close to those of developed countries, Brazil has not been able to transform this knowledge into social well-being.
It is in light of this situation that Unicamp, taking advantage of the experience of the Technology Center and Edistec (Office of Diffusion and Technological Services), proposes to hold a meeting that is much more technical than political, where each segment points out what each one must do to speed up the process that transforms knowledge into tangible goods. What is the university's mission in technological innovation is the main question that arises.
The jargon and reality
“Production chain” is a common jargon in economics. A given product comes from a series of inputs, also called “third parties”, which in turn depend on another series of inputs... Somehow it is necessary to open this fan chain in order to obtain a very clear view of where the technological bottlenecks are, where value can be added to the product and where procedures can be improved to increase productivity.
Douglas Zampieri, superintendent of the Technology Center, is of the opinion that Unicamp should seek active action with trade associations and productive segments, inside and outside the region, to encourage the creation of small and medium-sized companies in the technological area and itself search within them.
“I believe that the University has the responsibility, firstly, to generate, disseminate and protect its knowledge through different mechanisms and to be attentive to changes in the universe of possibilities for action of its graduates. One of the new means that enhance the direct application of academic knowledge in the generation of products are technology-based incubators. “In the incubator we have at Unicamp, of the nine companies incubated at the moment, seven have people linked to postgraduate studies”.
Zampieri adds that, looking at the production chain, there is a need for some inputs that were previously disregarded. The curricula themselves lack concepts such as 'employability' and 'entrepreneurship' – the ability to achieve a successful professional career, which is not just that of an employee. “The opportunities are much broader, as long as the basic tools are offered.”
Large park – According to the CT superintendent, the greater the proximity of Unicamp to technology-based companies (whose products have high added value), the easier and more fluid the interaction. “We think that in the future we will have a very active technology park around the university. And this park will probably have greater involvement from Unicamp professors or graduates.”
At this point, Zampieri remembers the great discussion about the new Innovation Law, which offers teachers much greater flexibility in their activities. Currently, professors who work as consultants or hold technical positions in the private sector do not have this time considered in terms of their career. The new law allows him, within certain rules, to be absent from university for a period of time, paying attention, for example, to a company that is flourishing.
Database – At Cientec – Science and Technology Fair, held at Unicamp in the middle of last year, one of the segments of the exhibition was a Business and Agreements Exchange (BN&C). It launched the embryo of an information system composed of a database on demands and offers of products by institutions in the region. The embryo could become a technology portal, in the expectations of Eduardo Gurgel, coordinator of BN&C. “This type of consultancy is essential, as with the portal interested parties will be able to access quick consultations on existing skills in research institutions and the market”.
Professor Zampieri adds that the current vision is to evolve into a technology network, which preferably covers the region, then the state and finally the country, migrating information. “This involves complicity between members and databases with improved search systems, matching demand with supply.”
Gurgel anticipates that the tendency is for BN&C to expand to other fairs, more aimed at the business sector, such as those maintained by entities such as Fiesp and Sebrae, and may also include a product exhibition area.
What is the country's industrial policy?
When a company seeks to develop a product, the university is often unable to assist; and when the university creates a product to be transferred, the company often does not have the capacity to absorb it. Although small and medium-sized companies, in general, are still a long way from generating technological innovation, it is in them that the university should invest, according to Douglas Zampieri.
Large companies are mostly transnational and create their research and development centers wherever the return is faster and safer, whether in Brazil, Singapore or at their own headquarters. In view of this, the CT superintendent asks a fundamental question: what industrial policy will be given to the country? “We must focus on those companies that do not have capital or potential for research and need access to technology, to add value to the product. We need to create environments for this”, responds the professor.
“It is necessary to spread knowledge among small companies because they form the basis of the national economy, in addition to being the largest employers of labor. The university and research centers are the result of public investment and, therefore, must serve everyone”, adds Eduardo Gurgel.
CT and Edistec, in the view of both, have been a channel for Unicamp together with associations of class representatives – which are often the voice of the industry itself –, adopting a new line of action: detecting market expectations, the that the university is able and willing to offer, whether the researchers are aligned with the proposal and whether they can respond with the necessary speed. “Political will is not enough. If we cannot respond, we must first create an environment conducive to this”, warns Gurgel.
The idea of the Campinas Inova seminar, insists Zampieri, is precisely to provoke this debate. Therefore, the speakers were chosen so that a significant portion of the different segments involved with the topic of technological innovation are present. “There has been a lot of dialogue between various institutions, including many linked to the productive sector, but there is a lack of content and depth. We are discussing models, but that does not mean they are what the market is demanding.”
Dean demands research inside companies
The rector of Unicamp Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, who will open the Campinas Inova seminar, states that efforts to promote university-business interaction cannot take the focus away from the main problem for technological innovation in Brazil, which is the low activity of research and development within companies. He blames it, in large part, on the lack of more incentives from the government, despite the priority of this counterpart within a globalized economy.
“We will only overcome this situation of imbalance in science and technology when knowledge is a concern not only of the MCT, but also of the ministries of Industry, Development and Commerce, Health, Education, Environment, Finance, of the entire government”, warns Brito Cross. Still holding the presidency of Fapesp, the rector defends the creation of more agile and flexible instruments to support activities within companies. Fapesp itself has been financing research in more than 200 companies in the State of São Paulo. We need a similar program at the national level,” he adds.
Brito Cruz admits that it is expensive to do research, but remembers that the cost is much higher in terms of loss of competitiveness and access to foreign markets. “It is not an option, it is a necessity of the new times. Companies won’t survive in the current economy if they don’t invest in R&D, but they can’t do that if they face high interest rates and waves of economic instability.”
For the rector of Unicamp, the interaction between universities and research institutes with the private sector has limits and will not, in itself, solve the problems of access to knowledge – facilitating its application in the productive sector – and the lack of funds within these institutions. He reports that, in the United States, less than 7% of investment in research at universities comes from companies and that almost all of the resources come from the government itself.
