Accelerating Commercialization of University Output by Translating It into Social Value

One effective way of accelerating the commercialization of research results output by a university is to adopt an "innovation ecosystem" in which participants take on different roles in the innovation process from new discoveries to commercialization. An increase here in the number of participants, however, may mean more people without a deep understanding of science and technology such as graduates with an MBA background, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, etc. This can make communication difficult in the innovation ecosystem, and even more so in cutting-edge technologies like nanotechnology and biotechnology, thereby hindering the commercialization process. To help eliminate this difficulty, a concept-creation model (or tool) is proposed based on existing theories and three case studies. The model recommends that (1) university output be translated into social value using easy-to-understand language, and that (2) significant and promising university discoveries be pre-selected by experienced persons to simplify their combination and transformation into a product concept by business-oriented people not specialized in science and technology. Considering that concept creators of this type may have better insight into market trends and social needs, this model will enable more non-specialists to participate in the innovation ecosystem and contribute to the commercialization of university output