TTO and TEKMER Managers in Istanbul Gathered in BTM TEKMER Fulya

The directors of the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) and Technology Development Center (TEKMER) of the universities in Istanbul met for the seventh time. Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU) TTO also participated in the meeting hosted by BTM TEKMER Fulya. The main purpose of the meeting was determined as to strengthen cooperation between university TTOs and to prepare the ground for the development of joint projects. Participants agreed that knowledge and experience sharing should be systematized and common platforms should be established.

Critical Recommendation Decisions

At the meeting, it was emphasized that a framework decision should be made between universities and the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) on how R&D and innovation activities should be carried out. In addition, establishing support mechanisms to increase the level of TRL (Technology Readiness Level), which expresses the maturity level of the projects, monitoring the TRL processes and providing technological support to projects with commercialization potential were among the priority suggestions.
Other important topics that the participants focused on were:
               •             Establishing an academic consultant pool in all universities in Istanbul and conducting a needs screening for industrial companies through this pool,
               •             Supporting patent or intellectual and industrial property rights applications for theses and projects at all levels,
               •             Eliminating the timidity in the approach of the industrial side to new project proposals and technical solutions,
               •             Encouraging the production of inventions and projects in an original and self-confident way by all institutions and organizations,
               •             Establishing a platform where the industry can share its technical problems with universities and evaluating the patents through this platform.

Emphasis on Commercialization

The main agenda items of the meeting included more effective commercialization of technologies developed at universities, evaluation of patents and increasing cooperation opportunities for the sale of these patents. In addition, the problems of commercialization experienced in relations with industry were also discussed.
Participants pointed out that new steps should be taken to strengthen communication and coordination between TTO and TEKMERs in Istanbul. It was stated that the meeting was very productive in terms of sharing information and developing common strategies.