01/09/2022 – SCOPR™ 2021 Highlights Success of Research Commercialisation
In just 5 years publicly funded research organisations in Australia have achieved AU$1.2B in commercialisation deals with 260 new companies created in Australia and 47 new companies created in New Zealand.
Those numbers from KCA’s SCOPR™ 2021, the Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research from 49 participating universities and research institutes in Australia and New Zealand show success in the commercialisation of publicly funded research, achieving positive impact in society in a wide range of technologies from life sciences through to MedTech, IT and engineering solutions.
These results lay out in a clear, comprehensive, and unequivocal way how Australian and New Zealand research is succeeding on the world stage and how that translates to the universal language of dollars and cents.
The 2021 Report for this year highlights:
- New Companies Created – 69 in Australia and 10 in New Zealand
- Commercialisation Income – AU$251M in Australia and NZ$128M in New Zealand
- Industry Contracts – AU$800M in Australia and NZ$79M in New Zealand
- Commercial Deals – 832 in Australia and 106 in New Zealand
“The path from idea to reality is full of unexpected obstacles and is often difficult to measure,” SCOPR™ Chair John Grace AO said. “This data is positive proof Australasian public research organisations are contributing significantly to the new industries of Australia and New Zealand and are producing products and services of international significance.”
SCOPR™ is conducted every year by Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA) who engages their partner gemaker to collect and analyse the data from Australian and New Zealand universities and research agencies.
09/09/2021 – Report released – 2020 Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR)
Commercialisation revenue has more than doubled over the past two years, as research powers Australia’s post-pandemic recovery.
Hundreds of start-ups and spin-outs contributed to the $242.3 million dollar return on investment in 2020 – up from $119m in 2018 – despite the challenges of COVID-19.
The Survey of Commercialisation on Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR), conducted every year by Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia, collects data from Australian and New Zealand universities and research agencies.
“Despite the tough year, there was strong growth in commercial activity ranging from number of inventions to commercialisation income and new start-up companies,” Chair of SCOPR, John Grace AO, says.
The survey also found that The University of Auckland, CSIRO, Monash University, The University of Sydney, the ANU and UNSW are engaging the best with industry.
23/09/2020 – Report released – 2019 Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR)
KCA’s Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR), delivered by commercialisation company gemaker, showcases the vital work of Technology Transfer professionals who move research from the lab into everyday use.
SCOPR enables benchmarking of participating institutions’ research industry engagement and commercialisation results relative to the sector, to inform their policies and planning. For the wider community, it shows the real-world impact and dollar outcomes of public sector research.
SCOPR was overseen by a steering committee chaired by KCA board member Mr John Grace AO.
34 Australian and 15 New Zealand research organisations responded to the survey.
“Research from universities is often early stage and needs a team of people to get from concept to product. The outstanding innovations in this report have the potential to improve and save lives, while boosting our economy by billions of dollars,” KCA Chair, Dr. Erin Rayment, says. “It’s time to start planning for a knowledge-led recovery. To do that, we need to increase our investment in research and development, and commercialisation activities.”
15/06/2020 – Launch of the Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR).
Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA) – alongside the Go8, KiwiNet and AAMRI – is proud to announce the launch of the Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR).
Public sector research in Australia and New Zealand leads the world. But how do we best demonstrate real-world impact? SCOPR is a landmark survey of commercialisation outcomes from public research.
Australian and New Zealand universities, medical research institutes and other publicly funded research organisations will be invited to participate.
“The launch of SCOPR is an important initiative for KCA and aims to further demonstrate the value of technology transfer and commercialisation activities to our members, publicly funded research organisations and the wider community,” KCA Chair Dr Erin Rayment says.
Australia’s Chief Scientist Professor Alan Finkel AO agreed and said “Research managers, heads of institutes and government policy advisors need access to data that will help them optimise commercialisation and industry engagement from lab level to national level. I am delighted that KCA and partners are taking on the task of surveying the commercialisation and industry engagement achievements of the public research sector, to gather the necessary data”.
SCOPR will enable benchmarking of participating institutions’ research industry engagement and commercialisation results relative to the sector, to inform their policies and planning. For the wider community, it will show the real-world impact and dollar outcomes of public sector research.
SCOPR is overseen by a steering committee chaired by KCA board member Mr John Grace AO. The survey results will be published on 11 September 2020 via KCA’s website.
Commercialisation company gemaker has been engaged to facilitate the survey.
KCA works with the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science to compile annual data for major research performers across Australia’s publicly funded research organisations (PFROs). This set of time-series data (from 2000) complements our other advocacy efforts, and is one way we can measure the benefit and successes of translating research into impact.
Our metrics are comparable to those used internationally, so provide a tool to measure local performance against that of our counterparts in North America, the UK and Europe. Regionally, we can use this data to evaluate our individual institutions performance to our peers, and maintain healthy growth in the level of activity.
Most significantly, these metrics aid in providing the profession with a voice in policy making. Your input into this survey each year is ensuring that the work of this profession does not go unnoticed, and that we are demonstrating value back to the community in terms of translating public money back into benefit for the community.
We thank you for your cooperation each year in gathering the data and being a part of this important process. Some of the most recent compilations of survey data are available on the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science website. You may also be interested in the Government’s Annual Innovation System Report.
