Commercialising and creating value in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Britta C Wyatt

Senior Consultant, Oxentia

Oxford University Innovation

britta.wyatt@oxentia.com

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A very brief introduction…Oxford University Innovation & Oxentia

Formed in 1988, as the Technology Transfer company of the University of Oxford

Established in 2004 to address an increasing interest in technology transfer best practice

Providing Consultancy and Training in Technology commercialisation, knowledge exchange and innovation management throughout the worldWinner of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise –

International Trade 2015

© Copyright 2016 Oxford University Innovation Ltd.

University of Oxford

• The oldest university in the English-speaking

world (founded c.1188)

• A leader in learning, teaching and research

• 26 British Prime Ministers educated at Oxford

• Royal Society founded from Oxford in 1640

• 51 Nobel prize winners

© Copyright 2016 Oxford University Innovation Ltd.

University of Oxford

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Oxford University Innovation

Launch innovative ideasLicenses & Spinouts

Start-upsClinical outcomes measures

Materials Sales

Invest in new venturesSeed Funds

Crowdfunding (OxReach)Isis Start-up Incubator

Provide or access consultancyAcademic Consulting (OUC)

Innovation Consulting & Training (Oxentia)

“We help Oxford ideas come to life”Oxford University Innovation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Oxford. We manage the University’s technology transfer and consulting activities and provide

an innovation management service to clients around the world.

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Oxford University InnovationDeal Flow & Financial Performance, period ending July 2016

• 558 Disclosures

• 142 Patents Filed

• 134 License Deals

• 26 New Companies

• 636 Consultancy Agreements

• ~£3m Patent budget

• £22m Turnover

• £9.6m Returned to researchers & University

Number of PCT applications• #1 EU (university)• #16 worldwide (university)• #4 British (all)

Number of University spinouts• #1 UK (2006-2015)Funding raised for spinouts • £52.6m seed funding (2017)• £1.4bn external funding (2011-

2017)

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University of OxfordResearch Theme Examples

Staff• 1,800 academic staff,• 5,400 research and

research support staff,• 5,900 graduate research

students

Research Volume• Largest volume of

world-leading (4*) research in the UK

Research Spend• £612m highest research

spend in the UK (2014)

Headcount: 5,237 Headcount: 1,669Headcount: 2,566 Headcount: 907

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Research Excellence Framework

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Overview of Activity by DivisionFY 15/16

Start-ups(Incorporated)Licences SpinoutsDisclosures

Material Sale, Option, Agreement

Start-ups(Joined Incubator) Consulting

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

No. of Disclosures No. of ProjectsAffiliated with a

Licence

No. of ProjectsAffiliated with

Material Sale, Option,or Assignment Deal

No. of Spin-outs OUC Deals No. of VenturesJoining the ISI

No. of VenturesIncorporated from

the ISI

Per

cen

tage

/ %

UASOtherSocial SciencesHumanitiesMSDMPLS

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STEM vs AHSS

• Growing awareness and interest in KEC activities from AHSS Depts

• Rarely patent-based…. Often involves academic consultancy

• Although monetary returns are low, AHSS activities can significantly contribute to ‘impact’

Traditional ‘STEM’

Research

Arts, Humanities

& Social Sciences

• The typical domain of the Technology Transfer Office

• Heavily reliant of patent protection and exploitation through licensing or spin-out creation

• Can lead to large returns…. Albeit infrequently

Traditional ‘STEM’

Research

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What can we do to better support AHSS?

• Best practice review

• Knowledge sharing event & working group

• New internal marketing materials

• Internal working groups & staff remits

What do academics and management

want to achieve? What types of projects/ disclosures

we see?

What are other people

doing to support AHSS?

Roy Azoulay Senior Technology Transfer Manager

Dr Andrew Bowen Technology Transfer Manager

Dr Jane Jin Technology Transfer Manager

Dr Mark Mann Senior Technology Transfer Manager

Dr Paul Cogswell Assistant Technology Transfer Manager

Susan Clark Senior Project Manager

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Best Practice Review

• Celebrating Success to Raise Awareness

• Online Licensing Platforms

• Targeted Facilities and Infrastructure

• Lower Revenue Expectations and Non-Traditional Licensing Models

• Funding Structures

• Terminology

https://innovation.ox.ac.uk/innovation-news/publications/insights/

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Knowledge Sharing Event: Social Sciences & Humanities CommercialisationSeptember 2016, Oxford

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Knowledge Sharing Event: Break-Out Sessions

1. Channels and Services•Funding•Start-ups & Social Enterprise•Paths to commercialisation

2. Structure and Team•Partnerships•Office Structures•Incentives•Metrics

3. Engaging the Research Base• Communications & language• Role of the academic• Incentives for academics• Education & awareness• Impact

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Knowledge Sharing Event: Working Group and Network

The AHSS business engagement knowledge sharing network

is an informal group including

university staff, Technology Transfer Office staff and funders

with an interest in how business engagement and commercialisation

link with arts, humanities and social science research and investment.

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Knowledge Sharing Event #2: AHSS Business Engagement Knowledge Sharing Network

• Date: 14 June 2017, 12:00-16:00

• Location: Sheffield Hallam University, UK

• Programme12:00 Lunch and registration

12:30 Welcome and introductions12:45 Articulating the value of AHSS to business

13:15 Un-Conferencing - sharing initiatives and challenges14:30 Coffee

14:45 From small engagement to big impact

15:15 The Industrial Strategy and the ISCF – what role of AHSS?15:45 Quick wrap-up and what’s next

16:00 End

• What is it?• A chance to learn and share ideas with

your peers

• What kind of topics?• Lessons learned – share or seek stories

(of success or failures!)• Clinics – pose a challenge and seek ideas

on solutions• Roundtable – brainstorming examples on

a topic

• How does it work?• Schedule – You pose topics and we

collaboratively build a schedule• Sessions - 4 parallel streams x 20 minutes

x 2 sessions• Wrap-up – 2 minute summaries

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AHSS ‘Un-Conference’Sharing initiatives and challenges

• KPIs

• Opportunities for unlocking IP/ how is commercialisation different

• Creative Economy investment opportunities

• How to get businesses to see the value of AHSS

• How to take AHSS globally and sell to companies

• How to align researcher interest and source opportunities

• Seed funding and financing

• Social Enterprise

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What’s different about KEC from AHSS at Oxford?

Traditional Model of “Knowledge Exchange” or “Commercialisation”

1. Motivations – impact vs income

2. Inputs – innovation vs invention

3. Outputs – know-how vs IP

4. Outcomes – impact vs income

Internal Marketing

Invention Disclosure

IP & Market Assessment

File patent application

Translational Funding/ Support

External Marketing

License or Spinout

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An Updated Model of “Knowledge Exchange” or “Commercialisation” ”

1. Motivations – impact vs income

2. Inputs – product vs service

3. Outputs – know-how vs IP

4. Outcomes – impact vs income

Internal Marketing

Invention Disclosure

IP & Market Assessment & Opportunity

File patent application

Assess IP

Translational or KE Funding/

Support

External Marketing

License or Spinout or

Services

A broader pathway…

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Internal Marketing

• Divisional Brochures• Case studies and information relating to

OUI services relevant to Humanities researchers

• Internal working group

• Other possibilities:• Commercialisation Champions

• Events

• Technology Audits

https://innovation.ox.ac.uk/innovation-news/publications/publications-reports/

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“Any use of research that can generate a financial return for the researchers and

their institution”

“Any use of research that generates benefits for

researchers, their institution and other stakeholders

through commercial or non-commercial means of

engagement”

vs

Redefining our objectives

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Alternative Outputs

• Consultancy Spinouts

• Service Provision

• Start-ups

• Education & Training

• Contract research

• Production, IT, DVDs, CDs, media, recordings, websites

• Exhibitions, curatorial, artwork, images

• Performances

• Event management and festivals

• Publications

• Member services, advocacy, governance

Are these in scope for

the TTO

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Reasoning First: Mathematical reasoning in Year 2Department of Education

• Copyright

• People-based• Is it a ‘spinout’?• How to scale and keep

momentum?• What is OUI’s role?

• Services provision

• TTO manages invoicing and administration of the Service Agreements

• Train-the trainer & quality control

“ I approached Oxford UniversityInnovation to help with the

licensing and costing of the Reasoning First Intervention Package. The idea was to provide a platform and infrastructure needed for a sustainable roll-out of the intervention to schools nationally in the long-term. We had teething problems at first, as could be expected, but are now in a good position to disseminate the outputs of the research project more widely.”

- Terezinha Nunes, Professor of EducationalStudies, Department of Education

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Speech Recognition SoftwareFaculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics

• Brings together ‘IP’ from three projects

• People-based• Is this a spinout?

• Who can provide commercial leadership?

• How will we develop a product?

• European Research Council & UCSF Seed funding

• Building a team

“ It is very satisfying to see the team’s hard work put into this research,

maturing into something of impact to society. We have a project manager and software developers moving this forward to a demonstration model which can be our showcase to potential partners for further commercialisation. We academics can continue our passion for research in the field whilst leaving the commercial side to Oxford University Innovation.

- Professor Aditi Lahiri, Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics

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Considerations for commercialisation of AHSS?

• People-based• Is it a ‘spinout’ or a service provision model?• How to scale and keep momentum?• What is OUI’s role?

• Challenges• Who takes responsibility for business development and administrative?• How to raise funding for collaborative translation?

• A Less “Commercial” Approach Needed?• Low-cost standard software or material/resource licences in exchange for impact case studies?• Non-typical licensees – Public sector, NGOs and Social Enterprises?• Development of apps to capture research outcomes?• Delivery of educational programmes?• Social Enterprise?• Consultancy spinouts for service provision?

Creating Value: People focussed approach

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Britta C Wyatt Senior Consultant, Oxentia

Policy and benchmarking studies

Incubator Support

KEC Partnerships

Translational Funding Impact Reviews

Technology Transfer Training

Innovation Ecosystem Reviews

Technology & Market Due Diligence

Accelerator Programmes

Thank you!

+44(0)1865 280 859 www.oxentia.com

+44(0)7584 131608 @Oxentia_

britta.wyatt@oxentia.com linkedin.com/company/oxentia

Oxentia: Oxford’s Global Innovation Consultancy Supporting Innovation & Entrepreneurship Around the World