Research, development and transfer of environmentally sound technologies in Brazil

Jeovan De Carvalho Figueiredo,Wladimir Augusto César De Morais,Jislaine De Fátima Guilhermino,Luiz Carlos Di Serio,Vera Lucia Neto

doi:10.1108/inmr-08-2018-0065

Abstract

PurposeMost research and development (R&D) activities in Brazil are performed by science and technology institutions (STIs). The purpose of this research was to determine whether environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) developed by these organizations were transferred to companies, either through cooperation during research or through mechanisms such as licensing agreements or spin-offs.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 1,939 research groups and 702 patent registers, identified from the same set of words related to ESTs, using semantic search in open-access databases, covering a period from 2005 to 2014, were examined. The two data sets (patents and research groups) were overlaid, and it was possible to associate inventors’ names with researchers’ names.FindingsThe results showed that only six patents could be related to the 1,939 identified research groups. Of the six patents, only one was the object of a licensing agreement, and no spin-off was identified.Practical implicationsThis study evidenced that it is necessary to expand the mechanisms of knowledge transfer, directed not only from STIs to companies but also in the opposite direction, given that companies recognize potential market opportunities.Originality/valueThis study shows that improvements in the Brazilian National Innovation System are necessary, as ESTs research groups demonstrated a weak association with technologies transferred to companies, with only one case of technology transfer in the form of a licensing agreement.

Highlights

Industrialized countries achieved economic development by stimulating technological activities (Mazzucato, 2013)
This study shows that improvements in the Brazilian National Innovation System are necessary, as environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) research groups demonstrated a weak association with technologies transferred to companies, with only one case of technology transfer in the form of a licensing agreement
We identified 1,939 research groups related to EST research and development (R&D)

Summary

Introduction

Industrialized countries achieved economic development by stimulating technological activities (Mazzucato, 2013). New technologies created through these incentives result in products and processes with higher perceived value in consumer markets and increase national autonomy, reducing the need for external acquisition of essential technologies (Gnidchenko et al, 2016). The creation of green innovations (Dangelico and Pujari, 2010; Kunapatarawong and Martínez-Ros, 2016) can add to the aforementioned benefits of technological development. This group of innovations includes environmentally sound technologies (ESTs), defined by Petruzelli et al (2011), as technologies that enable managing pollution and related processes more efficiently, creating products, processes and services that are less polluting and consume less resources. Technologies created by science and technology institutions (STIs) should be transferred to companies, for their effective application in new products and processes available in the market

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion