Sales level of products within ‘Technology Commercialization’ reached KZT 900 mln - Doskarayev
"In order to enhance the commercial value of research and commercialization in the market, the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan has implemented the project of technology commercialization in the framework of the loan agreement between the Government of Kazakhstan and the World Bank. The "Technology Commercialization" started in 2008 and ended in December 2015, the project provided assistance to scientists and researchers in scientific research and commercialization of their development," Doskarayev said.
He said that the project funded 65 projects from 1500 thousand applications, the website of the Prime Minister reported.
"Selection was held by the International Council for Science, which is composed of scientists from different countries. Two grant programs were implemented for groups of senior and junior researchers, as a result of which 65 projects were supported. 40 out of 65 supported projects have reached a level of sales of finished goods totaling to more than 900 million tenge, " the representative of the project said.
He also noted that the Law "On commercialization of scientific and (or) technical activities" was adopted for the further development of the system of commercialization in the Plan of nation's "100 Steps".
"The law provides the mechanisms to support the link between science and business, providing benefits to customers in the technology license, provides funding of offices of technology commercialization and offers a new grant for commercialization of technologies," Doskarayev said.
In this regard, he stressed that despite the end of "Technology Commercialization" project, there are a number of problems that must be addressed to the state on a regular basis.
"In this light, the start of the "Promoting productive innovation " project with the support of the World Bank will receive great response from the public of Kazakhstan. Project amount - $ 110 million. The principal amount - about 40% will go to funding of scientific research with potential for commercialization, " the representative of the project said.
According to him, 5 components will be implemented in the framework of this project.
"The first component titled "Development of knowledge base for innovation " provides funding for research projects with groups in order to stimulate high-quality research with commercial potential. This component also provides support for PhD students to involve Kazakhstani scientists working or studying abroad in projects in their historical homeland, " Doskarayev said.
The second component titled "Innovation Consortia" provides for the creation of consortia by bringing together science, industry and government to address the specific needs of the market, the manufacturing sector and social problems.
The third component titled "Consolidation of technology commercialization cycle" is planned to implement a number of activities. Among them: the formation of a venture fund with the aim of demonstrating the effectiveness of earlier investments in technology start-up companies through PPP mechanism to separate and reduce risk.
There will be office of technology transfer abroad. The aim is the promotion of Kazakhstani technologies in foreign markets and the search for technologies to be implemented in Kazakhstan.
"The main expected outcome of the project is to strengthen the national innovation system by encouraging links between science and industry, promoting cycle of technology commercialization and enhancing human capital in this area, which will increase the competitiveness of the economy of the country," Doskarayev said.