On Monday, 13 July, the Santa Chiara Lab in Siena hosted a key workshop dedicated to the regional technology transfer ecosystem. Organized by the Regional Office for Technology Transfer (URTT) in collaboration with Sociolab, the event brought together representatives from institutional and technology transfer offices across Tuscan universities. The primary goal of the day was to foster a structured dialogue to map out collective experiences, identify recurring bottlenecks, and define the conditions that best support the valorisation of research. Ultimately, the workshop aimed to generate practical recommendations to reinforce the URTT’s role in supporting and bridging the entire regional technology transfer network.
The morning session centered around an interactive World Café, where participants from diverse backgrounds rotated across three thematic tables focused on key pillars such as patents, academic spin-offs, and joint laboratories with the production system. The first table examined the very definition of success in technology transfer, aiming to align different metrics and expectations. The second table focused on mapping out the most frequent administrative and operational hurdles, distinguishing between challenges unique to individual universities and those common to the wider regional system. Finally, the third table explored the ideal resources and operational models needed to build stronger bonds between academia and industry. The morning concluded with a plenary session where facilitators synthesized these shared insights to lay the groundwork for the afternoon’s activities.
In the afternoon, the focus shifted from identifying challenges to co-creating concrete recommendations. Working in strategic groups, the participants analyzed how the URTT could enhance its support for Tuscan universities. The teams outlined operational priorities and actionable proposals to strengthen regional technology transfer. The workshop concluded with a final plenary session where the groups presented their findings, building a shared roadmap of development lines and immediate priorities to drive the future of research valorisation in Tuscany.
