The main objective of the Ignicia program, promoted since 2016 by the Galician Innovation Agency in collaboration with the Barrié Foundation, is to transfer the results of R&D generated in Galician knowledge centers to the productive fabric and society.

The new call for the program will be published in January 2023. The Xunta will allocate about 4 million euros to it, with which it is estimated to support about 8 projects. The development will again count on the collaboration of the Barrié Foundation, both in the selection process and in the maturation and monitoring of the initiatives to ensure their success.

Candidatures must have passed the laboratory research stages -which allows them to have the precise state of maturity-, and a minimum budget of 100,000 euros. The objective must be the commercialization of the research results, either by licensing or through the creation of a technology company (spin-off).

Proof of Concept

The Ignicia programme serves as a link between excellent science and the business environment to transform research into useful market solutions for society. Ignicia contributes to the economic and social return on public investment in research.

The programme includes training, dissemination and financing actions. In the financial area and through its Proof of Concept call, Ignicia mentors and financially supports the development of commercial applications of research generated in Galician knowledge centres in the form of spin-offs or licensing agreements.

The beneficiaries of the proof-of-concept projects can be public and private research organisations in Galicia, such as universities of the university system, non-profit foundations, health foundations, technology and technological research support centres, CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) centres in Galicia and centres of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO).

Among the actions carried out by the programme are the training of transfer management staff to qualify for the RTTP (Registered Technology Transfer Professional) certificate, which recognises this group of professionals at an international level; the organisation of transfer stages for personnel at well-known international entities and networking activities.

Training for research staff

Through training actions designed specifically for research staff, Ignicia provides this group with knowledge and skills that help them lead transfer processes in their groups and improve interaction with transfer managers, forming teams that combine complementary skills.

Transfer and innovation meetings

The objective of these meetings is to bring together the agents of the Galician innovation ecosystem, identifying the needs of companies and the capabilities of knowledge centres, in order to define collaborative projects aimed at generating solutions to the increasingly comprehensive challenges faced by the business community.

The programme also deals with the development of methodologies to support the transfer to improve its effectiveness and the monitoring of the transfer in the Galician R&D System. With the publication of the Manual of Preliminary Evaluation of R&D results, it provides a procedure for the evaluation of the commercial potential of results for the agents of the Galician Innovation System.

On the other hand, through the elaboration of different studies, the evolution of knowledge transfer in the Galician Innovation System is analysed, with the aim of monitoring transfer indicators and generating knowledge and information for the development of new measures.

Valuation of materials

In coordination with the Materioteca de Galicia, Ignicia applies the methodology for the preliminary evaluation of R&D results to 32 innovative materials to facilitate their arrival on the market.

The Ignicia programme will implement actions in collaboration with the agents of the Galician Innovation System, in coordination with the Galician Industrial Property Service, which will promote the dissemination and commercialisation of the titles.

Results

Since the start of the programme in 2016, the total investment has amounted to 13 million euros. The proof-of-concept call has supported 23 projects, of which 10  are under development, 3 have resulted in agreements with industry, and 9 spin-offs have been created. The latter have raised more than five million euros and generated more than 90 highly qualified jobs.

In addition, with the actions to support knowledge transfer, 200 professionals have been trained, 32 research groups and companies have been trained in the valuation of innovative materials and more than 50 companies have participated in the transfer meetings.