In an interview recently granted to Viet Nam News Agency correspondents in Switzerland, Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, Head of Section, Economics and Statistics Division and co-editor of the GII report, gave insights into this year's theme: "Powering Entrepreneurs at the Frontier of Science: Turning Pilots into Pipelines."
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Testing industrial robots at the University of Science and Technology – University of Da Nang |
According to him, the theme underscores the need to turn scientific breakthroughs into startups and technology commercializing firms. Doing so requires countries to combine three core elements.
The first is a strong research system, where universities and scientists patent inventions and found companies around them. The second is long-term financing: a sustainable funding chain, especially late-stage venture capital, that spans 10 to 15 years and supports projects from prototype to industrial-scale production. The third is dynamic businesses with a heavy focus on research and development (R&D) to bring products to market.
Wunsch-Vincent said the GII has evolved beyond a ranking into a policy diagnostic tool used by about 70% of WIPO member states, or nearly 100 countries.
Viet Nam earned "full marks" on all three criteria for using the index effectively, he said. The first is in-depth research. Viet Nam works closely with WIPO and analyses its strengths, weaknesses and long-term trends in detail.
The second is pooling resources nationwide. Viet Nam set up a dedicated GII working group linking central and local authorities and adopted ambitious targets, notably lifting R&D spending to 2% of gross domestic product.
The third is systematic monitoring and promotion of innovation at the local level, shown by annual tracking of performance results. Viet Nam's creation of its own Provincial Innovation Index (PII) has burnished the capacity of individual cities and provinces.
He said Viet Nam's approach to adopting the GII and coordinating with government agencies at both central and local levels is an invaluable lesson many other countries are studying and trying to replicate. Viet Nam has thereby contributed considerably to capacity building and sci-tech cooperation, and its PII has prompted many other WIPO members to adopt similar models.
Looking ahead, he praised the close cooperation between the two sides, which goes well beyond the GII report. WIPO will keep helping Viet Nam make effective use of the IP system, including not only patents but also trademarks and industrial designs, to help local companies raise their value and move up in global supply chains, he said.
The two sides will also deepen cooperation in strategic areas, including accelerating technology transfer from research institutes and universities to companies and expanding IP-based financing, such as using patents as collateral, laying a foundation for faster growth in the years ahead, he added.
Source: VNA