Page 4 - libroRicercaIinnovazione_2016

National Research Council The National Research Council of Italy (CNR) has always been able to provide its own original contribution in its field of activities, enhancing a wealth of ideas, people and results, and this is something that makes it unique in the national and international scenario. Serious efforts have been made to strengthen and further qualify the professionalism of the sci­ entific network, and the organization wants to make available and put to good use its expertise, achievements and ca­ pabilities in order to promote the encounter between supply and demand and also to promote the exploitation of the results, from an industrial, economic and social point of view. The challenge is relevant to the entire public research network and the phase that the country is experiencing, but the CNR itself has always had the potential to take an active and authoritative role in this field, and above all to take an effec­ tive role in the process of technology transfer. The lack of private investment in research, which, however, is still higher than that of the public sector, continues to pe­ nalize the development process of our country. With this in mind, the CNR has intervened on several fronts, starting from a renewed attention to the issue in its Charter, right up to an organizational reshuffle in the structures and tools that can be made available in order to ensure that the relevant processes are adequately performed and that favourable outcomes are assured. In this framework, the CNR has redefined its technology transfer model, and, within the new framework adopted, strives for a transversal approach to the areas of scientific specialization, an approach that sees skills and multidisciplinary experiences used, with their distribution in various sectors and at different levels. With this vision, the CNR supports and encourages the protection of intellectual property based on the results of its research activities, the development and the commercial exploitation of the technologies and skills, the collaboration between all the actors in the field of the innovation chain, and the main­ tenance of stable relations between the organizations operating in the field of research and commercial companies. Based on this model, the CNR, starting from 2014, and in parallel with the definition of new regulations and procedures, has worked on new strategies, ofen in partnership with other public and private institutions and in the framework of numerous national and international projects, and the results achieved are confirming the validity of the model that has been adopted: more resources are being acquired, there are lower costs, and there is a portfolio that specializes and ra­ tionalizes, and, most important of all, there is an increase in the potential partners interested in the wealth of skills and capabilities that can be made available by the CNR. The DIITET (Department of Engineering, ICT and Technologies for Energy and Transport), which covers a wide range of topics (by far the largest in number within the CNR), has long invested in the research­innovation­transfer process. This volume is a concrete example of such an investment, since it provides, as in previous editions, a synthetic cross­section, and an updated and bilingual portfolio of "available" patents, generated by the activities of the Institutes of the Depart­ ment; for each one there are provided references and possible fields of application. This work, carried out in collaboration with the Enhancement of Research Office, adds to other initiatives that have been taken, such as the organization of, or participation in, “matching” events, the creation of promotional videos and the continuing growth of attention towards the sector, and also the will and ability to succeed in the field of patents, obtained also through specific training initiatives organized by the Enhancement of Research Office. Developing shared routes and encouraging meetings aimed at solving problems and suggesting solutions therefore be­ comes a must for any research body that makes of its own patent portfolio not only a showcase of opportunities available, but also a useful tool of initiation, stimulation and implementation of collaboration with industrial reality. Collaboration, research and innovation are the best driving forces for industrial, economic and social growth, as well as cultural growth, for the entire country. Massimo Inguscio President