Under the Increasing Institutional Capacity for Innovation Project, financed by the European Union, the Technology Transfer Pilot Program aims to support commercialization of Georgian scientific results that respond to market needs. The program duration is approximately three (3) years, started in April 2019. The project is implemented by the World Bank Group and Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA). The team will work closely with Georgian research organizations to detect and select the most promising ideas. Research projects that have reached a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) level 4+ and above will be eligible for evaluation.

During the program, capacity building for scientists and the commercialization team will be delivered via on-the-job training while the commercialization cycle is deployed for the projects that are selected. Financial and technical resources will be made available to a small number of mature projects, before these projects are presented to potential customers in Georgia and abroad.

Objectives

The objectives of the program are to:

1. Build capacity of GITA and public partner organizations in technology transfer and commercialization process, from the initial disclosure until deal closure;
2. Test whether inventions coming from public universities and research institutions have commercialization viability;
3. Facilitate contracting between private or public customers and scientific teams.

Main Activities

The Program will include the following activities, among others:

1. Visiting a selection of Research & Development Organizations (RDOs) and/or university research departments that are likely to contribute to the Project;
2. Obtaining disclosures from researchers and agreeing on documentation to be made available to the project team, for the pre-selection of projects with potential for commercialization;
3. With assistance of local and foreign experts, identifying projects with TRL4 and above 4. Assessing the Business Readiness Level (BRL) of selected project(s) and elaboration of technology transfer roadmaps;
4. Funding activities to increase the technology readiness levels of the selected projects;
5. Demonstrating viability of technology transfer by supporting the closing of transactions (from negotiating to contracting stages), including contract research, IP search and protection, market analysis, etc.;
6. Developing partnerships with strong technology transfer offices in EU Member States, to enable international linkages and access to the European markets.

Contact: tech-transfer@gita.gov.ge