Trasferimento teconologico e realtà locale : vecchie problematiche e nuove prospettive per una collaborazione tra università, industria e territorio

In a period of time characterized by economic crisis and global recession it is crucial for every country to foster innovations and make the most of its human and economic capital. One of the ways to enhance these potentials is knowledge transfer. With this term we refer to sharing of expertise and highly specializated know-how developed by universities and other research institutions. The origin of this process of innovation has always been the multifaceted world of research (primarily university networks and public authorities). Knowledge is considered as an “intangible asset” and such description, especially in Italy, poses several problems like, for example, its exact definition, its transfer, its use and ownership. Despite a complicated legal system and thanks to the effort of the European Union, in recent years the Italian academic and entrepreneurial sector have started to approach each other. The rules adopted at the European level are not the only reference for national legislator; the thirty years experience of the U.S. Bayh-Dole Act also provides an obvious term of comparison. Nonetheless Italy, due to the peculiar nature of its political system and notwithstanding its European membership, tried to follow an original path. This paper aims at examining the weaknesses and the evolution of technology transfer in Italy, through a comparative analysis of national and international legislations, and a comparison of local initiatives and new opportunities coming from crowd-funding.