The Science Technology Park Belgrade team was joined this week by members of the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia, the University of Belgrade, Science Technology Park Niš, and Science Technology Park Čačak on a study visit to Switzerland, organized by the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (Swiss IPI).

This study visit to Switzerland was a great learning experience in matters of intellectual property and technology transfer. The country with the highest Global Innovation Index shared with us and granted us deep insights into its good practice examples in this area, which in 2021 alone resulted in the formation of 83 spin-off companies!

During the visit, we met with key innovation and technology transfer stakeholders in the Swiss ecosystem. In addition to the invaluable exchange of experiences and the opportunity to learn up close about the operations of the Swiss IPI, we also had an opportunity to learn about the practices, results, and key activities of the Swiss Technology Transfer Association (SwiTT), the TT Office of ETH Zurich University, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Bluelion Incubator, the BioAlps Association and the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI).

One of the priceless lessons we have learned is that an efficient technology transfer system operates at multiple levels, that bottom-up initiatives are paramount, and that interaction among all stakeholders makes for a functioning system.

The study visit to Switzerland took place as part of the project “Technopark Serbia 2 – Boosting Exports through Technoparks”, through which the Swiss Government supports further development of technology entrepreneurship and the STP network in Serbia, which is implemented by Science Technology Park Belgrade.