Objectives. Making EU more attractive for researchers and to establish a balanced “brain circulation” within EU as well LA rather than a “brain drain”. Improve EU-LA research performance as well as providing more opportunities for researchers in MACs.
Description of work. EULA-NETCERMAT partners collaborate in creating a more competitive knowledge economy; putting into practice the Lisbon Strategy summing up the collaborative efforts of knowledge based design, innovation and entrepreneurship in a context of participation of all interest groups in and across local and regional spaces. This WP will be carried out by the following specific tasks:
TASK 3.1: Evaluation of the impact of advanced ceramic materials expressed in research publications and economic terms (CERCAL, ADRAM, CBS) through bibliographic consultations (science, technology and economy), internet facilities, consultations with national chambers of industry,AR-BR-CL industrial associations, Eurochamber, NETs, international programmes (EC and others), OECD reports etc.
- Sub-task 3.1.1: In the emergent economies (AR, BR and CL) (UNLu and ADRAM). A study of the societal impact of new technologies in MACs taking into consideration several quantitative and qualitative aspects in three main components: 1) The economical study of impact would assess if the new technologies are really accepted on the market, and how? What are then the direct and indirect impacts on the market? On the production? On the producers? On the users? In terms of costs and benefits. 2) The study should also focus on the social impact of introducing MACs in new markets. What could be the employment opportunities for the population? What could be the creation of enterprises (SME’s, spin offs) involved in advanced ceramics? What are also the risks for traditional ceramic producers? What are then the opportunities for existing SME’s to participate to the evolution of those new technologies? Which means of capacity building will be implemented? 3) The third important issue to be takkled by the study is the impact on environnement and the measure of the ecological footprint of the producers and the users of those new technologies, as well as the effects in the area of public healt. In terms of methodology there will be implemented surveys, interviews and case studies with the main stakeholders in the different countries concerned by the project.
- Sub-task 3.1.2: In the EU (E, BE, DK and SW) (CERCAL &CBS) However the economical, social and environnemental context would be different in EU, the questions raised and the methodology in this sub-task will be similar to the previous one.
TASK 3.2: SWOT Analysis and Employment in the advanced ceramic sector (ICMAB-CSIC, UAB, UNLu, ADRAM). The SWOT analysis will be introducing the socio-economic dimension for AR, BR and CL, as well as the partners of the EU and other relevant EU27 countries with strong industry in MAC, like Germany, France, Italy or UK.
- Sub-task 3.2.1: Mapping of employments in LA (AR, BR and CL) and EU (E, SW, BE, and DK) (CBS, ADRAM, SENAI) related to MACs and reveal relationships with other related domains of interest such us environment, health and aeronautics and their integration. Such sub task will be performed by the appropriate software. Subsequently an analysis of job distribution between SMEs and Large Enteprises will be performed. The analyses will focus specifically on the regions, which already have competences in ceramic technologies. The differences in terms of flexibility, qualitative and quantitative resources between SMEs and Large Enterprises would be stressed out. A study on their capacities to cope with a new technology and the fact of already dealing with the traditional ceramic production.
- Sub-task 3.2.2: Identification of appropriated channels for knowledge transfer from academia to industry (SENAI and UAB). Bothformal (typically involves a legal contract on a patent or on collaborative research activities) and informal channels (personal contacts and hence to the tacit dimension of knowledge transfer) as well the key researchers (personal networks, both of an informal and formal nature, strong academic reputation). Metodological questions: How does Industry- Science Relations (IRS) take place? This main research question can be divided into smaller questions: What is the relative frequency of the different forms of ISR that the groups use? What is the importance of the different forms of ISR? Which factors influence the pattern of ISR?.
- Sub-task 3.2.3: Accurate SWOT analysis for the private sector and the Academia (ADRAM, CBS), regarding the competitive position of the EU-LA ceramics sector as a platform for discussing strategic options to meet the identified challenges. The four dimensions of SWOT will provide a framework for conducting a structured analysis of the competitive situation of the EU-LA ceramics sector.
- Sub-task 3.2.4: Definition of a derived Action Plan from the SWOT analysis (UNLu, ADRAM, UAB) the action plan will be addressed to solve some basic questions such as who, what, when, where and how on MACs and their applications. The action plan will be performed on a serie of steps. 1) Analisys of the proposed improvement or solution and break it down into manageable steps 2) List of activities that must be done to ensure successful implementation of the improvements. 3) For each activity, identification of the resources needed/responsible for each step. 4) List the remaining barriers from the barriers-and-aids analysis and any actions that can be taken to overcome these barriers 5) Brainstorm, if necessary, for other items of possible significance. 6) Add Due Dates for each activity. 7) Track the status of each activity. Concerning the business plan (ADRAM), derived from the SWOT analysis and the action plan,will include sufficient level of details to allow strategic partners to make informed use of the plan for their investment decision, in order to increase their competivity in the ceramic sector (in academic terms and external collaborative terms). In addition, it is important to specify the assumptions underlying the significant data in the plan and the timeframes for the achievement of targets during the development stages. 1) General description of each LA partner. 2) A statement of mission and the LA partner’s objectives. 3) A description of the demand for the product, and its advantage over other advanced materials. 4) The target market knowledge transfer opprotunities), the business opportunity, and the business model to benefit from it. 5) The team: A brief description of the leading team and its skills. 6) Current status: The development stage, intellectual property protection such as patents, and so on. 7) Summary of financial projection in up to the next five years. 8) Financial resource requirements in order to be more competitive (personnel, equipments, space etc.).
