More than a month ago, we left 2017 behind. What has it been like for ESADECREAPOLIS this year? A headline to summarize the year of the park?
It has been a good year in many respects: at the economic level, the results have been significantly better than last year's and, at the project level, we have made progress in generating new services, based on ESADE's knowledge and skills, for the companies located in the park and the business fabric in general.
After all the successes and objectives achieved in 2017, what new challenges and objectives are proposed for 2018?
The main challenge is to consolidate the new lines of services and projects we are working on, especially in the field of open innovation and, more specifically, corporate venturing. Financially, we hope to confirm the positive trend that began in 2017 and that we will be able to monetize the value we intend to bring to the business fabric and society in the form of products and services based on the differential knowledge of our ecosystem.
From the park, an initiative is aimed at large companies such as the Corporate Innovation Excellence Club. What large companies and multinationals can we find in it?
ESADECreapolis' mission is to act as a hinge between ESADE's knowledge and assets and the business world. In this sense, for some time now, we have been opening our ecosystem to any company that has needs for which our knowledge and methodologies can be useful. Therefore, we work with a specific focus on the 60 companies installed in the park, but we also design tailor-made projects or systematic programs for large companies that are linked to our ecosystem. To date, we have more than 80 companies (corporations) with whom we work in identifying opportunities and threats, as well as projects to pilot new solutions, products and business models. Some of the most recognized and active in our ecosystem are Desigual, Agbar, Caixabank, Value Retail, Boehringer, etc.
The EMPENTA program is a success story that has been awarded by APTE. A program that helps accelerate technology-based start-ups. How do you overcome the main barriers to the creation and development of start-ups and spin-offs?
In 2018, the EMPENTA programme begins its 7th edition and, for us, it is a reference case because it is an excellent example of what we can contribute not only to the business world but also to the rest of the innovation system. We have just made the selection of the 10 startups that we are going to accelerate this year (among the more than 130 candidates!). All of them are technology-based companies arising from the scientific and technological environment. Therefore, as a park linked to a business school, we can contribute a lot of knowledge and complementary methodologies to the excellent technology that these new companies provide. Thanks to the talent and knowledge of professors, researchers and mentors linked to ESADE's business school, we complement startup projects in aspects such as the business model, the entrepreneurial team, the search for financing and investors, organisational and business strategy aspects, etc. In addition, thanks to a recent agreement with the Sant Cugat City Council, since last year we have been offering coworking spaces for entrepreneurs to link them even more closely to our ecosystem and to the Rambla de la Innovación (ESADE's business management, innovation and entrepreneurship laboratories).
On the other hand, the EMPENTA program and the experience and knowledge it has provided us as an accelerator of entrepreneurial projects, with nearly 100 accelerated startups in the last 6 years, has positioned us as a relevant partner for corporations that wish to approach disruptive innovation by intensifying their relationship with startups and the entrepreneurial ecosystem in general.
By 2018 what disruptive technology (Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Internet of Things, Virtual Reality...etc.) Do you think you are going to be the protagonist in terms of entrepreneurship and the creation of start ups and spin offs in your park?
In general terms, of the different disruptive technologies that are emerging and transforming all economic sectors, artificial intelligence is the one that is showing the greatest capillarity in its extension among the business fabric. The collection of large volumes of data, the Internet of things, virtual reality, robotics and other technologies end up converging on the need to incorporate a layer of intelligence through algorithms that will transform the business model or operations of organizations. Some of the companies located in ESADECreapolis, as well as others with whom we work, are experimenting with these technologies in order to explore their future evolutions in a controlled way, and they do so through the relationship with startups, connections with knowledge centres and the creation of new internal structures (investment vehicles, extension of their innovation or product development departments, intensification of R&D areas, etc.).
A tip for those who dare to undertake some of these disruptive technologies.
The most important thing is to take care of the organizational aspect, when we talk about already established companies. We must bear in mind that the exploration of areas unknown to the organization involves an inherent risk that must be monitored and learned to assume. Moreover, the internal structure will probably not be adapted to these new paradigms. To this end, experimentation in different spaces and environments (ecosystems) is a great tool. There, science and technology parks can become natural allies to help these organizations evolve in a controlled manner and pilot potential solutions. In addition to contributing to cost variability, we will be able to build ecosystems and mobilize specific resources of complementary value to those of the company.
What characterises and distinguishes ESADECREAPOLIS from other spaces for entrepreneurs and businessmen?
ESADECreapolis is a business and knowledge park linked to the ESADE business school. Therefore, a distinctive factor is that the knowledge that emanates from our immediate environment and that we put at the service of entrepreneurs and businessmen is transversal: unlike other parks linked to scientific institutions linked to technology, we provide methodologies and knowledge in the state of the art on business management, innovation and the creation of new companies. Thus, by acting as a hinge between an academic institution focused on"management" and having its own innovation management models, we can provide an ideal environment for piloting new products, services or business models. On the other hand, we are an active agent of the innovation system and, therefore, can provide contacts and cross knowledge from other academic institutions linked to technology. In a broad sense, we embrace the concept of open innovation (and the new ones derived from this concept, such as corporate venturing) and the triple (or quadruple) helix, recognizing that innovation (in capital letters) arises at the points of connection between academia, government, business and users (people).
To learn more about Oriol Alcoba and the members of APTE, could you give us a brief curriculum vitae?
Currently, in addition to being Director General of ESADECreapolis, I am an academic collaborator at ESADE and an associate professor at the Pompeu Fabra University, on issues related to innovation and technology management. I also act as the European Commission's independent expert for projects and programmes supporting innovation and business competitiveness, as well as for aspects related to the economic and social impact of technological research.
Until December 2016, I was director of valorization of Eurecat, a technology center. Responsible for the management of intellectual and industrial property originating in the different technological units of the centre and the exploitation of these assets through the generation of products and their transfer to the market via licensing to the business fabric or the creation of new technology-based companies (spin-offs).
Until his integration in Eurecat, he had been director of corporate development at Barcelona Media, an innovation centre specialising in multimedia technologies for the communication sector.
Previously, he was the Technology Transfer Manager at ACCIÓ, the Catalan government's agency for competitiveness in business. My mission was to design, implement, coordinate and manage instruments to boost the technology market in Catalonia, allowing the incorporation of differential technology in companies and thus increasing their levels of investment in R&D.
Until 2009, he was Director of Cluster Development at 22@Barcelona, a company dedicated to the urban and economic transformation of the Poblenou district of Barcelona, creating the"innovation district".
Previously, I was responsible for contracts at Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, SA, in the environmental and maintenance area for various administrations and companies, managing, among others, the cleaning and maintenance contract for the fountains in Barcelona and the cleaning of coastal waters in Catalonia.
Industrial engineer and Executive MBA, I started my professional career developing R&D projects at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
I have been or am a member of boards of trustees, boards of directors and boards of directors of various institutions dedicated to the generation of technology or its transfer to the market.
In addition, I regularly participate in conferences, juries, conferences and specific sessions in other universities and forums on innovation, entrepreneurship, technology transfer and economic promotion policies.
