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How to fix Europe's broken innovation machine

Why do so many European inventions get lost in the move from lab to market? Science|Business suggests 9 simple ways that European leaders could fix that problem – for the benefit of Europe’s economy.

Reading list – ORNL eyes the marketplace

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, funded by the US Department of Energy, proclaims its interest in bringing technology to the market in the latest issue of its glossy magazine.

Innovation needs partners, says IBM

Corporations may be their own worst enemy when it comes to new ideas and innovations, which is good news for external partners, says an IBM executive.

Equity gap 'smokescreen for ineptitude'

An obsession with the equity gap is obscuring the real reasons why universities are failing to commercialise their research, says one of the UK's leading spin-out investors.

Big Pharma advantage: discovery or risk mitigation?

These days, Big Pharma does not appear to have many friends. The market performance of many big pharmaceutical companies has been middling, as the sector’s competitive position is perceived to be under several threats. The drug pipeline appears to be drying up and geared more toward lifestyle enhancement than life savings. Costly and reputation-damaging liability suits are proliferating. Pricing pressures are relentless. They come from pressure groups such as AIDS patients; but they are reinforced by public authorities, not only in the developing world but also in the US and in Europe, as governments seek to slow down the relentless progress of health expenditures.

Germany pledges more for the best

A small number of German universities will next week receive a large boost in fame and fortune as Germany seeks to restore the fortunes of its science.

The innovation problem just won’t go away

Finding the magic ingredients that will generate innovation remains a major preoccupation across the public and private sectors. Two leading protagonists from academe and industry shares their thoughts.

Microsoft's French start-up: Now going global

Microsoft France's support scheme for start-ups has begun its second year, with success at just one of the 25 companies it has helped covering the costs of the programme over two years. And now Microsoft’s subsidiaries in Germany and the UK are joining in.

Study urges new look at European tech transfer

The common wisdom among technology-policy analysts is that Europe is bad at transferring technology out of its great universities and into the commercial world. A new study asserts that, by some measures, Europe may actually outperform the U.S., Canada and Australia.