TY - JOUR
T1 - Systematizing serendipity for big science infrastructures
T2 - The ATTRACT project
AU - Wareham, Jonathan
AU - Pujol Priego, Laia
AU - Romasanta, Angelo Kenneth
AU - Mathiassen, Thomas Wareham
AU - Nordberg, Markus
AU - Tello, Pablo Garcia
N1 - Funding Information:
In this study, we analyse the ATTRACT 1 1 project, a €20 M initiative funded within the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Commission that aims to systematize the discovery of breakthrough applications of imaging, detection, computational, and other deep technologies from the leading European science research infrastructures. ATTRACT supported 170 projects with the seed-funding of €100,000 each to leverage BSRI technologies towards creating sustainable businesses. Leveraging this data, the overarching research question of this study is to understand how researchers from BSRIs find alternate uses of their technologies and how initiatives like ATTRACT enable these different modes.
Funding Information:
The ATTRACT project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements No. 777222 and No. 101004462 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - Big Science Research Infrastructures (BSRIs) are tremendous sources of ‘deep-tech’ with the potential to foment alternative commercial applications in diverse industries. Yet, cultivating novel applications of BSRI technologies is not straightforward due to misalignment between their scientific mission, large technological risks, market uncertainties, and long development times. Given these challenges, research is needed to understand if- and how-serendipitous innovations can be purposefully developed from BSRIs. In this study, we analyse ATTRACT, a novel initiative funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 program, which funded 170 projects with €100,000 each to develop a proof-of-concept commercial application of BSRI technologies within one year. Our analysis of this dataset identifies three modes employed by researchers to come up with alternate applications: (1) combining different technologies, (2) applying technology into a different field, and (3) using artificial intelligence or machine learning. In a second step, we conducted multinomial logistic regressions using the project data, expert evaluations, and a questionnaire to identify the antecedents associated with the pursuit of each of the three modes. Our findings suggest that scientists and engineers develop many new ideas about novel potential applications of BSRI technologies in their daily work. The main value of ATTRACT is in facilitating project development through financial resources, brokering relationships with industrial partners, and facilitating the applications of technologies in domains outside of the immediate purview of BSRIs.
AB - Big Science Research Infrastructures (BSRIs) are tremendous sources of ‘deep-tech’ with the potential to foment alternative commercial applications in diverse industries. Yet, cultivating novel applications of BSRI technologies is not straightforward due to misalignment between their scientific mission, large technological risks, market uncertainties, and long development times. Given these challenges, research is needed to understand if- and how-serendipitous innovations can be purposefully developed from BSRIs. In this study, we analyse ATTRACT, a novel initiative funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 program, which funded 170 projects with €100,000 each to develop a proof-of-concept commercial application of BSRI technologies within one year. Our analysis of this dataset identifies three modes employed by researchers to come up with alternate applications: (1) combining different technologies, (2) applying technology into a different field, and (3) using artificial intelligence or machine learning. In a second step, we conducted multinomial logistic regressions using the project data, expert evaluations, and a questionnaire to identify the antecedents associated with the pursuit of each of the three modes. Our findings suggest that scientists and engineers develop many new ideas about novel potential applications of BSRI technologies in their daily work. The main value of ATTRACT is in facilitating project development through financial resources, brokering relationships with industrial partners, and facilitating the applications of technologies in domains outside of the immediate purview of BSRIs.
KW - Big science
KW - Deep tech
KW - Innovation policy
KW - Serendipity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112462225&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.technovation.2021.102374
DO - 10.1016/j.technovation.2021.102374
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85112462225
SN - 0166-4972
VL - 116
JO - Technovation
JF - Technovation
M1 - 102374
ER -