Network for International Cooperation on Technology Commercialization, SPICI expands its participation to important Italian institutions

SPICI has invited various Italian organisations to become supporting members of the Network for International Cooperation on Technology Commercialization (NICTC).

Founded in 2020 during the International Technology Trade Fair of the previous edition of the China Zhongguancun (ZGC) Forum, the NICTC aims to promote long-term cooperation on international technology transfer.

The network is promoted, among others, by the International Technology Transfer Network (ITTN) and the China Technology Exchange (CTEX). It operates under the auspices of the Government of the Beijing Municipality, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (MOST), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Chinese Association for Science and Technology (CAST).

To date, the network includes 103 institutions from 15 countries, including Cambridge Enterprise, University of Oxford Global Innovation Consultancy Oxentia, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Russian National Association of Technology Transfer (NATT), the German Institute of Innovation and Technology (GIT), and 37 other international institutions. On the Chinese side, the 66 member institutions of the NICTC include the Office of the Science and Technology Department of Peking University, the Technology Transfer Office of Tsinghua University, and the WTO Chair (China) Institute.

SPICI is also a member of the network and over the years, it has promoted the participation of Italian and African institutions in the NICTC, including Lazio Innova, ItaliaStartUP, Materias, Zakeke, Campania NewSteel, the International Centre for Emerging Technology (ICET), and the Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre (NCIC).

Among the activities of the NICTC in 2021 was the launch of the "2021 Innovation China" platform which organizes 150 roadshows on the theme of technology in 2021.

SPICI, as a member of the NICTC, has expanded participation to:

• Meditech (Consorzio Meditech - Mediterranean Competence Center for Innovation): a competence center promoted by the Ministry of Economic Development based in Puglia and Campania. It was established with the goal of fostering the adoption and dissemination of Industry 4.0 enabling technologies.

• Netval: the Italian association for the valorisation of public research results. It has 98 members representing over 80% of the Italian public research system.

• The Department of Physical Sciences and Technology of Matter (DSFTM) and the Technology Transfer Office of the National Research Council (CNR): it conducts basic and applied research for the development of science and technology of matter, with significant impacts in the industrial and productive world.

• The China-Italy Joint Laboratory on Advanced Manufacturing (CI-LAM): the main collaboration platform between the Chinese and Italian innovation ecosystems in the field of advanced manufacturing promoted by the University of Naples Federico II, the University of Bergamo, and SPICI.

These organisations were presented during the opening ceremony of the 2021 International Technology Trade fair on Zhongguancun Forum.