SPIRE - Strategic IP Management for Effective R&I in Asian Higher Education

Knowledge-based societies are underpinned by solid capacities in Intellectual Property (IP), research and innovation (R&I).

The need for effective R&I management at HEIs to contribute to socioeconomic growth is stressed, i.a., under the current Europe 2020 Strategy. Whereas in Europe, HEIs have been developing policies and implementing actions in this domain particularly during the last two decades to ensure stronger relevance of their activities and results to society, the situation in the ASEAN region is far more unbalanced.

Regional policies pursue business-friendly and innovation-supporting frameworks but advances take time, especially, in certain countries.

Government related actions need to be supplemented with institutional actions of various kinds, where increasing IP skills, knowledge and practice plays a central role.

Upon these premises, SPIRE’s overall objective is contributing to the effectiveness of R&I management at the PC HEIs by enhancing IP capacities.

That wider aim will be pursued by means of the following three specific objectives:

• To strengthen knowledge and skills of personnel of the 8 PC HEIs for the implementation of consistent IP strategies, as well as for the provision of comprehensive IP services at the institutional and local levels.
• To establish IP Management Units (IPMUs) at the 8 PC HEIs as centralised services for providing IP related assistance to the universities' communities and local businesses. 
• To set up a Regional IP Network for HEIs, as a specialised forum of professionals to pool IP related resources and foster national and regional debate.