Over 200 participants recently learned how the council promotes locally developed technologies.
Malta has over the past years moved up in the EU innovation scoreboard rankings and the council’s efforts are focused on Malta climbing even further up.
Developing a new technology is not just about the technology alone. It is also about ensuring that there is a market for it and that it would be financially feasible to commercialise. The person behind the technology also has to make sure that he does not waste time and money developing something which is already patented.
Fusion offers support vouchers to pay for important studies on IP market, product cositing and economic and risk checks. All this would be done to better prepare the researcher for the project required to develop the technology. The guidance of the studies would help ensure commercial success.
Fusion has two programmes: an eight-voucher project covering the intellectual property check and commercialisation viability and the actual technology development support through funds ranging from €50,000 to €200,000.
The programmes allow micro enterprises and SMES together with researchers from academic institutions to apply with application guidelines and forms on the council’s website.
Target areas include:
Health – with a focus on healthy living and active ageing, and e-health. The scope here is to synergise the existing strengths Malta possesses in the sector through cultivating a multidisciplinary support where medical doctors work with computer and engineering specialists. eHealthcare, for example, would allow clinicians, patients and their families to use digital devices to retrieve information and to access support.
Such focus would help address increasing healthcare demands and expectations as well as the rising burden of the long-term management of non-communicable diseases and ageing populations in need of care.
High value-added manufacturing with a focus on process innovation through the optimisation of resource use, energy efficiency and automation. This sector already is a significant contribution towards the local economy but needs a focus on innovation in product design and development to ensure long-term sustainability.
Aviation and aerospace – with a focus on high value-added engineering market in order to move up the value chain in specific niches within the aerospace sector. Malta has for years hosted an aviation maintenance repair and overhaul sector and innovation here would help the sector become even more competitive.
Resource-efficient buildings – where the focus is on innovative solutions in the sector which address water scarcity and energy to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and increase the take up of renewable energy sources. In addition, it also encourages innovative solutions for resource efficient buildings.
ICT as an enabling technology and ICT based innovation which plays an important role in the development of new goods, processes and services to modernise the economy and transform it to a knowledge-based one
Innovative tourism product development is tied with the tourism industry, whereby technology and innovation would help the sector maintain and improve the overall contribution towards the economy.
Innovative maritime services would benefit from being better integrated in order to offer a better and even more competitive service.
Aquaculture is a growing sector and a focus in this area would help consolidate and develop the existing strengths of the different players.
A technical information session on is being held on June 27 at 10am at the MCST offices in Villa Bighi, Kalkara. Researchers are encouraged to attend together with the R&I Voucher Programme application form that can be downloaded from http://mcst.gov.mt. To reserve a place, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Joseph Sammut
Quelle/Source: Times of Malta, 15.06.2014
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