Open Access to scientific information: facilitating knowledge transfer and technological innovation from the academic to the private sector

"In the information age, knowledge and technology play a crucial role in advancing national economic growth. The advances made in digital information and communication technologies have also facilitated a greater sharing of scientific information inside and outside the academic sphere which have direct implications to national economies. In the last decades, the role of universities has extended beyond ‘the traditional research and teaching mission’3 . Universities contribution to the production, transmission and dissemination of scientific knowledge means that they are also perceived as economic agents4 . The information revolution has also meant that academic researchers have wider access to information and possess a broader set of skills and expertise. Thus, researchers apply the knowledge acquired and the skills developed to investigate and generate new ideas that can result both in improving the quality and efficiency of products and processes but also in developing innovative solutions to address key societal challenges5 . The outputs resultant from publicly funded research are valuable to R&D performing companies, to companies with a strong technology base or with a strong innovation focus but also to non-research intensive companies. It has been observed that research users from the private6 , public7 and voluntary8 sectors can benefit from the research conducted in universities. For instance, by improving the quality of the products developed and services provided, by enabling the development of new applications, by experimenting with new uses for existing materials, by reducing product development cycles, or even by informing the development and adoption of new policies at the organisational or even governmental level. In 2011, a study on access to research and technical information in Danish knowledge-based SMEs showed that ‘twenty-seven percent of the products and 19% of the processes developed or introduced during the last three years [2008-2011] would have been delayed or abandoned without access to academic research’. Ultimately, these ‘new products contribute[d] to an average 46% of annual sales’ 9 ...."