Alexandre Perera: “In Catalonia we are excellent at research, but mediocre at technology transfer”

The coordinator of the R&D&I network Xartec Salut, in which IDIAPJGol participates, talks about the activities carried out by the entity and the challenges it faces

Xartec Salut is an innovation network focused on the health sector, which brings together research centres –such as IDIAPJGol–, universities, health centres and other entities of the sector, which aims to promote the exchange of knowledge between the actors involved in the innovation process in health technologies, promote the creation of companies and help to turn an idea into a product or service that serves to improve people’s well-being. We interviewed the coordinator of Xartec, Alexandre Perera, head of the Centre for Research in Biomedical Engineering (CREB), of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, which has promoted the network. He talks about the challenges and opportunities that the entity faces and his vision of innovation in our country. Dr. Perera has participated in the IV IDIAPJGol Innovation Conference, which has focused on social entrepreneurship.

Which is the main mission of Xartec Salut and how is its contribution to the health sector in Catalonia structured?

Xartec is an R&D&I network that aims to be a bridge between research and the transfer of knowledge, understood as a catalyst to bring products and services in the field of medicine and health to the market. To do this, the Network must be representative of the medical technologies that are developed in Catalonia and, in this sense, it must also act as a promoter of the talent that we have in our country.

What is the difference between Xartec and other innovation initiatives in the health sector?

Traditionally, transfer has been understood as a phase that begins when the product or service has already been conceived, but our model is based on integrating innovation throughout the process, from the design of the research to the launch of the service or product on the market. In this sense, we integrate into the Network various actors who participate in this entire co-creation process. We believe that the best way to transfer the results of research is through a team dedicated to it. At Xartec we have helped promote fifteen spin-offs with this model, accompanying them from the beginning of the path to minimize the risks in their launch to the market.

Once a researcher has created a product or service with a certain utility, how does it reach the end user?

We take action to minimise the risks of the transfer process, through several axes. The first one is talent. In this sense, we organise meetings in which the youngest people in the Network participate and we put them in touch with more senior researchers and entrepreneurs who explain their achievements and failures –and here the failures are very relevant for us, because they teach us a lot.

We want to sow a seed among the youngest, to plant in their heads the idea that they can earn a living by creating a company to exploit the fruit of their research. Right now, we are not managing to retain the talent of young people. The system dedicates a lot of of resources to training researchers who end up going to work abroad and do not return. We have calculated that the cost of this is equivalent to what it cost to build the entire AVE network or what the bank bailout in 2010 cost, between sixty and eighty thousand million euros. This is dramatic. We must convince young people that success does not mean going to work at Google, but, for example, living and working in Altafulla in a company that has a turnover of ten million euros and that you have created based on your research.

The second axis is open innovation. The generation of ideas must be an uncontrolled process. In this process, very crazy ideas emerge, but if we share them and give them a couple of turns, they can be interesting. Here young people play a fundamental role, because they have fewer filters, fewer prejudices, and they propose ideas that can become revolutionary.

The third axis is that of co-creation. This is very important for entities such as IDIAPJGol, which can benefit from participating in joint projects with CREB, for example. It is important going beyond collaboration and co-create and address problems jointly.

The fourth block is valorisation. This area is very strategic. Here we support issues related to intellectual property, as well as the capacity that the researcher will have once he brings the technology to the market, the legal freedom of action that he will have for the protection of the patent or the barriers that he will encounter in accessing the market and regulation. Faced with all the variables and obstacles, we give them personalized assistance.

The last axis is support for the license, business development, the creation of spin-offs. We offer this support in our Venture Building, which is the factory from which fifteen spin-offs have emerged driven by the action of the Network.

These five blogs, talent, ideas, co-creation, valorisation and technology transfer, are the backbone of the services that Xartec offers its members.

Catalonia is at the forefront of scientific production in research, but on the other hand we are very low in knowledge transfer. Can initiatives such as Xartec help improve this situation?

It is important to note that in our country we are excellent in research, especially in basic research, but on the other hand we are mediocre in transfer. This is a structural problem that has a lot to do with talent management. The excellent PhD student ends up going to work at Facebook and transfers there. For us it would be better to have a Facebook here and attract talent from outside. Instead, we do it the other way around. We dedicate titanic efforts to having excellent research that has no return in our society, but outside. Will Xartec solve it? Probably not, but it is doing its bit to reverse the situation.

All of us involved in the R&D&I process must be aware that this reality puts our social model and the well-being we have at risk. If we are not capable of creating our own products and services, we will end up buying them from other economies that have had the capacity to create them. More Xartecs are needed, but, above all, a change of culture is needed.

Is there awareness on the part of the actors who are part of the innovation process about the need for this change?

Everyone wants this to happen, but I don’t know if there is enough courage to assume the cost of achieving it. In any case, I think we are improving. What is needed now is an overall vision, greater coordination between all the actors involved in the process.

How important is the participation of IDIAPJGol as a member of the Network for Xartec Salut?

I think it is huge. I am very happy that IDIAP is part of the Network and that it is integrated with the rest of the groups that make it up. In our country it is very difficult to get digital health products into the market. We can achieve this, for example, by putting IDIAP research groups in contact with data science or IT management laboratories or with professionals specialised in regulation.

And what advantages does being part of the Network have for IDIAPJGol researchers and professionals?

The opportunities for co-creation and joint generation of ideas. If we put very different people in a room and start to share ideas, very interesting things will come out. This is the key. And if we can bring young talent into the room, this generation of ideas is catalysed. From this perspective we can take forward challenges that are difficult to solve if we approach them unilaterally. The other issue is that IDIAP researchers know well what the most relevant health problems are and this information is key, because otherwise other teams from more technological centres end up solving problems that do not exist in real life.

How would you like Xartec to be in five years?

I would like all members of the Network to collaborate more, especially the centres that have nothing to do with each other. I would also like there to be a space for conversation and co-creation, so that, for example, IDIAP doctoral students were in contact with Mathematics doctoral students. I would like us to have naturalized the creation of high-tech companies in Catalonia and it would be easier to have an idea and bring it to the market through a technology company.

Do you think that it is necessary to incorporate any other profile into the Network?

The public administration, which is already part of it, should be able to participate more, not so much through institutional support, which it already is, but through its technical positions.

In addition, although companies cannot be part of Xartec, they could be closer to it. We have the challenge of getting capital closer to the Network. Traditionally, Catalan companies have been very conservative. I would like Catalan companies to invest in Catalan companies. Just as we have managed to attract investment groups, we are having a hard time getting Catalan medical technology companies to come, and their participation is key.

Another thing I would like to achieve is that medical students participate. This is important, because new health technology products and services must be put into the system by doctors. We should get more participation from clinical groups and students.