On 19 and 20 November 2008, CNCP organised a regional seminar on commercialisation for representatives from Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan. This was the last in a series of such events, which began with a major seminar organised with ISTC outside Moscow in
March 2007 and continued with similar meetings for Armenia and Georgia and for Belarus and Ukraine.
Fifty-six specialists from the staff of nuclear centres in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, research institutes, universities and financial
organisations, representatives of manufacturing companies distributors of isotope products, British specialists, and also IAEA experts met
to discuss the possibilities for commercialising the results of scientific and technological research, as an effective means to promote
economic stability and to create new jobs.
In his introductory address, the Director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Umar Salikbaev expressed
gratitude for the help provided by CNCP and underlined the topical importance of the themes of the seminar.
CNCP Programme Leader Patrick Gray outlined the central role that the commercialisation of science and technology plays in CNCP's
strategy and discussed possible future lines of development for the Programme.
The programme of the first day of the seminar was based on presentations devoted to key factors and aspects of the commercialisation of
technology. Terry Pollard (ISIS Enterprise, Great Britain) examined the drivers of commercialization using examples from the activities of
his company, which specialises in the transfer of technologies developed in Oxford University, and of a start up company, Oxford Catalysts.
Gerry MacAnally (DSTL, Great Britain) explored questions relating to the effective management of intellectual property and financial
incentives for scientists designed to encourage the development and patenting of new technology-based inventions.
The seminar mapped out various different routes to commercialisation. The second working day opened with two presentations by
representatives of IAEA, covering, among other things, international programmes dealing with research reactors which the Agency is
implementing. The possibilities of producing medical preparations, biologically active additives and surgical sutures were explored
in presentations by biological scientists from Tashkent. Steve Sugden - the Programme's expert on radiation technologies - presented British
experience in commercialising radiation applications. David Drummond (Canada) explored the possibilities for the institutes to export
isotope products.
The seminar also included a visit to production sites involved in the implementation of CNCP Projects.
The four seminars organised by CNCP in different countries explored the commercialisation of science and technology very fully. The next
step is for the ideas discussed at the seminars to be worked out in practice through initiatives organised by the Commercialisation Units in
the institutes. It was also proposed that future seminars should explore particular areas of technology that appear promising in terms of
commercialisation, such as water purification, radiation technologies, the production of isotopes and energy efficiency.
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