With Federal Support, Proof-of-Concept Centers Spur National Innovation

A report from authors Samantha Bradley, Christopher S. Hayter, and Albert N. Link explores the burgeoning role of proof-of-concept centers (PoCC) in supporting the country's innovation infrastructure. The report suggests that shifting dynamics in the global economy will continue to increase the importance of PoCCs in supporting regional innovation and national competitiveness.

The authors define PoCCs as providing a specific set of services that stimulate the commercialization of early-stage technologies by improving the transfer of knowledge from universities and development of technologies derived from public R&D funding that boost economic development. Services include providing seed funding, business development services, incubator space, market research, IP and licensing services, and providing connections to outside funding sources. By enabling inventors to evaluate the commercial potential of their research, prototypes can be tested and early-stage products can be developed and connected to investment from private capital sources.

The authors indicate a strong uptick in the formation of PoCCs beginning in 2007, both as a result of the Startup America Initiative and also as a university response to the economic downturn that rocked the United States in the same year. New university startups increased with the presence of a PoCC on campus. PoCCs also tend to be created at universities that have well-established tech transfer offices. The authors suggest that the proliferation of PoCCs indicates that they have an increasingly important role to play in our country's innovation infrastructure, because they address the most critical phase of technology commercialization, the so-called valley of death that happens during the proof-of-concept phase. PoCCs fill in the gaps between science & technology and business enterprise by providing startups with funding and services in the space between invention and product development, when commercial concepts are established, markets are identified, and intellectual property can be licensed.

Specifically within the Startup America Initiative, the i6 Challenge is credited with the proliferation of PoCCs. In June 2012, the Obama administration launched a $6 million multi-agency competition under the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Department of Commerce to encourage and reward university research centers creating proof of concept centers that commercialize technologies. Modeled after the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation and the von Liebig Center at UC-San Diego, since last year, the program has provided $1 million to 6 winners across the United States.

The report identifies thirty two centers across the country. Some specific examples of successful programs can be found at the BioGenerator in St.Louis and the Igniting Innovation Cleantech Acceleration Network at the University of Central Florida. Both programs received i6 grants and have worked to establish international and national partnerships that have strongly supported cluster growth in their regions.