Vienna as a Region of Knowledge: Increasing the Generation of University Spin-offs

Universities have the potential to be major resources for helping city and regional economies to become more innovative and competitive. One mechanism to achieve this potential is the generation of spin-off companies from university-based research projects. There are a number of benefits to the city or region for focusing on generating spin-offs rather than licensing intellectual property, including that the spin-off will have a very high likelihood of locating and staying within the region, thus adding jobs and income to the local economy. We have identified the most important barriers to the generation of university spin-offs that faculty entrepreneurs face when considering to start-up a company from their university research. The results of the study can help us to identify the set of initiatives and policies that could yield a higher rate of generation of university spin-offs in the Vienna region, and thus help Vienna achieve its potential as a region of knowledge and innovation.