How to fundamentally solve the problem of transformation of scientific and technological achievements
Article Guo Tiecheng and Di Xiaoyan
■ Authoritative point of view
The problem of transformation of scientific and technological achievements stems from Specific economic system
The transformation of scientific and technological achievements is a vocabulary unique to our country and a phenomenon unique to our country. Looking back at history, the problem of transformation of scientific and technological achievements originated from the planned economic system. The planned economy played a historic role in my country's industrialization and concentrated efforts to catch up with developed countries. It was suitable for our country's situation at that time. However, the planned economy's two-line system of R&D and production also had serious drawbacks.
Between the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the reform of the science and technology system in 1985, my country’s scientific research and new product development work was basically concentrated on the state. Under the historical conditions at that time, in order to "concentrate efforts to do big things", the government directly organized and implemented science and technology projects. Industrial scientific research institutes are directly managed by the government, which can also be said to be part of the government. Their R&D and operating funds, materials and equipment, manpower, etc. are completely allocated by the government according to plans; their R&D tasks do not come from enterprises, but from government management departments. , government management departments issue scientific research plans to scientific research institutes every year, and scientific research institutes submit scientific research results to the government every year.
On the other hand, companies only complete the production tasks assigned by the government and do not reflect market demand. Therefore, the company basically does not engage in scientific research and new product development, nor does it have an R&D department if there are technical needs. It must be reported to the administrative department, which will summarize and process the needs of each enterprise and then distribute them to relevant scientific research institutes. Scientific research institutes conduct research and development based on the conveyed "needs", and then report the research and development results to the scientific research department, which transfers them to the industrial management department, and the industrial management department then issues them to the enterprise. There is no direct connection between scientific research departments and enterprises. After the collection, processing, and communication of government departments, it is difficult to accurately match demand and supply in the multi-link "transmission" process. As a result, there is a serious disconnect between scientific research and production. Enterprises do not engage in R&D, and the R&D of scientific research institutes does not directly reflect the technological needs of enterprises. A large number of scientific research results are difficult to apply and promote in enterprises, resulting in a large number of achievements that need to be transformed, and some may never even be able to Transformation.
The essence of the problem of transformation of scientific and technological achievements is a system in which R&D and production are disconnected
To sum up, the reason why the efficiency of transformation of scientific and technological achievements has been low for a long time is that R&D and production are separated , the system and mechanism of first research and development, then transformation, and then application and promotion.
The transformation of scientific and technological achievements reflects the phenomenon that a large number of R&D achievements, including technologies, materials, products, patents, papers, etc., cannot be used in production. In order to use these achievements in production, a process must be carried out. After a series of subsequent developments, some cannot be used after subsequent development; those that can be used in production after subsequent development are said to have been converted, otherwise they are said to have not been converted. If the amount of transformation of scientific and technological achievements is large, it is called a high conversion rate, and vice versa.
What is the reason for the large number of results that need to be transformed? Since it can't be used directly in production, why do we need to do a lot of research and development? If you continue to produce a large number of results that need to be transformed, the conversion rate will be low no matter how many results are converted; if the result conversion library is made larger and larger, the more results are converted, the more waste will occur.
The concept of transformation of scientific and technological achievements will eventually be replaced by the concept of technology commercialization
With the deepening of reform, the problem of disconnection between R&D and production will eventually be solved, and a large number of scientific and technological achievements that need to be transformed will inevitably disappear. Is there still any issue with the transformation of scientific and technological achievements at that time? It should be said that the problem of transforming scientific and technological achievements in the sense of institutional mechanisms is gone. Because since R&D and production have been combined, there can be no R&D without demand, and of course there is no transformation. But if we put aside the institutional mechanisms and just look at the form, this problem still exists and will always exist. These refer to the application of basic research results in production. Basic research is research without marketable goals, but its research results may have good market prospects. Therefore, how to quickly and effectively bring basic research results with market prospects to the market and generate huge economic benefits still requires subsequent development, or "transformation."
But the transformation here is different from the "transformation of scientific and technological achievements" in which R&D and production are separated. Internationally, the common name is "technology commercialization", and some countries call it "technology management." therefore. When the institutional mechanism that separates R&D from production is eliminated, the problem of transformation of scientific and technological achievements that has long plagued our country will become history, and will be replaced by the problem of technology commercialization.
The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China requires comprehensively deepening the reform of the economic system. The core is to properly handle the relationship between the government and the market, respect the laws of the market, better play the role of the government, deepen the reform of the economic system and the scientific and technological system, and transform the functions of the government. , and is also the fundamental way to solve the problem of transforming scientific and technological achievements.
Establish an innovation planning system with enterprises as the main body
Carry out classified reform of government science and technology plans. Distinguish between scientific research plans and innovation plans. Scientific research plans are oriented to basic research and are aimed at free exploration. The evaluation criteria are first-class scientific theories and first-class scientific research talents, rather than economic indicators such as patents, technology, and profits; innovation plans are oriented to applied research and experiments. Development is aimed at market application, and the evaluation criteria are mainly economic benefits, rather than scientific research indicators such as papers and books.
Arrange innovation planning projects based on corporate needs. Reform the R&D model of first R&D and then industrialization, introduce end users at the starting point of R&D, use corporate needs as the source of innovation planning projects, adopt a project legal person mechanism to operate R&D projects, and integrate R&D, production, and operations. Projects without corporate users will be resolutely not approved, thereby eliminating a large number of achievements that need to be transformed, instead of waiting for these achievements to be released before increasing the transformation fund.
Support contract research and development of innovative technologies. For all universities, scientific research institutions, and corporate R&D institutions that conduct contract research and development of innovative technologies based on user needs, the government innovation plan projects will provide supporting funding. The criterion for judging independent technology is strong externality. In terms of economic form, it is a strong enterprise partnership, an industry-university-research partnership, and a public-private partnership. An independent technology research and development contract is a research and development contract that includes a wide range of stakeholders, rather than a research and development contract signed for the purpose of individual enterprise competition.
Establish a technology commercialization system
The core of establishing a technology commercialization system is to establish a scientific and technological innovation service industry system. The scientific and technological innovation service industry is an industry that provides innovative services to society through market mechanisms. Currently, the structure of the scientific and technological innovation service industry has undergone major changes. In the past, the technological innovation service industry mainly referred to technology intermediaries or technology transfer services. With the development of the technological innovation service industry and the further deepening of social division of labor, a large number of technological innovation service activities have become independent from traditional production and scientific research activities, giving rise to the technological development service industry, technological transformation service industry, and innovation capability service industry. The technological innovation service industry supports technological innovation in traditional industries and radiates and drives the development of emerging industries. The role of promoting the accelerated transformation of development methods has become increasingly prominent, and the establishment of my country's scientific and technological innovation service industry system is of strategic significance.
(Author’s unit: China Academy of Science and Technology Development Strategies)