Nowadays, Science Parks can be complemented with Science e-Parks that provide crème de la crème knowledge to small as well as to large companies. The Science e-Parks decreases the expenditure for the SME, the large company and the University and at the same time provide access to top quality advice. In the future, it would be possible for EU to require that applicants for EU funding also sign up to a Science e-Park during their participation of their funded projects.

1. Jan Softa at Somerco Date: 2014-01-08.
Enhance the EC member states competitiveness
Part 15 - Science e-Parks
Abstract
Nowadays, Science Parks can be complemented with Science e-Parks1
that provide crème de la crème
knowledge to small as well as to large companies. The Science e-Parks decreases the expenditure for the SME,
the large company and the University and at the same time provide access to top quality advice. In the future, it
would be possible for EU to ask if applicants for EU funding also sign up to a Science e-Park during their
participation of their funded projects.
Background
Helping geniuses! Our slogan sums up whom Somerco aims to help. Somerco are a company
that target to help researchers and innovators so that these geniuses can create prosperity and
jobs in society. In spring 2011, I exhibited at the IASP yearly conference co-hosted by
WTCA in Copenhagen.2
A focus area was the future of Science Parks. In this paper I focus
on Science Parks you do not need to be physically located at. A so-called Science e-Park.
Introduction
Traditionally, entrepreneurs and SMEs locate at a Science Park in a nearby region. Large
companies are more inclined to look around the world to find the best fit for them.
Nowadays, Science Parks has the opportunity to operate in online networks that could
provide crème de la crème knowledge to small as well as to large companies from business
developers and other staff at Science Parks, patent attorneys, academia and other companies.
I call it the Science e-Park. Plenty of national and international organisations as International
Association of Science Parks (IASP), World Trade Centre Association (WTCA), Asian
Science Park Association and American University & Research Parks (AURP) are interested
in this approach.
Knowledge transfer
Tech/knowledge transfer is common between academia and companies, innovators and
companies and between companies. This is a type of knowledge transfer that grants the
receiving the right to use these technologies on a license agreement to produce products and
services. There is much experience in tech/knowledge transfer when it concern innovations
ready for production.
Moreover, with the latest communication technology available to all it enables new forms of
cooperation. It is not just social media with its possibilities to find new interesting
1
Science e-park = online – Science Park
2
IASP = International Association of Science Parks. WTCA = World Trade Centre Association.

2. Jan Softa at Somerco Date: 2014-01-08.
professionals, but also our frequent use of smartphones and its apps that has a huge potential
to help innovators get help from skilled professionals.
A technology to break into the market in the near future is sematic web solutions that will
help us find new ways to connect knowledge and interests. It will further increase these
connections of best fit knowledge for how companies develop new innovations into new
products.
Our old experiences in tech/knowledge transfer and newer communication technologies could
benefit companies R & D phase. Especially, if we would develop a Science e-Park with
customized features that enables knowledge transfer over vast geographical distances. It
means large companies no longer need their R & D department physically at the Science
Parks or SMEs to find them in a nearby region.
Benefits
For European governmental agencies to promote an increased usage of Science e-Parks with
customized features enhances the competiveness of companies in Europe. On such a
platform, innovators from everywhere can share knowledge and be connected to experts for
each phase from idea to commercial product.
SMEs to the largest companies can choose to divide their R& D projects outside the
immediate knowledge area that often are attached at traditional Science Parks, with its
companies, universities and professional business developers.
For innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs and their companies, universities and research
institutes, Science e-Parks could give new opportunities that traditional Science Parks cannot
offer if these do not have professionals in a particular science field that are of interest for the
innovators and entrepreneurs. The Science e-Park is an open environment for many
professionals and will be used as a complementary strategy for those located at a traditional
Science Park and enable access to expert knowledge for those not located at traditional
Science Parks.
Employees
In European Science e-Parks, the core employees or contributors of knowledge can be from
Europe and in relevant cases complemented with other people outside Europe. It enhances the
possibilities to offer best knowledge for different industry sectors.
Public sector
A large part of the public sectors contribution to R & D is funding of projects with value to
science and society. For instance, in its applications to EUs funding programs, as in Horizon
2020, it would be possible to ask for how the project participants intend to go from R & D

3. Jan Softa at Somerco Date: 2014-01-08.
into potential commercial products. Will it be managed by the R & D departments at a
company? Are they using knowledge from business incubators at Science Parks, traditional
as well as Science e – Parks? In short, what strategy are they adopting for ensuring a
successful development of idea into a commercial product?
A paragraph with this information in applications will be helpful for how the funders of R &
D projects can evaluate projects while they are run and afterwards.
Expenditure
Expenditure is as one of the key figures companies focus on in their hunt for profit. This is
valid in all parts of running a business as procurement, rents, good business credits and it also
applies to the research and development phase of products and its services.
EU- bodies can provide help in new business contacts, but I believe its strongest impact is
decreasing company’s expenditure in R & D by providing funding. It increases the EU zones
competiveness. In other words, the funding EU provides to industry has the biggest impact on
the key figure expenditure.
Science e-Parks is a flexible approach for knowledge sharing and can further decrease the
level of expenditure companies has when they commercialize products and services.
In the future, it would be possible for EU to ask if applicants for EU funding also sign up to a
Science e-Park during their participation of their funded projects.
Scenario - Start-up
A start-up company in pharmacy with very promising science results that are not located at a
Science Parks can a lot sooner receive knowledge from different parts of Europe or even the
Globe by joining a Science e-Park. These companies do not longer have to wait as long to be
adopted into an incubation program with its knowledge the traditional Science Parks provide
or have to be dependent on finding a suitable office or industry location at a Science Park.
Instead they can set up their business wherever they find suitable.
Scenario - Large company
In this scenario, Videoton who is a large Hungarian company in electronics has chosen to
locate their R & D at a Science Park that suits most of their R & D interests. However, they
also have other R & D projects that are not the best fit for the knowledge at this Science Park.
By also adopting a strategy to participate at Science e-Parks they can find the best knowledge
for also these projects. Thereby, the phase from R & D to commercial products and services
are shortened.

4. Jan Softa at Somerco Date: 2014-01-08.
Scenario – Mid-sized company
A mid-sized company focused on biotechnology together with a university decide to let the
companies R & D department be the ones leading a common project. There department has
ideas for how to manufacture these products efficiently and decide with the university to
complement with knowledge from a Science e – Park in order to complement with more
experts in the latest science results in biotechnology.
Scenario - Academia
A physics department at a University has in their labs reached initial results that could be
interesting to apply on products from many industry sectors. Beside, focusing on further
increasing its cooperation with companies at the Science Park located at the University they
also seek research cooperation with other companies outside on Science e-Parks that hold
companies with different industry focus.
Scenario - Open source
As mentioned in the paper Research leftovers - research leftovers from projects funded by EU
could turn into a competitive advantage if they were open sourced after two years. Since they
are free to access and free to use expenditure for R & D are decreased. It becomes more
appealing for innovators and companies to use them in their development of new products
and services. If EU also have the opportunity to offer that the usage of these research
leftovers in future projects are attached to a traditional Science Park or to a Science e-Park it
will further decrease the R & D phase. The reason is that access to experts in innovation
development and legal aid are easy to access. Consumers in Europe and elsewhere will get
access to new products and services sooner than otherwise. The new products could be in
areas as clean tech for car manufacturers or in software development for the interactive
entertainment industry.
Scenario - Agriculture
A possible combination could be that a university and two companies has adopted a strategy
to use the local Science Park with a lot of knowledge in modern agricultural methods and a
Science e – Park with knowledge in software for a new software these three has developed
for agriculture.
In these scenarios, the Science e-Parks decreases the expenditure for SMEs, large companies
and the Universities and at the same time offer top quality advice. It will be easier for them to
maintain or achieve a suitable quality level for its products and services at a beneficial cost
for these companies.

5. Jan Softa at Somerco Date: 2014-01-08.
Draft proposals
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 1 - Designated tax to science
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 2 – Strategy to support the software industry
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 3 – Actions to support women in ICT
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 4 – Going abroad–Competitive assets
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 5 – Business incubators, financial recycling and
incentives into reward
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 6 – Standardization as a tool to increase competitiveness
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 7 – Different types of innovations
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 8 – Open source from science to society
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 9 – Crowd sourcing and crowd funding
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 10 – Green VAT for business
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 11 - Keep talents in Europe
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 12 - Research leftovers
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 13 - Science Parks-Specializations
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 14 - Patent trolls
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 15 – Science e- Parks
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 16 – Expansion options (In progress)
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 17 – The locally developed infrastructure
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 18 – Treaty (Knowledge transfer)
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 19 – Different types of infrastructure
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 20 – Build infrastructure (In progress)
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 21 – Your small energy infrastructure (elsewhere) (In
progress)
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Part 22 – Quick market entry (Medical)
Enhance the competitiveness of EC member states Overview – Old and new key areas in order to increase the
competitiveness of the industry (In progress)
Input on threats against information society