Improving business processes of university CTTs in the context of developing innovation ecosystems

The paper considers the problem of building a technology transfer mechanism in universities in the context of the formation of local innovation ecosystems. The analysis of practices and problems of technology transfer centers (TTCs) of Russian universities is carried out on the basis of in-depth interviews with more than 25 TTCs of Russian universities. Based on the analysis of practices and personal managerial experience in the activities of the TTCs, two business processes are identifi ed that require transformation, taking into account the changed environmental conditions: the search for funding for a research project, as well as obtaining budgetary and extra-budgetary funding and fulfi lling obligations to a grant recipient or an industrial partner. Specifi c ways of transforming business processes are proposed, in particular those related to the confi rmation of the existing experience of the project team members and the management of intellectual property. The mechanisms of interaction between the project team and technology transfer centers are also proposed. The proposed measures make it possible to increase the effectiveness of the university’s TTCs activities. Using the example of the transformation of the ITMO University TTCs business process for the period 2021–2024, the results of their improvement were evaluated, expressed in an increase in key performance indicators of the entire ecosystem of the University, such as: the volume of revenues from R&D (excluding funds from the budgets of the budget system of the Russian Federation and state science support funds) per researcher (growth of the indicator by 31.5 %), the number of licensing agreements (growth of the indicator by 3 times), and the volume of revenues from the use of intellectual property (growth of the indicator by 2.6 times). A conclusion was drawn about the high potential and role of TTCs in Russian universities in the development of innovative ecosystems.