Developing a viable commercialization strategy for a research based idea. The case study of literate AS in academic entrepreneurship

Abstract

Norway has experienced a marked increase in the number of students who drop out of high school due to failure to cope with learning disabilities and the sub-sequent over-dependence on the social services system since 2008. Disability claims have become the third largest expenditure for the Norwegian Labour and Welfare service (NAV). In order to solve this problem, Trude Nilssen Nergård a professor in Experimental and Cognitive Psychology has created a testing and diagnosing test kit for learning disabilities and dyslexia. The tool kit which will significantly contribute to reducing the numbers of high school drop outs and reintegrating people back into the work place is a digital test kit that tests individuals for reading comprehension deficit and dyslexia. This test kit has been presented to the UiT and will be used as a case study for commercializing a university based invention. The main purpose of this thesis is to develop a viable commercialization strategy for the Literate AS tool kit. The process is guided by the main research question; “How to commercialize a research-based technology in testing learning disabilities and dyslexia in Norway?”. The process consists of four parts; introduction, innovation study, market study and business plan. Each part is significant in developing the commercialization strategy and have their own sub research questions. The introduction is the umbrella to the whole thesis. The main sub-research questions are presented and a discussion on the role of academic entrepreneurship is provided. The innovation study deals with unbundling the innovativeness of the technology and capturing the commercial potential of the innovation. A concise description of the technology is presented and a modified innovation map highlighting the functions, design and structural controls that constitutes the end user utilities and value proposition of the technology. The market study is informed by the findings of the innovation study and information from the semi-structured interviews, discussions and secondary data is used to develop a market strategy. The business plan is then presented as the embodiment of the whole research process. The business plan has been developed as a stand-alone document that can be presented to investors and presents the commercialisation strategy for Literate AS.