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Good practice Imported

Chile's National Network of University Technology Transfer Offices (OTL)

Chile · Santiago · See the Chile profile · See the Santiago profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 50% 67/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2011, Chile's CORFO has funded a national network of university Technology Transfer & Licensing Offices, producing 219 documented cases. Independent MinCiencia/OECD evaluations show institutional progress but low licensing revenue versus global benchmarks.

32 OTLs
OTLs supported through 8 funding rounds (2011-2020)
23 OTLs
OTLs still active at 2021 evaluation (2021)
219 cases
Documented technology-transfer cases (by 2021)
39 %
OTLs rated efficient (DEA analysis) (2021)
33,451 USD
Average annual licensing income per institution
220 disclosures
Invention disclosures, 2012-2014 (2012-2014)
66 applications
New patent applications, 2012-2014 (2012-2014)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
CORFO (Corporación de Fomento de la Producción)
Period
2011-2021
Keywords
technology transfer, innovation policy, higher education, intellectual property

Context

Starting in 2011, following a 2009 World Bank diagnostic, Chile's national development agency CORFO launched a competitive programme to create and strengthen Technology Transfer and Licensing Offices (OTLs) inside universities and public research centres, aiming to convert scientific output into patents, licences and spin-off companies.

Activities

Through eight funding rounds to 2020, CORFO supported 32 OTLs, of which 23 remained active at the time of a 2021 independent evaluation commissioned by Chile's Ministry of Science.

Results

That evaluation documented 219 concrete technology-transfer cases and found real institutional maturation, but also structural weaknesses: only 39% of OTLs were rated efficient under a data-envelopment analysis, and average annual licensing income (USD 33,451 per institution) was roughly a third of Ireland's comparable benchmark. A parallel OECD case study recorded 220 invention disclosures and 66 new patent applications generated between 2012 and 2014.

Conclusions

Technology portfolios have not always attracted company uptake and some OTLs suffered from excessive centralisation; as of the most recent published evaluation (2021), the network's long-term financial sustainability remains dependent on discontinuous public funding.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
CORFO (Corporación de Fomento de la Producción), 32 university/research-centre OTLs

Conditions for success

  • Competitive, multi-round national funding programme (8 rounds, 2011-2020)
  • Independent evaluation commissioned by the Ministry of Science providing external accountability

Common failure modes

  • MinCiencia's evaluation explicitly flags fragile, funding-round-dependent financial sustainability
  • Only 39% of OTLs rated efficient; average licensing income a third of Ireland's benchmark

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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