TTOs can take the lead

Education is changing. I recently had a conversation about the fact that joined-up writing would no longer be taught in schools because, who writes in cursive any more?  

That is only one small change in the US education system. Just imagine the changes on the horizon with the rapid adoption of (MOOCs) and when the university is not (solely) bricks and mortar and a virtual degree is the norm.
We have to understand the changes to curriculum will also impact the research and idea generation that is such a huge part of the university experience.
Imagine that if groups can form from different institutions and take ‘classes’ or work in a virtual lab. Now you have an even larger pool of innovators who can work across any man-made boundaries to create the next big thing. Or the next Google or Apple.
That is a real paradigm shift from even today’s open innovation and creative commons, particularly from a university tech transfer office’s (TTO) perspective.
TTOs work with campus local inventors with a clear view of intellectual property rights (IPR) and who owns what (under the Bayh-Doyle Act of 1980, it has been expected the university owns the IPR).

But what happens when the inventors come from all over the world? If you have a guild-like start up formed from a community playing an online game, such as World Of Warcraft, what role does the TTO play? And which TTO takes the lead, assuming there’s a number of universities (and individuals) engagement?

In fact, do these changes turn on its head the established view that universities own the IPR that can then be licensed to its founder to form a start-up, instead resulting in the university having to show it has added value – and precisely what – so it can negotiate for part of the rights and licensing fees, let alone part of the equity?

Imagine when TTOs rather than entrepreneurs are having to negotiate for access to the IP owned by a guild of innovators!

And at what point does this IP become open for business? Who approves the legal agreements? What will the core competencies of these new start-up supporters become?
What shape will be these new ventures?

New models for open innovation will be developed and hopefully come from the TTO as the early adopters and lead users.

This is a real opportunity for TTOs to lead the way for university start-ups in a virtual learning lab and ecosystem.