Where are the bottlenecks and breakthroughs of the "global problem"?, Science and Technology Evaluation and Valuation

How to evaluate technological achievements? How to conduct technical valuation? A series of discussions on the value of technology has long been a global challenge. To create a relaxed research atmosphere and encourage the landing of scientific and technological achievements, multiple experts expressed their opinions on solving difficult problems at the 2023 Pujiang Innovation Forum "Innovation System and Technology Evaluation" theme forum held today.

What are the bottlenecks in technology valuation

As one of the most developed regions for global technology, how does the UK conduct technology evaluation and valuation? Fu Xiaolan, a member of the British Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Technology and Management Development Research Center at the University of Oxford, brought a stone from another mountain. She introduced that the demand for technology valuation is increasing in the scientific community today, but there are indeed bottlenecks and industry challenges in technology valuation. Specifically, investors have low accuracy and slow manual speed; The individual cost of innovation is high, and artificial intelligence technology has not been adopted; Start ups/innovation teams lack financial data and also face some privacy issues.

How does Oxford University solve these problems? Fu Xiaolan explained that OxValue is used Taking AI, a technology derivative company from Oxford University, as an AI empowerment platform, OxValue AI provides accurate, efficient, objective, and affordable technology valuation engines for multiple industries. In addition, OxValue As a promoter of venture capital and angel investment, AI also fully leverages the potential of GPT and LLM to lead a new era of technology valuation and accelerate technology transfer. Currently, OxValue As a leader in the field of artificial intelligence technology valuation, AI has gained recognition and recognition from academic institutions and multiple international organizations. This valuation method has also been introduced to China and promoted and applied in Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other places, exerting greater value.

The key issue of "who will evaluate" urgently needs to be addressed

In the interactive dialogue section, experts mentioned that technology evaluation is an important tool for technology governance, and major innovative countries around the world have listed technology evaluation as the most important policy tool. As the evaluation subject becomes increasingly complex, the evaluation of scientific research institutions will also face more challenges. Nie Biao, Director of the Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology, admitted that who will evaluate, what to evaluate, and how to evaluate are all core factors, and the key issue of "who will evaluate" urgently needs to be solved.

Experts bluntly state that technology evaluation involves the immediate interests of scientific research institutions and personnel, and the prominent issues reflected in feedback are that grassroots units are relatively confused, lack the courage to establish new evaluation standards, and the country's formulation of overly micro evaluation rules is not operationally strong; Once talent projects are alienated into "wearing hats", it leads to unreasonable allocation of scientific and technological resources; For exploratory technology projects in "uninhabited areas" that have not yet reached consensus, it is difficult to use traditional evaluation methods to stimulate them. Nie Biao believes that technology evaluation is closely related to the research environment, innovation culture, and national environmental culture. To make technology evaluation more scientific and accurate, some reforms need to be made in the current evaluation process.

"Slow variables" require patience and long-term accumulation

"Technology evaluation, can bullets fly for a while longer?" The interactive dialogue host and executive vice president of the China Academy of Science and Technology Development Strategy Research, Wang Yuan, metaphorically compares. Pan Jiaofeng, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Strategic Consulting and Research on Science and Technology, said that science and technology is a "slow variable", and it should not be mistaken for "quick success". Science and technology needs long-term accumulation, and patience rather than quick success. Therefore, technology evaluators must first have their own persistence.

As universities that align with global scientific research, Shanghai University of Science and Technology and West Lake University each bring their own experiences. Shanghai University of Science and Technology ranks among the top universities in China in terms of patent transfer, with 25% of patents successfully applied in enterprises. Vice President Jiang Ge stated that the purpose of science and technology evaluation is to promote high-quality development of national science and technology, and the school does not use "hats" as a condition for recruiting talents, nor does it conduct annual academic evaluations; Generally, there will be a mid-term evaluation every three years and promotion to professor after 6-7 years. Pei Duanqing, a lecturer and assistant to the president of West Lake University who has been returning to China for 20 years, marvels at the rapid development of science and technology in China. He believes that innovation varies from person to person and from effect to effect. Almost all professors at West Lake University have overseas experience and have formed a culture. In fact, scientific exploration does not have much specificity, so there is no truly perfect evaluation method. Encouraging cultural confidence and pursuing excellence is itself an attitude.

The ultimate goal of scientific research is still to repay society

The relaxed research environment in the UK continues to produce top-notch technological achievements. At the forum, whether the UK has valuable experience to draw on has become a hot topic of discussion. Fu Xiaolan stated that the funding of British universities and institutions is relatively abundant, and scholars can voluntarily apply for the "Outstanding Professor Award". Schools will have regular conversations with researchers, mainly on how to help research and provide constructive suggestions. The conversations are not directly linked to professional titles, salaries, etc. Nowadays, the evaluation cycle for university scientific and technological achievements in the UK is once every five years, with a focus on "research-oriented" research. However, the proportion of papers in the evaluation system has decreased from 75% to 55%, and the influence of discipline construction is equally important, with social, economic, and cultural influences accounting for 25%. "The goal of all universities doing scientific research is to give back to society, which is consistent with China's application of knowledge and the integration of knowledge and action.".

Pan Jiaofeng stated that a technology evaluation system that combines responsibility and trust should be established. Trust is the greatest motivation for researchers, and research is a process of seeking truth, connected to trust. In the future, technology evaluation should shift more from management to governance, with diverse participation and multiple perspectives, transforming from a simple result oriented approach to a state oriented and potential oriented approach. For example, the basic research platform focuses on "long-term, multi-stage, and small peer evaluation" to stimulate the potential of scientific researchers, encourage more sparks of ideas to be applied, and truly benefit humanity.