Tech transfer centres will fall short, report says

France’s network of SATT technology transfer centres are highly unlikely to break even by 2020, a report has said.

The Senate finance commission published a draft version of its review of the 14 SATTs—technology transfer acceleration companies that are majority owned by universities and research organisations—on 12 September.

When the centres were set up in 2010 with €857 million of government funding, they were intended to be self-financing within 10 years. However, the Senate report said that “with one or two exceptions” this will almost definitely not happen. “Some SATTs have run into such difficulties that the question of their long-term viability must be raised,” it said.