Z-LAB TECH TRANSITION
Instructional goals
Z-Labs are capstone modules of the MSc Law, Digital Innovation and Sustainability enquiry-based educational path through which students supported by ad hoc experts can acquire or further develop frontier research capabilities, research and innovation methodologies, practices, and tools linked to particularly relevant cross-cutting competences and skills such as stakeholder engagement, technology transfer, quantitative analysis, and sustainable governance.
Z-Labs 2024 is addressed to the second-year students, stimulating them to further develop key skills that they will apply towards empirical and experimental theses that they will have to submit for their master’s degree. Theses can enrich the synergies between academic research and education with professional expertise and challenge-based approach to formulate interdisciplinary solutions' proposals to real-life issues.
Intended learning outcomes
The students will learn to further develop innovative ideas towards a business innovation, including a business plan, company statutes, stakeholder mapping and sustainable governance principles
Course Contents
Stakeholder Mapping
Technology Transfer
Scenario Analysis
Sustainable Governance
Reference Books
None - materials will be provided during the course
Teaching Methods
Up-front teaching, challenge-based learning
Assessment Method
The course foresees a final presentation of the project work with feedback from the instructors and peers.
Thesis assignment criteria
None
Week 1
Kick-off: introduction to the course, introduction of the instructors and team-building activities.
Lesson on stakeholder mapping
Week 2
Technology transfer (1/3)
Introduction, the value creation process, the University Industry transactions -
The process normally begins with the discovery of novel technologies at research institutions, followed by the disclosure, evaluation and protection of the rights of use associated to these technologies. The TT process that involves non-scientific and non-technological stakeholders as investors, policy makers, large corporations, whose intersections generate the development of collaborative technical platforms, scientific networks, thematic groups and the growth of several Internet-based interaction models and virtual communities.
Week 3
Technology transfer (2/3)
TRL
Before innovations are brought to market they need to be developed through technology readiness levels (TRL). TRLs 1-3 focus on research while levels 6-7 and higher sees a product move towards production. Bridging the gap between these different levels can be complex and time-consuming, as it requires the development of research into prototypes and then to fully tested and reliable finished products.
Week 4
Technology Transfer (3/3)
Intellectual property
An important part of tech transfer is the protection of intellectual property (IP) associated with innovations developed at research institutions which implies the licensing of patented intellectual property to industry or/ and foster the creation of start-up companies. The process ends with the marketing, the licensing agreements and the development of products based on the technical inventions.
Week 5
Scenario Analysis (1/3)
General overview of the ongoing decarbonization process globally and pointwise by geographies of interest (Europe, USA, China, and India). The analysis starts with a review of key macroeconomic and energy indicators, with a focus on enabling technologies for the transition.
Week 6
Scenario Analysis (2/3)
Energy framework of the Mediterranean area after the outbreak of the crisis, with an analysis of its handling at the European level and a deep dive on current and planned energy interconnections with the southern shore of the Mediterranean.
Week 7
Scenario Analysis (3/3)
Energy development and climate challenge in Africa, through an analysis looking at the African macroeconomic and energy context, the main Governance-side obstacles to RES development and the potential for energy growth in the continent with associated benefits.
The Carbon Credit Market, explaining why they are needed and how they work, with a final section featuring a more specific focus on the voluntary credit market in Africa and CBAM.
Week 8
Regenerative governance (1/3)
Explore innovative and regenerative corporate governance strategies in the modern business landscape. Overview of a holding company structure and application of sustainable governance through activities of direction and coordination. How multiple voting shares work and is applied in different countries. Understand the difference of international governance systems. Multiple Criticalities of functional diversity on boards and diversification to enhance decision-making processes and governance effectiveness. Tools for Reputational Risk Control and tax compliance through Tax Control Framework.
Week 9
Regenerative governance (2/3)
A new ontological approach to corporate governance and regenerative practices in the challenge for the common good. When sustainability falls short and leave space for the regenerative paradigm to take action. The foundamentals of prioritizing human capital in the modern economy. Patagonia: what the brand did to become a beacon of regenerative business and environmental stewardship.
Week 10
Regenerative governance (3/3)
Understand the shift from a shareholder-centric to a stakeholder-centric model of capitalism. What is the teal organization and how it works. Explore the integration of new technologies within the Web3 spectrum, showcasing their potential to revolutionize governance systems and procedures.
Week 11
Mentoring/dry-run
Week 12
Final Presentation