EITA Industrial Technology and Venture Services

Building Human Bridges of Cooperation

Together Everybody Achieves More

- Basic vs. Applied Research

Basic research is curiosity driven. It is motivated by a desire to expand knowledge and involves the acquisition of knowledge for knowledge's sake. It is intended to answer why, what or how questions and increase understanding of fundamental principles. Basic research does not have immediate commercial objectives and although it certainly could, it may not necessarily result in an invention or a solution to a practical problem. 

Applied research is a methodology used to solve a specific, practical issue affecting an individual or group. New knowledge acquired from applied research has specific commercial objectives in the form of products, procedures or services. This scientific method of study and research is used in business, medicine, computing and communications, sciences, and engineering in order to find solutions that may improve health, solve scientific problems or develop new technology. 

Fundamental research answers the initial question of how things work. This fundamental knowledge is then used by applied scientists and engineers, for example, to make improvements on existing products, technologies and processes. Likewise, basic researchers take advantage of improved technologies to answer new fundamental questions. It is an important cycle for advancement.

- Bridging and Networking

The “valley of death” is a common term in the start-up world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a start-up, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers.

"Many breakthrough technologies originate in R&D and academic laboratories, but many perish there as well. As scientists and entrepreneurs try to move nascent technologies from the research phase to large scale commercialization, they face high capital costs, intense competition from deeply entrenched incumbents, and a dizzying array of contractual and financing hurdles." -- [MIT]

The EITA Venture Teams explore key scale-up challenges and provide possible solutions and resources.  In addition, the EITA organizes a variety of conferences, workshops, events, and coffee meetings suited to networking with scientists, start-up founders, angel investors, corporate venture leaders and emerging global leaders in venture capital. This fast-paced knowledge sharing is a key part of what makes the EITA a world leading hotbed of innovation in the 21st century.

A true venture partner provides more than money, but mentorship, counseling and strategic advice that can elevate start-up firms and small businesses to new heights.

- Invention, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship

One of the key requirements for entrepreneurial success is your ability to develop and deliver something unique to the market. Entrepreneurship is associated with creativity over time, the ability to develop something original, especially an idea or a representation of an idea. Innovation requires creativity, but innovation is more specifically the application of creativity. 

Innovation is the expression of creativity into usable products or services. In an entrepreneurial context, innovation is any new idea, process, or product, or change to an existing product or process, to add value to an existing product or service. 

All inventions contain innovations, but not every innovation rises to the level of unique inventions. For us, an invention is a truly novel product, service or process. It will be based on previous ideas and products, but it's a leap forward, it's not seen as a complement or variation on an existing product, but something unique.

[More to come ...]