Keywords: digital technologies, event, knowledge sharing

Main users: Resident companies or institutions

Innovation Day is a meeting to present UFV Research Projects to the market. Through it, companies find knowledge and technologies outside their R&D centers, and researchers have a space to share their technologies and research and/or convert their knowledge into business models.

Innovation Day promotes the connection between UFV researchers and companies, in order to foster innovation and scientific development. Market connections allow for the redirection of research, fundraising for research and laboratories, and increased relevance of research. It also applies the knowledge generated at the university to the market. Meetings are held by theme, usually guided by applied research with the potential to solve a problem in the national industry. It enables the transfer of the university's scientific production to the market, enhancing existing solutions or even helping to resolve technological obstacles as well as increasing the competitiveness of companies. Research projects with market potential that are not selected by the companies can be absorbed by tecnoPARQ's pre-incubation programs and become an academic spin-off, fostering technology-based entrepreneurship that will generate income and jobs for society.

Interaction between the University and the market happens in a timid and isolated way. With the Innovation Day Program, it was possible to join efforts, optimize resources and synchronise activities, bringing researchers and companies closer together. Innovation meetings allow strategic areas of companies to dialogue directly with researchers, exploring synergies for partnerships that can result in private investments for research and laboratories, transfer or licensing of technologies, patents, agreements or even potential spin-offs. The methodology is pioneering and was structured considering the differences in values between the university and the companies. Having defined the strategic sector, the prospecting and selection of potential companies in that sector begins, the needs of the companies are then disseminated to the UFV researchers. Through the correlation report between needs and competencies, it is possible to prospect key researchers using the institution's database. After the pre-selection of projects by the companies and the construction of the agendas, the Innovation Day begins, which can be in person or online.

In 2020-2021, we highlight 13 innovation meetings that resulted in the presentation of 91 projects for 6 companies: the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels; IHARA, multinational in the field of agricultural pesticides; BAYER; the Military Police of Minas Gerais; Brazilian company that manufactures agricultural pesticides OuroFino Agrogenética; and TIAL, a Brazilian fruit-based beverage industry. From these meetings, the companies selected 35 projects to explore synergies and consequently negotiate development partnerships. Of these, 16 are already approved by the companies, and 5 partnership contracts have already been signed, totalling 705,000.00 thousand reais in investments so far.

Researchers receive private resources for the development of research and equipping laboratories. Companies have access to innovative solutions and new products and services. tecnoPARQ will have visibility as an environment for innovation, and society and the country will have at their disposal quality national technological

The Innovation Day is an initiative coordinated by the tecnoPARQ/UFV liaison office (Innovation Link). The actions are operationalized and financially maintained by tecnoPARQ, and have institutional support from the Technological Innovation Center, the Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, and the Dean.