Catalonia is a country with 7.5 million inhabitants which actively carries out research into original ideas with market potential.

Australia is a country of some 23 million inhabitants (approx. three times that of Catalonia) and conducts active research.

At the CERCA Institute we are extremely content because we have managed to align the efforts of the Institute and 11 research centres to set up a patent fund called GÍNJOL.

A first call for projects by the fund will soon be closed, providing funding of approximately 80,000 euros, while GÍNJOL will finance two further calls for patent projects in 2017 with an additional 200,000 euros. The Generalitat de Catalunya is also expected to get involved in funding the GÍNJOL patent fund over the 2017-2020 period, with a minimum contribution of around 500,000 euros.

Meanwhile in Australia, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has just launched the CSIRO Innovation Fund providing 200 million Australian dollars, around 140 million euros. In this case, 35% of the money comes from the Australian Government, 15% from CSIRO and 50% from the private sector.

As is clear to see, the Australian fund provides 70 euros per capita more than the GÍNJOL fund. Yet it is also true that both funds are similar in structure and share a common desire to invest in the best, rigorously selected ideas and obtain returns in order to generate sustainable funds in the future. It is also true that it is harder for Catalan public institutions to combine public and private funding to implement certain initiatives. This is where we need to learn more and make this a reality in the near future. We are close and cannot let this opportunity escape.

Whatever the case, we now have the machine up and running. The next step is to fine-tune our driving skills so that when we upgrade to a more powerful machine, we will know how to control it.