Lebanon’s universities possessed strong research capabilities but lacked the structures, policies, and industry linkages needed to transform innovation into market-ready products.
Under the EU-funded THE NEXT SOCIETY initiative led by ANIMA Investment Network and Berytech, Innovety served as the lead technical expert—assessing the national technology transfer (TT) ecosystem, benchmarking it against global best practices, identifying 30+ systemic gaps, and designing a 29-step roadmap with tailored university strategies and incentive mechanisms to drive commercialization, in alignment with our innovation consulting services.
The project’s outcome included Lebanon’s first coordinated TT framework, a national guidebook, and five university-specific roadmaps—equipping the country to bridge the “valley of death,” between research and market, creating a unified framework to drive applied innovation.
The ability to transform university research into market-ready products is key to innovation-led economic growth.
In Lebanon, researchers can address pressing technical and societal challenges, yet without strong industry links, commercialization remains limited.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Lebanon performs below expectations for its development level in technology transfer and commercialization, limiting its capacity to generate jobs, attract investment, and gain global competitiveness.
A national assessment found that while some universities had launched initiatives, the ecosystem lacked integrated structures, policies, and support mechanisms to move research beyond the lab.
Innovators often faced the “valley of death”—the risky stage between proof-of-concept and market entry—with little financial or institutional support. Weak IP protection, a limited collaborative culture, and insufficient commercialization know-how further constrained progress.
Key pain points:
Mapping Lebanon’s TT ecosystem
Innovety led a comprehensive national assessment of technology transfer activities across five universities, engaging researchers, administrators, government bodies, and industry players. This process mapped existing TT structures, catalogued initiatives, and identified 30+ systemic gaps—from missing IP policies to limited industry engagement platforms.
Benchmarking global best practices
Lebanon’s TT performance was benchmarked against models from the US, Canada, Germany, Portugal, and Egypt. This comparative analysis distilled actionable lessons on governance structures, incentive schemes, IP management, and commercialization pathways that could be adapted to Lebanon’s context.
Defining the strategic framework
Findings were structured into three strategic pillars:
Co-creating tailored university roadmaps
Innovety developed five university-specific roadmaps supported by a 29-step phased implementation plan, aligning recommendations with each institution’s maturity level, resources, and sector priorities.
Building national enabling mechanisms
The project delivered Lebanon’s first national TT guidebook, integrated policy templates, IP protection guidelines, and incentive mechanisms to bridge the “valley of death.”
Recommendations included matchmaking platforms, prototype funding schemes, and recognition programs to stimulate commercialization activity.
Lebanon’s universities had strong research but lacked the process to bring ideas to market. Innovety helped us change that. They delivered five university-specific roadmaps defining commercialization structures, IP policies, and industry engagement strategies, and mapped over 30 systemic gaps across Lebanon’s innovation ecosystem. By adapting five international best practice models and creating Lebanon’s first national technology transfer framework, they provided academia with the tools to strengthen research valorization and spin-off creation, building real momentum for innovation-led growth.
