Public-Sector Knowledge Asset Commercialisation Operating System

Teams spend time reconstructing ownership, evidence, market need and organisational approvals; promising assets can miss funding or partnership windows; senior leaders lack a portfolio view of commercial potential; and less mature organisations depend heavily on scarce technology-transfer specialists.

The buyer is likely a departmental/public-body innovation or commercial directorate that needs a governed system of record. Mature research organisations may already have tech-transfer platforms, while smaller bodies may have spreadsheets and ad-hoc processes; the product must therefore support non-patent assets and simple maturity assessment without forcing a university-style patent-management workflow.

The public sector clearly has a capability-building problem, but software demand is not yet proven. Existing tech-transfer products mean the product must demonstrate that public-sector workflows and non-patent knowledge assets are poorly served by traditional TTO systems rather than assume government has no tools.

Interview 10 public bodies spanning mature labs and less mature departments. Map how they currently inventory KAs, assess readiness, document ownership, record market evidence and progress decisions. Prototype a portfolio/readiness workflow for 20–50 assets and test whether it replaces spreadsheets or materially reduces GOTT/CKAF preparation and internal governance effort.

Potential moat comes from a public-sector-specific data model for broad Knowledge Assets, GOTT-aligned maturity/readiness evidence, Crown copyright/re-use considerations, cross-government benchmarking and a marketplace/partner-discovery layer. Aggregated but appropriately anonymised evidence on commercialisation pathways could improve recommendations over time.

Increase the proportion of public-sector knowledge assets that are identified early, assessed consistently and progressed to a clear commercialisation or release decision.

Proxy based — medium confidence.

Public benchmarks span from £1,296 per licence/year for a specialist innovation-management product to much higher enterprise knowledge-management implementations. A realistic validation range is therefore a £15,000–£40,000 paid departmental pilot and £20,000–£80,000 annual organisation licence depending on users, assets and integration; procurement evidence is needed before treating this as settled pricing.

Evidence basis: Innovation Management (£1,296 per year) is the closest verified adjacent anchor used here. Its buyer, duration and scope are not assumed to be identical; implementation is separated where the opportunity requires integration, assurance or managed delivery.

Ask one funder, council, developer, investor network or programme sponsor to fund a paid test of Public-Sector Knowledge Asset Commercialisation Operating System lasting 8–12 weeks, using an opening price of £15,000–£40,000 and covering 10–20 live organisations, projects, commitments or funding cases through one decision cycle. Paid scope: A secure portfolio workspace that lets a public body discover and register Knowledge Assets, document ownership and evidence, score commercialisation readiness, attach market hypotheses, assign next actions and track routes such as licensing, partnership, consulting or spinout. Charge by organisation, sponsored cohort, development/project or annual portfolio and compare the fee with adviser, grant/contract administration, due-diligence and impact-reporting effort. Measure completion, evidence quality, review time, adviser hours, funded/contracted outcomes and reporting acceptance. Continue only if at least 70% complete, a tangible funding/procurement outcome is achieved and the sponsor buys the next cycle. Stop or reprice if evidence is not accepted, no outcome is attributable or sponsor willingness to pay is absent.

Raise above 82 if multiple public bodies confirm they lack suitable systems for non-patent KAs and one pays for a portfolio pilot. Reduce below 65 if GOTT introduces central software, or if Wellspring/Inteum implementations already accommodate these workflows economically.