Innovation and Development Corporation (IDC)

Part of the “Knowledge Transfer Continuum” between the University of Victoria and the Vancouver Island Technology Park, the Innovation Development Corporation (IDC) was founded in 1992. The IDC is the university’s technology transfer office, which provides a full range of technology transfer or university-industry liaison services to the entire university community, including faculty, staff and students. As such, IDC UVic research and student innovation an entry point to the marketplace by providing management expertise in the areas of technology evaluation, intellectual property management, commercial enterprise development and private sector-university partnership facilitation. To date, the IDC-VITP partnership has successfully transferred both Genologics and AERS into mature hi-tech companies. Both companies continue to experience high growth at VITP.

IDC is one of the only technology transfer offices in Canada to offer its full suite of services and support to all UVic graduate and, particularly, undergraduate students. It’s already reaping significant benefits from this decision as approximately 25 per cent of IDC’s projects each year now originate from students.

In 2005, IDC expanded its technology transfer services to include Royal Roads University, Camosun College, North Island College and Malaspina University-College. In addition, IDC has been providing business development support to the National Research Council’s Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics since 2002.

To date, IDC has filed over 250 national and international patent applications, helped incorporate over 40 university spin-off companies and received more than 400 invention disclosures. On average, each year IDC receives approximately 70 new invention disclosures and creates five to 10 new spin-off companies from across the five Vancouver Island institutions.

The long-term vision and goal of IDC is to be recognized as a lead organization in technology development and commercialization for this region and to use this recognition to support the economic development of Greater Victoria and Vancouver Island.