Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics Invited to Speak at Hangzhou's Work Deployment Meeting on Science and Technology Innovation Investment and the Construction of Proof-of-Concept Centers and Pilot Bases

Recently, a citywide deployment and promotion meeting on science and technology innovation investment and the construction of proof-of-concept centers and pilot-scale bases was held. Mayor Yao Gaoyuan stressed at the meeting the need to thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourses on science and technology innovation and the guiding principles of his inspection tour of Zhejiang, and to carry out the arrangements of the provincial and municipal party committees as well as the requirements of the provincial deployment and promotion meeting on science and technology innovation investment and the construction of proof-of-concept centers and pilot-scale platforms. With a higher strategic perspective, the city will plan science and technology innovation; with greater effort, drive innovation investment; with higher standards, build innovation platforms; and with stronger measures, foster technology enterprises, fully advancing the building of a higher-level city of innovation vitality. Chen Jin, Zhang Dengfeng, and Yu Weiguo attended.

At the meeting, Qi Hongji, director of the Hangzhou Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, delivered a presentation titled "Building an Efficient Proof-of-Concept System to Clear the 'First Mile' of Commercializing Scientific and Technological Achievements." He systematically introduced the development and practice of the Hangzhou Proof-of-Concept Center for Advanced Optoelectronic Functional Materials: focusing on four frontier fields — optical functional materials, semiconductor materials, specialty optical fiber materials, and optoelectronic equipment; building a full-lifecycle "accompanying" service system with a rigorous selection mechanism to ensure precise resource allocation; pairing a proof-of-concept fund with an angel venture capital fund in a dual-drive model; and establishing three public platforms for laser and optical characterization, common semiconductor process technologies, and the Russell Advanced Lightwave Science Center. Together these form a whole-process innovation ecosystem spanning "basic research + technology R&D + commercialization of results + technology finance," offering a demonstrative and successful model for tackling the challenges of commercializing scientific and technological achievements in China.

Yao Gaoyuan said the city must firmly grasp the three priorities of science and technology innovation investment, commercialization of research results, and cultivation of technology enterprises, and actively explore pathways for the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, large-scale investment in innovation, better leveraging proof-of-concept centers and pilot-scale bases as "bridges," and providing accompanying support to technology startups. The city must go all out to use major innovation investment to drive major industrial innovation output, leveraging the guiding role of fiscal funds, the principal role of enterprises in R&D, the important channel role of universities, research platforms, and medical institutions in innovation investment, and the role of districts and counties (cities) as the main front for innovation investment, turning the "key variable" of innovation into the "greatest increment" in developing new quality productive forces. It must accelerate the planning and construction of proof-of-concept centers and pilot-scale bases, adhere to demand orientation, market-based operation, public-service attributes, and tangible results, vigorously improve the quality and effectiveness of proof-of-concept centers, advance pilot-scale base development, and cultivate high-caliber science and technology talent, so that more research results are commercialized locally and nearby. The city will innovatively implement the "Seedling Nurturing Program," build an integrated five-in-one innovation ecosystem service system covering "investment, lending, subsidies, guarantees," and establish a technology enterprise service platform, supporting the healthy growth of technology startups with real money and practical policies. It will forge strong synergy among increased innovation investment, expanded innovation platforms, and cultivation of innovation entities, providing solid support for Hangzhou to develop new quality productive forces suited to local conditions.