2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART II - Economic Development (§§ 231-241 — 695i) › Chapter 45 - Science, Technology and Research Trust (§§ 695 — 695i) › § 695a - Creation, purposes and duties

The Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce and the President of the University of Puerto Rico are hereby authorized, as trustors, to grant a deed of trust through which a nonprofit trust shall be established, and which shall be known as the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, hereinafter “the Trust.”
(a) The purpose of the Trust shall be to define and implement the public policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for science and technology research and development which shall include the establishment of an alliance between the Government and the private sector for the promotion and development of the same for the benefit of all Puerto Ricans. In order to achieve its purposes the Trust shall act as an agent for promoting, investing and financing activities that would strengthen the science and technology research and development efforts in Puerto Rico in order to boost the economic development of Puerto Rico; promote close collaboration between the government and the academic and industrial sectors of the country leading, but not limited to, conducting basic research for discovering new knowledge, applied research for translating said new knowledge into useful applications and clinical research that would include the administration of therapies and interventions to determine their effectiveness; develop and encourage cultural aspects and the infrastructure that would recognize the value of science and technology research and development regarding the economic and social development of Puerto Rico; promote the transfer of technology and the commercialization of the products that result from local research; and finance and create a coherent strategy for attracting to Puerto Rico world class researchers that would stimulate the new initiatives.
(b) The Trust shall initially concentrate its efforts in conducting activities related to the biological sciences or to matters of health, including, but not limited to the following: pharmaceutics, biotechnology, and medical instruments, among others, as well as information and communications technology, including, but not limited to the area of electronics, among others.
(c) In order to fulfill the objectives of this chapter, the Trust shall perform the following tasks, among others:
(1) Develop a coherent strategic plan to achieve favorable conditions for the scientific and technical development in Puerto Rico through the creation of alliances between the government and the academic and industrial sectors of the country.
(2) Help to promote the development of the educational and social infrastructure needed for enhancing the scientific and technical fields.
(3) Support the commercialization of products and services based on science, technology or research.
(4) Increase the financing available for science and technology research and development activities in the academic institutions of Puerto Rico.
(5) Identify the capital and financing needed for science and technology research and development initiatives.
(6) Promote private investments in science and technology research or development activities and projects and in burgeoning high technology and multinational companies highly active in Puerto Rico.
(7) Increase the investment in innovations through the alliance of public and private institutions.
(8) Establish initiatives to copyright and protect intellectual property, the work of the scientists and the results of the science and technology research and development activities.
(9) Collaborate with the private sector in the development of products, businesses and innovative services and processes, while stimulating the economic growth and the capacity for global competition.
(10) Stimulate mechanisms that would allow interested citizens easy access and optimal use of existing sources of international resources in the areas of science and technology research and development.
(11) Strengthen the research capabilities of both public and private educational institutions so as to foster long-term industrial development.
History —Aug. 18, 2004, No. 214, § 3.