The Science/Business Innovation Board (AISBL, estb.2007) is a Brussels-based not-for-profit scientific association which conducts original policy research, engages with policymakers and the press, and generally works to improve the climate for innovation in Europe. Its members include the ESADE Business School, INSEAD, Microsoft, BP, SKF, Foley & Lardner LLP, Aalto University and Imperial College, London. In 2012, it published a study titled Making Industry-University Partnerships Work — Lessons from Successful Collaborations.

The publication includes over a dozen case studies of successful corporate-university partnerships under several thematic heads — Partnerships that Impact Teaching & Learning (Microsoft-Cisco-Intel-University of Melbourne; Aalto University: International Design Business Management Programme; BP’s Energy Biosciences Institute with University of California, Berkeley; and Audi’s Ingolstadt Institute of TU Munich); Partnerships that Develop New Funding Streams (Imperial Innovations Group PLC and Imperial College, London); Partnerships that Rethink the Role of Research Universities (University of California’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Program, and Partnerships that Go Strategic (IBM-ETH Zurich; SKF-Imperial College, London; IBM-Imperial College, London; GE Global Research Munich; Siemens-TU Berlin, MIT; Nokia-Aalto University, UC Berkeley).

“When companies and universities work in tandem to push the frontiers of knowledge, they become a powerful engine for innovation and economic growth. Silicon Valley is a dramatic example. For over five decades, a dense web of rich and long-running collaborations in the region have given rise to new technologies at a breakneck pace, and transformed industries while modernising the role of the university,” write the authors of this valuable study, which is highly recommended to leaders of India Inc and vice chancellors and faculty of India’s under-performing universities. The paper also offers “lessons” derived from the study on ways and means to intensify industry-academia collaboration in the public interest. Excerpts:

University leadership is vital. University presidents need to make industry-university partnerships a strategic priority and communicate the message regularly to the entire academic community.

Long-term strategic partnerships with built-in flexibility work best. The most fertile starting point for a partnership is one that allows industry to do something it can’t do itself. The world’s leading technology multinationals have dozens, if not hundreds, of strategic partnerships with universities. But increasingly, the trend is to narrow the focus on a handful of strategic partnerships that aim higher, receive significantly greater funding and last longer.

Start with a shared vision and develop a strategy. The first step to a healthy partnership is assessing the core academic strengths of the university and the core research competence of the company to identify promising opportunities for collaboration.

Put the right people in charge — those who cross boundaries. People determine the success or failure of industry-university partnerships. To attract industry involvement, universities must have people capable of building and managing partnerships.

Kick-start the dialogue — encourage cross-fertilisation of ideas. Universities should create opportunities for academics and company researchers and executives with shared interest to come together and develop a dialogue.

Don’t get hung up on intellectual property. Develop a broad overarching framework agreement and work out details on a case-by-case basis. A framework agreement saves time and avoids the acrimony that often results from too narrow a focus on who owns what.

Promote a multidisciplinary approach to research and learning. Innovation increasingly depends on the ability of universities and industry experts to work together across a number of disciplines, such as technology, design and engineering. Encourage multidisciplinary academic programmes and promote the engagement of industry in such programmes.

Don’t get hung up on measuring the results of a strategic alliance. The most fruitful partnerships take time to bear fruit. Setting up artificial metrics to measure them can undercut an alliance.

Redefine the role of the research university as a source of competence and problem-solving for society. Bold, visionary partnerships between industry and universities can accelerate innovation and help deliver solutions to pressing social challenges. But to harness that in tandem, the mission of the research university needs to be redefined.

(Source:www.sciencebusiness.net)