The key point here is Knowledge Exchange for innovation, where innovation is the delivery of new products and services to market. We are therefore looking for mechanisms to develop commercial outcomes in business, new and existing. In my view the best engagement with industry is a strategic partnership which will often be long term and involve continuing multiple engagements.
In order to understand engagement it is sensible to consider the research base offer alongside the main interests of a commercial partner. We can consider how Universities and other public sector research establishments (PSRE) support industry in four main strands, noting that the first one is by far the most important.
1/ The first and most important is people and the development of skills. PhDs , masters , graduates and CPD. Not to forget technicians, short term training, senior academics to industry, and vice versa, and joint appointments with people in both camps. Then we can look at wider and more direct skills developed in the Research base including the development of entrepreneurship awareness and training provide the underpinning of a successful industry base whether that be in high technology, design, creativity, or cross disciplinary areas.
2/ networks linking academics and industry people in trusted networks to share information and develop joint approaches and ideas. Simple but critical. These can be on an informal basis involving regional, national and international commercial interests. An example is the developing Local Economic Partnerships in England formal networks might include the highly effective Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTN) driven by the Technology Strategy Board.
3/ IP has to be created and used whilst recognising that use might take place over many years and range from highly profitable industry applicable data, socially useful research, and blue skies research.
IP exploitation can take place by the support of spin outs thorough guidance, physical premises, funding and links to outside organisations. Next is the exploitation of Intellectual property by licensing either of underlying IP or by joint ventures or access to new developments and ideas. Another approach, which has been the default academic approach, is to release the underlying ideas to ensure take up and spread of IP i.e. without a direct financial claim upon IP. This model can use IP as a method to spread knowledge and to attract strategic industry involvement. The latest example is Graphene released to the world by two researchers in Manchester (Professors Geim & Novoselov http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=6192).
Taking account of other possibilities when looking at IP we could consider that a publicly funded research base is there to provide the underpinning IP for industrial development, not to become a weak equivalent of a VC firm. The amounts of money realised by IP exploitation are limited even in the most commercially focussed Universities such as MIT and Imperial.
4/ Contract work either as one-off offers or on a continuing basis. This needs to be carefully managed to ensure that the researchers and departments don't become a poor equivalent of a commercial entity but offer their unique qualities alongside business. We could also include here the use of University expertise as voices of authority through the media and to government.
Having dealt with these four elements we want to consider the taxpayer questions, why bother. This aspect is at the forefront of many people in the UK and elsewhere in the world, and we need to accept that there is no right answer. We can project forward but a real picture will only emerge with historical analysis. The current agenda of ensuring that research has impact is a critical aspect, that also needs to accept that impact may be tangential or long term. The current Research Excellence Framework being developed to assess the impact of Universities is the latest in many attempts, and it looks fairly promising.
Most people looking into the UK see the curiosity driven cross disciplinary approach is a major strength of the UK Research base and it provides a powerful attractant to top class brains from across the world who want their ideas and interests to reach a wide audience, so the impact assessment should be a key attractant.
In persuading people and organisations to come to the UK the possibility of successful exploitation and delivering impact should be trumpeted. The proof of UK success is the flows of inward investment. Especially over the last few years the successes in persuading large corporates that the UK is the place to develop their R&D.
In my view best value comes from a wider consideration of how to work with industry. This might be via strategic partnerships with industry, providing the underpinning for new businesses, supporting local small and medium companies or working with internationally mobile companies. The latter being a key opportunity to bring new ideas, capital and industry into an area.
The Research/higher education/PSRE investment by the UK, the culture of openness, and the general appreciation of the possibilities in the commercial world provide a key resource, to deliver skilled resourceful economically active populous, and successful commercial industry.
Having set out a view of what the research base provides how could this work more effectively? Watch this space!
