Research & Development
Arguably, the lifeblood of a globalised, modern society. The greatest feats of thepast century (the Internet, personalcomputers, space flight, the Human Genome project…) could not have been accomplished without innovative research efforts and collaboration.
The greater the innovation and effort required, the more collaboration is a requirement for success.
Large industrial enterprises like Google or Amazon or BASF can afford to take on challenges solely – they have deep pockets and hundreds of researchers at their disposal. But the agility and disruptive nature of SMEs can bring crazy ideas into reality because they are willing to take more risks and collaborative efforts of multiple SMEs or other institutions have the potential to disrupt markets and societies. So, how does academia fit into this equation?
The Research Gap
Ironically, looking back at many of these accomplishments of the past century saw fruitful collaborations between academia and industry, but growingly, research is viewed very differently between the two institutions. Viewing research through the lens of the Innovation Life Cycle may explain this growing chasm between the two sectors.
Ideation – Basic problem conceptualisation and broad research development through to initial proof-of-concept
Project selection of screening – Where business opportunities, costs and resource availability, dictate project advancement.
Experimentation and product development – Prototyping, pilot plant scaling, and manufacturing optimisation occurs, many times leading to reformulation and more industrially viable raw materials.
Commercialisation/Licensing – Where the IP becomes protected and marketed to the global consumer.