University - Industry Collaboration

University-industry collaboration represents a dynamic partnership between academia and industry, fostering innovation, driving economic growth, and addressing societal challenges. This collaboration, often referred to as the "triple helix" model, recognises the interconnectedness of universities, industry, and government in driving innovation and knowledge creation.

There is a definite need to increase the number of events where industry and university researchers can engage and it is great to have the University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) launch their inaugural forum in South Africa, in collaboration with the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA).

I attended the UIIN annual conference in London in 2019 and found that it provides a very useful intersection of research management, education and technology transfer that is very different to other meetings.  It is great that the UIIN have elected to make their events more accessible to South Africans. 

The real benefit is the thought leadership especially around future scenarios and I found their Thought Book at the time (2018) that Todd Davey was one of the authors of.  This book assembled 40 perspectives on how engaged and entrepreneurial universities will drive grow and shape our knowledge driven future until 2040.  This was pre-Covid, but there were some interesting future scenarios that proved relevant in quotes below:

 

Remote video connections

“Case Western Reserve University is a technically strong university located in the Midwest. Most of its graduates starting or financing high potential companies have gone to Silicon Valley and New York. But technology has rendered that disadvantage moot. Using Zoom to bring leading venture capitalists at firms like Greylock and Sequoia, accelerator directors at Gener8tor or Y-Combinator, or top angel investors from around the world into their classrooms, Professors Shane and Michael Goldberg have levelled the playing field. Getting top practitioners into the classroom no longer requires a location in Palo Alto or Manhattan. Today, professors may be doing this in a couple of classes. By 2040, if not earlier, every entrepreneurship class will have this structure.”

“The teaching and learning are foreseen to be flexible, collaborative, project or challenge-based and cross-disciplinary, allowing students an active role in the design of their educational experience. In addition, authors also envisage a prominent input of employers in education and an important role of educational technology, but as a mean and not an end in itself. Finally, the contributors foresee the future need of all graduates to become lifelong-learners and the potential for universities to be present at different times throughout the lives of individuals, supporting their personal and professional growth and reinvention.”

“Borders between companies and institutions will slowly fade away and individuals will work together to enrich education and contribute to communities and society at large.”

At the conference, University College London (UCL) discussed their vision for their new East London campus that was built on the site where the Olympics were held.  Being able to establish a university campus from scratch allowed them to think about how they could bring industry co-location in so that university students and staff would naturally mingle with employees involved in R&D for companies.  This is something that has been done elsewhere, especially in the pharmaceutical space.

The movement of academics from the university to industry for sabbaticals is important.  At the University of Cape Town (UCT), Prof Kelly Chibale spent a sabbatical in industry at Pfizer.  He gained a perspective on how industry approached drug discovery, which entirely changed his paradigm of university research in the area and led to the development of the H3D Drug Discovery & Development Centre based on these principles.

At its core, university-industry collaboration seeks to leverage the complementary strengths of academia and industry to achieve mutual goals. Universities offer cutting-edge research capabilities, academic expertise, and a pool of talented students and researchers. On the other hand, industry brings real-world problems, resources, and market insights. By collaborating, they can translate academic research into practical applications, develop innovative products and services, and drive economic competitiveness.

From a personal perspective one often has a particular perspective of university-industry collaboration dictated by your job role.  But it is useful to consider the multiple contact points between universities and industry: graduates are produced for industry; industry representatives often play a role on advisory boards in departments to ensure that curricula reflect the needs for employees in that industry; industry provides bursaries for students and a new government / industry programme initiated by the NRF will hopefully be discussed during one of the panel sessions; continuing education for employees; experiential training for students; postgraduate degrees for employees; funding for research; and technology transfer, patents and licensing.

From a university perspective, if one looks at international rankings, industry collaboration features – number of research contracts signed, contract research revenue and employers’ opinion on an institution’s reputation that is included in the Quacquarelli Symonds ranking.

 

Tackling challenges head-on

What do we need in South Africa and the SADC region and what are the challenges? 

Despite its many benefits, university-industry collaboration also faces challenges. One challenge is the misalignment of priorities and incentives between academia and industry. Academia values publication and academic recognition, while industry prioritises commercialisation and profitability. Bridging this gap requires effective communication, shared goals, and mutual respect for each other's expertise.

Moreover, university-industry collaboration requires significant investment of time, resources, and infrastructure. Universities need to develop research infrastructure, establish industry partnerships, and support technology transfer offices to facilitate collaboration. Industry partners, on the other hand, need to commit resources and provide access to proprietary data and facilities.

Another challenge is intellectual property rights (IPR) and technology transfer. Disputes over ownership of intellectual property can arise when university researchers collaborate with industry partners. Clear agreements and policies are needed to address issues related to patenting, licensing, and commercialisation of research findings.  Within South Africa, we also have the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed R&D Act that governs the relationship between universities and their funders regarding ownership of IP emanating from contract research. 

There is a downward trend in investment in R&D by industry in South Africa and this is reflected in the contract research that universities are employed to do by local industry.  Often too in South Africa and neighbouring countries, the global multinational companies that are present are distributors rather than R&D centres, with those being for example in Europe or the USA.  It is more difficult for local university innovators to engage with these players and to raise their profile. 

Foreign sources of research funding are increasingly accessed, and one needs to ensure that it dovetails with the local agenda and economic growth needs.  There is a role to play in improving the absorptive capacity of local industry for these new technologies. 

Human vaccines are researched at UCT, but pre-Covid there were no human vaccine manufacturers in South Africa - only one formulate, fill and finish company, Biovac.  The research capacity and ability is there, much of this driven by HIV, but one does not have the flow through to local industry.  Researchers have migrated to animal health, where the country has a number of vaccine producers.

Interestingly at UCT we are finding that the dominant mode of technology transfer is through the creation of spin-off companies.  These are great, as they create employment opportunities for highly skilled graduates with postgraduate expertise that are frequently lost overseas due to the lack of this calibre of jobs in a particular sector in South Africa.  Whilst this retains skills in the country, these spin-offs importantly build the local economy – and the necessary absorptive capacity.  It has been rewarding to see the development of the medical device manufacturing industry in the Western Cape over the last decade or so.  With Stellenbosch University and UCT both having strong biomedical engineering departments, this has led to the development of a new manufacturing sector.  Whilst the medical device sector has good representation in Gauteng, these are mostly companies who import devices and distribute.

One needs forums where academics and industry in a specific sector can meet and engage and share pain points or industry challenges to spawn new research outputs and steer research effort.  At these events academics can showcase their new technologies and capabilities allowing industry to understand what is out there that could be applied to strengthen their business.  A panel will be exploring innovative approaches to university-industry engagement.

There is a need to develop “boundary spanners” – people who can work to facilitate engagement between industry and universities.  These are people who have experience in both environments, understanding the respective needs of the parties and developing win-win strategies.  Multiyear research programmes between an industry partner and a specific research group creates depth and through strategic planning much can be achieved.

 

Laying the foundation

Industry in South Africa is also in transition.  The mining industry has been a significant source of bursaries, funding for university infrastructure and research funding.  But this industry is mature and facing challenges such as declining ore grades, labour disputes and occasionally regulatory uncertainty.  Changes in legislation are promoting renewable energy business opportunities.  The Department of Science and Innovation’s flagship Hydrogen South Africa programme, through its centres of competence is laying the foundation for a hydrogen economy in South Africa and for the country to compete in the international arena.  The South African proposed “hydrogen valley” will stretch approximately 835km from Mokopane right up in Limpopo, through Johannesburg and connecting the port of Durban.  The hydrogen economy will also beneficiate the platinum group metals.  South Africa is second to Russia in ruthenium mining and top globally in platinum.

Building the ability to beneficiate minerals and transform them into finished goods that can be exported is key to building the new economy.  What was significant about the HySA programme was the acknowledgement that South Africa needed to leapfrog to the forefront and this meant importing expertise and technology that would form the foundation for the country to innovate off.  Universities have an important role to play in revitalising and strengthening industry and it is important for a close relationship between the two to maximise what can be achieved. 

In conclusion, university-industry collaboration is a powerful catalyst for innovation, economic growth, and talent development. By leveraging the strengths of academia and industry, collaboration can drive research excellence, commercialise technology, and address complex societal challenges. However, collaboration requires overcoming challenges related to priorities, incentives, intellectual property, and resource allocation. Despite these challenges, the potential benefits of university-industry collaboration are vast, making it an essential component of the innovation ecosystem.