Technology commercialization — Benefits for business owners
As society’s great conduit for developments in virtually any sector, a simple idea sparked within its four walls of the university could very well become the next life-changing invention or become a breakthrough.
More broadly, many states and regions see research universities, particularly public institutions, not only as an essential element of their innovation initiatives but as the primary driver in that process. While universities do play a critical role, it is necessary that demands not be placed on them that divert them from their fundamental purposes of education, research, and service.
If your business is keen on growing in a highly competitive and tech-driven market, securing a university research partnership could prove a winning strategy. Collaboration with the university also means possibility funding support, all of which helps keep overheads low and offers the opportunity to emerge a market quickly.
There are various ways in which businesses interact with universities, including through collaborative research, academic consulting, licensing of technology/intellectual property (IP), testing and analytical services, executive education or training, through student start-ups and university spin-outs, among others.
How these partnerships formed, defined and managed vary from university to university so before you lead your business into any kind of partnership with academia, first decide is what you want out of the relationship.
For this article, we’ve compiled information to help you better understand licensing technologies via technology transfer, a process that brings both business and university equal benefit.
