New OECD report on university-industry collaboration
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Working Party on Innovation and Technology Policy (TIP) released its report titled University-Industry Collaboration: New Evidence and Policy Options on 10 April 2019. The report concludes a 2-year-project on knowledge transfer and policies that investigated the impacts of public research on innovation performance and policies to stimulate university-industry collaboration.
The report points out that the overall contribution of public research institutions to patenting remains modest, accounting for 1.6% of total patent applications in the OECD countries in 2014. Interactions, however, between science (higher education institutions and public research institutes) and industry are considered as fundamental in the innovation process.
Policymakers can support and accelerate knowledge transfer through different policy instruments. The policy-mix for knowledge transfer can include:
- Financial policy instruments: R&D subsidies for science-industry research, financial support to academic spin-offs.
- Regulatory policy instruments: regulations for spin-offs, IP regulations, mobility schemes for researchers to work in industry.
- Soft policy instruments: science-industry foresight exercises, networking support to build science-industry linkages.
The report also highlights current trends and emerging policy approaches for promoting knowledge transfer such as:
- Knowledge co-creation through Public-Private Partnerships or Joint Research Laboratories.
- Adapting knowledge transfer to the Digital Age.
The territorial dimension is also highlighted, and the report suggests that progress can be made by:
- Supporting international knowledge collaboration and extra-regional linkages.
Further information:
> Discover the infographics
> Read the executive report
> Read the full report