Lambert Review Suggests Ways for Businesses, Universities to Boost UK Economy

Although much collaborative work is underway in the United Kingdom, there is more to be done on the parts of universities, government and businesses, according to the Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration. The conclusions and recommendations of the report span the Atlantic, offering advice of potential value for American university-industry relations.

Through research and various case studies, the review compiles the following broad recommendations for each individual sector:

• Universities need to better identify their areas of competitive strength in research.
• Businesses should exploit the innovative ideas being developed in the university sector. And,
• Government needs to do more to support the collaboration between the two.

Two developing trends reshaping the way companies undertake research could have positive implications for universities, the authors note. First, companies are moving away from a system in which research and development (R&D) is done in their own laboratories. Instead, they are seeking to collaborate with others in a new form of open innovation. Second, business R&D investments are being sought globally.

Identified as the greatest challenge for business-university collaboration is the need to raise the overall level of demand by businesses for research from all sources. R&D intensity within the Unitied Kingdom tops the international average in the areas of pharmaceuticals/biotechnology and aerospace/defense; however, it falls below average in all other important sectors. Building new networks among research-intensive businesses, supporting existing knowledge transfer partnerships, and directing a higher proportion of government support for business R&D to small and medium enterprises are offered as recommendations for boosting this demand.

Intellectual property (IP) and technology transfer are other areas of concern presented. The review takes specific issue with a perceived lack of clarity over the ownership of IP in research collaborations and makes the charge that universities may be setting too high a price on their IP. It is recognized that the rewards from research collaborations should reflect the relative contributions of the parties to the partnership, the authors assert. Therefore, companies should have secure rights to the IP they intend to commercialize. However, they should not constrain the university from publishing results in a timely fashion, or from doing further research in the same area.

Regarding technology transfer, the authors contend the quality of university efforts presents a barrier to commercializing university IP. The review recommends that government should use third-stream funding to encourage the development of shared services in technology transfer on a regional basis.

In the area of funding university research, the review considers the strengths and weaknesses of the current dual support system. Although it has helped raise quality and productivity of research, it has at the same time homogenized the research efforts of the entire system by driving all universities to aspire to the same benchmarks. From a business perspective, this system provides disincentives to business-university collaboration. Several options are suggested, such as getting development agencies to finance the departments that can demonstrate strong demand from business for their research activities.

The Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration is available at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/consultations_and_legislation/lambert/consult_lambert_index.cfm