Leveraging Workshop: Catalyzing University-Industry Engagement to Promote the Nation's Competitiveness

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The organizing theme for this Workshop is: "Strengthening the Nation's Competitiveness through Stronger University-Industry-Government Engagement". This grant provides funding to host a workshop on the planning for, execution of, and reporting on an outcomes-oriented workshop designed to evaluate the current government-university-industry research, development, and commercialization engagement model and identify new approaches worthy of consideration and testing. Leaders in the public and private sectors have long recognized that strategic Industry/University (I/U) research collaborations are critical to advancing a nation's commercialization portfolio, and its overall economic competitiveness and well-being. While few challenge this hypothesis that the idea-to-innovation process is bolstered by healthy university-industry relations, the type of strategic and high value collaborations are often difficult to implement. To achieve its objectives, the Workshop will be structured around: a pre-event survey that captures issues to be addressed; presentation on the topics and findings/materials from the October 2012 GUIRR/UIDP Workshop; examinations of what role federal agencies and NSF specifically play; regional efforts meant to spur collaboration; identification of on-going and proposed pilots/demonstrations; and building new models. The Workshop will bring together a strategic set of thought leaders who have the ability to affect change in their organizations and undertake pilots, demonstrations and experiments that can impact the way that companies and universities (in conjunction with government) act. Many of the invitees will have experience implementing bold approaches and providing a neutral environment for conversations will bolster efforts to dispassionately consider these pilots and propose new ones. The National Academies has been a critical player in examining issues affecting university-industry collaborations. Through its Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable, The National Academies regularly has convened thought leaders from academia, corporate, government and the non-profit sectors to examine these issues and created the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership to provide an incubator for addressing matters affecting high value, high return collaborations between the sectors. Using the National Academies GUIRR and UIDP programs provides a high visibility platform for launching national experiments to advance co-creation among the three sectors.