title: Reducing barriers to dynamic research collaboration between UK universities and technology firms
Creators: name: Gold, Benjamin Kenneth
Publisher: name: University of Reading
Year: 2024

description: Emerging technologies over the years have triggered several major transformations that 
are improving the approaches on how the global economy is addressed. Efforts to develop 
various technology solutions have aided changes in the management of collaborations in 
the delivery of projects, products, and services. The nature of ambitious improvements 
with pervasive digital solutions has led to new purpose and changes in key collaboration
processes used for the present novel service-driven business models. The collaborative 
framework efforts processes for the current global industrial revolution differs from 
others in that it not only provides solutions but reveals novel concepts of smart and 
connected collaboration processes. It has also increased the need for dedicated proficient
collaboration process that easily assist in managing resources and productivity that lead 
to the competitive influence of companies. 
Universities worldwide continue to play crucial roles in achieving economic growth in 
today’s knowledge-based societies. Collaborations between universities and industries 
in several countries have a long tradition in several sectors such as manufacturing. The 
collaboration synergies have produced integration of novel advancements in knowledge
transfer, economy, services, and products have easily realised huge successes. In recent 
years, the synergy between academia and digital technology firms in advancements of 
digital technology is increasing and lead as key contributor to high-level competitive 
advantage. Ambitious government policies are encouraging UK universities to develop 
‘third missions’ along with their two traditional core missions of research and teaching, 
to commercialise academic knowledge through collaborative digital technology projects, 
continuing education programmes, patenting, knowledge transfer offices, science parks 
or incubators. 
Collaboration structure that exists however, do not comprehensively reduce the barriers 
in dynamic research collaborative environments. Current collaborative structures are 
mostly generic business processes not accompanied with techniques that can assist new 
digital technology firms that encourages collaboration engagement culture and maturity 
awareness required to support partnerships with universities on the development of 
innovative products and services.
Design Science Research technique was used as the research paradigm to design useful 
artefacts that could be used to bridge the research-practice gap presently in the field of 
university-digital technology firms research collaboration engagements. This research 
applied both survey and interviews design methods to develop an instruction, Research 
Collaboration Culture Assessment Instrument (RCCAI) that would encourage feedback 
from individual academic researchers and digital technology firm practitioners.
Findings resulted in the development of a new theoretical representation for the concept 
of research collaboration culture based on the Collaboration Maturity Model (CMM). The 
RCCAI enables research groups, universities, and digital technology firms to self-assess 
their collaboration positions on the CMM rubric. The RCCAI is an inexpensive, online, and 
tailorable model that enables companies to partner with academia allowing them to 
accelerate the translation of that research into new products that drive economic growth.
The evaluation of these artefacts demonstrate that they fulfil the aims of this research, 
that is, making the representation of research collaboration culture more dynamic
promoting effective and efficient research collaborative engagements between academic 
researchers and digital technology firm practitioners. The RCCAI supports the need for 
approaches that encourages the forging of long-term collaborative relationships between 
universities and technology firms instead of one-off projects.