India can make the industry-academia relationship a focal point of developing our research acumen. We need to devote our energies towards converting conflict of interest to a confluence of interest as an ultimate solution
The most significant concern is the conflict between a university's need to protect the right to publish against the industry's need to protect patents and proprietary information
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For many, it would be surprising to know that in the SCImago Country Rankings for scientific production, India ranks seventh globally with 2.1 million published documents and 22.2 million citations in 1996-20001. India also has the highest number of universities globally (4381 universities), ranks second globally in startups (10,757) and hosts more than 63 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Yet, paradoxically, the country lags in University-Industry research collaboration. In the Global Innovation Index 2020 ranking for University/Industry Research Collaboration, India is placed 45th, at the same score as Pakistan, at 46th. Figure 1 shows the Indian ranking compared to China and Pakistan between the years 2014-2020.
Figure 1: Global Ranking in University/Industry Research Collaboration 2014-20
  Figure 2: The Industry-Academia Tension
The industry-academia friction is tabulated in the matrix in Figure 2. The two stakeholders being at opposite ends, each needs to shift positions along the arrows shown for enhanced collaboration. It is possible to obtain a higher appreciation of viewpoints by an industry exposure to academia and broader industry representation in universities.  Â
To obtain clarity about the flagging industry-academia relationship, the author directed a questionnaire to 39 faculty attending the Faculty Development Program (FDP) sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in June 2021 to ask, 'who could be the driving force behind industry-academia collaboration? The overall results were gratifying as Figure 3 shows that most academia considers themselves and startups to be the potential drivers, with expectations from the government being minimal!
Figure 3: Driving Forces Behind Industry-Academia Collaboration
The author further queried 71 faculty from two batches of DST sponsored FDP; how can industry-academia relations be improved in the country? The academia preferred that universities enable them to have a sabbatical immersion in the industry to allow a very relevant exposure to industry practices. It is pertinent to note that grants of patent/IP rights are not significant attractions. There are claims that policies like the famous USA 'Bayh Dole Act1' if implemented, could revolutionise faculty participation in applied research. However, the survey responses indicate that such incentives may not be that strong for the Indian academia in the current scenario. Figure 4 provides a detailed view of the survey responses.
Figure 4: Improving the Industry-Academia Relations
The author again reached out to the 71 faculty from two batches of DST sponsored FDP and queried; how to make academic research more relevant to the industry? In their response, the majority favoured knowledge sessions and interactions with businesses for expectation alignment. The respondents preferred the outside-in approach of sourcing research ideas from the industry over the current inside-out approach of academia-sourced ideas. The faculty also recommended initiatives similar to those of premier institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology, now establishing world-class research parks — some of which are supported and funded by industry partners. Figure 5 shows the responses from faculty.
Figure 5: Making Academic Research more relevant to Industry
In the digital age of today, bright PhD scholars and young faculty work on cutting edge solutions that may resolve critical issues of product development faced by startups. Since fundamental research is only a small part of product development, such faculty/ research students will have to be hands-on with the startups to achieve closure. This shared finding of feasible solutions within the constraints the industry faces can become the true game-changer. Accelerators based out of famed Universities and Institutes can enable the confluence of 'talents and needs', only, they need to be many more such establishments!
A higher pool of industry experienced practitioner faculty, like so prevalent in Germany, is the order of the day. At the other end of the spectrum, the training of experienced industry practitioners at business schools to undertake applied research is gaining momentum. They will form a unique set of resources that can bring out the best of both worlds. A better industry-academia relationship can have immense benefits, some of them being:
The new generation of research scholars and faculty are confident and far less dependent on government support. They and our energetic and passionate startups are the critical elements for making India a global innovation hub, which it richly deserves. It is time for young academia to be the new ingredients in the startup cauldron that develops a recipe to nurtures India's growth.
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Col Rajiv Bhargava is an Associate Director at the Munjal Institute for Global Manufacturing at the Indian School of Business. He is a keen observer of the dynamic interrelationships that shape the research ecosystem of the country
[This article has been reproduced with permission from the Indian School of Business, India]