Open Science Partnerships' contribution to knowledge dissemination and value creation

The translation of scientific discoveries into beneficial applications and wealth for society endures as a major policy objective of governments and academic institutions. Universities’ institutional adaptation is taking place primarily through a broader spectrum of measures to boost innovation and societal impact of research, which includes the promotion of open collaborative practices for the production, dissemination and valorisation of scientific knowledge. OSPs seem to offer a promising supplement for the generation of relevant outcomes as they enable the engagement of non-academic stakeholders in the processes of value creation and knowledge dissemination, which become fundamental tools to find further applications for inventions.

Openness appears in this context as an emerging transversal dynamic that is re-shaping science and innovation through a diverse array of processes, infrastructures and practices. The SGC and ODIN case studies show that ‒irrespective of their different features and scales‒ open collaborative processes result in cross-fertilization of knowledge and technologies that may enhance the competitive position of partners, e.g. either in terms of high-quality reproducible science for academic researchers or in-house building capacity for further R&D of firms. Likewise, diverse open exchanges between the academia and industry, ‒including know-how, data, training or testing‒ are helping to foster cross-boundary knowledge flows based on the complementary expertise of participants. The two observed OSP reflect partners’ strategic needs for high-risk projects in drug discovery to be grounded on novel combinations of the stakeholders’ knowledge base. Besides, interviews confirmed that the OSP experience seems to push the participants towards both more flexible managing practices within the partnership and mutual adaptation techniques as part of the learning process.

Unlike traditional linear models, an OSP collaborative platform is not necessarily university-led; instead, multiple actors mobilise resources and capabilities in a fluid and interactive manner to generate value from research. More distributed leadership in knowledge production and dissemination may, therefore, enable academic institutions to account for additional nuances and complexities involved in technology transfer and commercialization processes. Within the emerging diversification strategies of universities, OSPs illustrate a type of intervention that seems better aligned with the stage heterogeneity of technology development cycles, which potentially strengthen the basis for identifying wide-ranging opportunities, like the SGC case indicates.

In addition to industry uptake of research outputs and the creation of private-held companies, SGC also inspired the launching of a public interest open science company owned by a registered charity. This company coordinates drug discovery projects in specific therapeutic areas, with the participation of a university lab, to provide services to the scientific community, the healthcare systems and other agents. The combination of open science principles with commercial incentives based on regulatory IP assets seem to suggest arising mixed forms of valorisation of science.

From a policy perspective, our results show how, in response to a changing landscape, academic institutions expand their boundary spanning strategies with their participation in interdependent knowledge networks to fuel innovation, while also furthering understanding of imperative societal challenges. Fostered personal relations between scientists and industry have proved to be of critical importance for this function as bridging organizations. Nevertheless, open collaboration practices may also represent some managerial challenges, notably in terms of coordinated contributions and a shared innovation agenda.