O-25 Conceptualisation of a framework that facilitates the pathway from academia to industry

Methods: Stakeholder engagement meetings were held with entrepreneurs, university leaders and Pinehill - our industry partners - to identify factors that hindered or facilitated the process and identify needs to be filled to improve future collaborations. A review of local policies and attitudes was used to assess the context in which the collaboration occurred.

Results: Constructs identified were organised into the ‘inner setting’ which described the barriers, facilitators and needs of the stakeholders during the collaborative process; and the ‘outer setting’ which referred to the context in which the process occurred. Barriers in academia identified were limited knowledge of the commercialisation process by the innovators, competing work roles of members of the entrepreneurship team and lack of finances earmarked for commercialisation. The facilitators were: well-defined university policies on intellectual property, supportive leadership, relevant expertise and ready industry partners. Industry listed their barriers as limited research capacity, technical constraints and regulatory barriers while the facilitators included pre-existing partnership and brand strength. In the outer setting, the barriers were prolonged wait times and risks associated with importation of raw materials whereas the supportive climate and policies facilitated the process. The needs listed were structured, ongoing exchange between academia, industry and regulatory bodies, tangible government support and education in innovation for academics.

Conclusion: The Innovation to Industry (I2I) framework represents a model for exploring academic-industry partnerships. It provides scientific rigor for mapping barriers, facilitators and needs while allowing adaptation across various settings.