Collaborative R&D: What is it and why do it?Paul JohnstonVice President, Operations

An outline …

• What are they?• Why do we use them?• What are the key elements of success?• What are the benefits?

What are they?

• Definition: three or more organizations working together, sharing expertise, sharing resources to tackle a significant R&D issue or research domain

• Compare: contract? partnership? joint venture?

What are Precarn and IRIS?

Precarn Incorporated• Founded in 1987 by industry

• Independent, not-for-profit, member-owned

• Supported by Industry Canada

• Funds, manages and promotes

collaborative R&D projects

• Delivers related services

IRISInstitute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems

A federally funded Network of Centres of ExcellenceFounded in 1990

13 Universities, 80 PIs, 18 ProjectsCreated and managed by Precarn

Intelligent Systemsemulate or enhance the human ability to

Perceive

SensorsVision systemsObject modeling

Pattern recognition

Reason

Artificial IntelligenceKnowledge systems

Data miningModeling & simulation

Decision supportDiagnosis, planning, scheduling

Act

RoboticsControl systems

Actuators

Human-Machine Interfaces

Why do firms collaborate?

These labelsintentionallyleft blank

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Percent of collaborators mentioning a particular reasonSource: Collaborating for Innovation, 2nd Annual Innovation Report, Conference Board of Canada, 2000

Why use them?• “There is considerable corporate risk involved with

a company’s technology strategy. A company’s future is determined by where and how it invests in research and development. There is no certainty that the development of a particular technology will work. We don’t know what we don’t know.”

• “Companies have a limited amount of resources consisting of (1) personnel with varying types of expertise, (2) finances, and (3) established infrastructure …”

From Collaborative R&D: Manufacturing’s New Tool, Gene Allen & Rick Jarman, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1999, p. 14

Key structural elements for success• End-user champion

• Technology-developer vision• Network of expertise (people)• Commitments• Funding• Minimal organizational “overhead”• Timing

A successful collaborative R&D modelBuild Canada’s intelligent

systems industryImprove productivity and

competitiveness

Develop highly qualified entrepreneurial people

Technology developer partnerTypically, a young, high-tech SME

Technology user partnerTypically, medium to large & mature

Beta test site/first customer

Scientific partnerA university (or proxy)

Advances the state of the artIntroduces students to companies

Intelligent Systems R&D ProjectPools expertise - Shares risk and cost - Accelerates development

Leads to demonstrated prototype, with IP owned by the project team(One partner must be a company that can commercialize the technology)

Costs $2-4 m, lasts 12-36 monthsGets max. 40% (or max. $1 m) from Precarn Other partners

Government labsOther companiesOther universitiesIRIS

researchers

EUSCEnhanced Urban Signal Control Package

• Led by Delcan Corporation, Toronto, with

– NOVAX Industries, Vancouver– EIS Electronic Integrated Systems, Toronto– City of Vancouver– University of Calgary

Completion Date: June 2003

• Advanced traffic control system featuring new traffic detectors supplying data to a Multiple-Criteria Adaptive Control algorithm. The algorithm computes optimal signal timing parameters on a real-time basis

Smart GITSSmart Geophysical Information Technology System

• A system to empower a mobile field worker to make decisions while dealing with large data volumes and bandwidth constraints, employing intelligent agents, semantic web techniques, novel inference techniques and wireless Internet access.

• Led by MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, Richmond, BC, with– Noranda Inc., Toronto– University of Calgary– University of Alberta

Completion Date: January 2004

Key process elements for success• Recognize and define roles and

responsibilities at the beginning• Establish good communication links from the

beginning• Agree to a clear legal framework (“it’s the IP,

stupid”)• Establish an economical management

structure• Build in means to address problems quickly

But, what is the real bottom-line reason?

What are the benefits to firms?

Reducing the risk that the technologywon’t work or directly benefit the firm

Reducing the time to “market” or “application”

Exposing the firm to new ideas and cultures

Providing a means to develop new product lines,new markets, or new business relationships

Reducing the cost to develop new technologies

What are the benefits to innovation?

Longer term Science driven

Medium termApplication driven

Granting Councils

NCE’s, incl. IRIS

CFI

Precarn

IRAP

TPC

Shorter termMarket driven

$Funding support

… the innovation gap

National Summit on Innovation and Learning“Improving Research, Development and Commercialization”

Priority Recommendation No. 1:

    Enable the relationship between the receptor community and universities, colleges and researchers. Strengthen receptor capacity.

– “Strengthen research and business collaboration. Establish clusters and managed networks for sustained interactions among stakeholders, especially between academic institutions, government laboratories, businesses and financiers . . . Utilize “fourth pillar organizations” to facilitate partnerships between key stakeholders.“ (italics added)

Some conclusions …

• Why would a firm join an R&D Alliance?

… because it is in their self-interest to do so.

• Why should a firm join an R&D alliance?

… because it is in their self-interest to do so.

• Why should we care about this?

… because the model adds economic value(faster development, shared risk, shared cost,competitive advantage)

Thank you …

Paul JohnstonVice President, Operationsjohnston@precarn.ca