University-Competitor-Industry-Government Open Innovation

The present paper analyzes the concept of Open Innovation within the framework of universities' Third Mission, with a particular emphasis on Germany and a specific research project at a German institution, the Innovation Campus for Sustainable Solutions (InCamS@BI) in Bielefeld. The approach that has been selected is predicated on a mixed-methods strategy, with theoretical-conceptual considerations and observational participation serving as the primary components. Theoretical considerations with regard to open science, open innovation, and universities' third mission constitute the paper's first chapter. While open science is undoubtedly beneficial to many, it is not sufficient to address the current economic and societal challenges. Scientific advancements must be implemented in order to generate a tangible societal and economic impact. In order to successfully navigate the divide between academia and application, a systematic effort must be undertaken. In the subsequent chapter of the publication, the emphasis is directed towards an examination of the Third Mission of universities in Germany. While Germany's research endeavors are positioned well in terms of international standards, the translation of research findings into tangible societal impact remains an exception rather than the norm. However, recent studies indicate that the topic of the Third Mission is gradually gaining prominence within German educational institutions. In the preceding chapter, the paper examines a Third Mission project financed by the German Ministry of Research and Education, the Innovation Campus for Sustainable Solutions (InCamS@BI). This initiative, a collaborative endeavor between Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (HSBI) and Bielefeld University, aims to foster the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and technology between academic institutions and business enterprises. This initiative involves the formulation of collaborative innovation formats and processes, the establishment of sustainable transfer structures at the participating universities, and the evaluation of these structures through the testing of their application to real problems encountered by companies from the plastics industry. In the context of the project, a transfer institute has been established that utilizes innovative formats to facilitate the exchange between science, business, and society. Given that the project has only reached the midpoint, a more comprehensive review can only be conducted at a later date.

Strategic partnerships between universities and other stakeholders are viewed as platforms for capability building, learning knowledge diffusion, and regional development and thus strategic agreements between universities and industry or public partners have become a common practice. At the same time, asymmetric goals between stakeholders in such partnerships may undermine their afore-mentioned positive goals and roles. Furthermore, given the limitations of output measures in prior studies, it is unclear what societal impact such partnerships have and how this should be evaluated. This study take a step towards narrowing such gaps and analyzes four strategic agreements between a university and industry as well as public organizations, to understand the drivers, roles and expected results of these. In terms of drivers, we find different yet complementary drivers for industry, public organizations and university, in line with prior literature, while important prerequisites entail having dedicated units for such partnerships. Strategic agreements emerge as essential tools to enable collaboration, upskilling, urban development and more. Expected outputs include research, education and societal benefits. Given the energy-focus of two out of four analyzed strategic agreements, the expected outputs also have strong connections to sustainability and the green transition. Future steps building on this study will investigate the real-life dynamics of the strategic partnerships, with the help of interviews and observations.