Translating New Scientific Knowledge from Public Research Institutes into Innovation

Abstract

Both Open Science (OS) and Open Innovation (OI) espouse broad participation and effective collaboration in the process of converting new scientific knowledge into innovation. Despite their growing importance in enhancing the societal impact of science and innovation, the extant literature on their collaborative processes in science remains fragmented. This study therefore aims to examine the characteristics of these processes in the context of collaboration between public research institutes (PRI) and firms that seek to commercialise the former’s new scientific knowledge. Based on an empirical study of 153 PRI-firm knowledge and technology transfer collaboration through IP licensing in Singapore, we establish a firm’s prior licensing experience is negatively related to its innovation outcome. Our findings demonstrate that among firms with high levels of prior licensing experience, those having high levels of reliance on basic R&D and commercial officer resource from PRIs are more likely to report high levels of innovation outcome.