General details
EDIHs involved
Challenges
Many companies have development needs, but addressing them and solving problems may require external help and support. For instance, one of the customers of Location Innovation Hub in Finland, needed help in assessing the pros and cons of the GNSS software they were using. To meet such needs, the Location Innovation Hub has developed a service called "Borrow a researcher", which provides a company with the advice and support of a top researcher for a limited period of time.
The Location Innovation Hub recognised the necessity of accelerating the transition of top-tier research into meeting the needs of the business world, and we decided to tackle the challenge with this concept. The top researchers come from the Hub's partner organisations, and without the EDIH framework offering such support, it would be nearly impossible due to time and resource constraints.
On the other hand, researchers have reported that the discussions with companies are also very important for their own research work. These interactions not only aid businesses but also help researchers produce socially relevant and impactful research. Thus, the "Borrow a Researcher" service benefits both the business community and the academic world, fostering a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and expertise.
Solutions
The 'Borrow a researcher’ concept offers businesses and public sector organisations the opportunity to connect with some of the best researchers in the field of geospatial studies. Currently, the knowledge of our researcher pool covers the following topics:
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Cartography, spatial data and human interaction, artificial intelligence in spatial data processing, eye-tracking, spatial data visualization.
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Various positioning and navigation methods, sensor technology, especially LiDAR.
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Aerial remote sensing, image interpretation, artificial intelligence methods.
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Machine & deep learning in point cloud data, computer vision
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SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping), sensor fusion and calibration in photogrammetry and remote sensing, autonomous navigation.
In a nutshell, the ‘Borrow a researcher’ concept works as follows:
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DMA: Company fills in the Digital Maturity Assessment. This is a prerequisite for receiving the service.
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Identifying a suitable researcher: A suitable researcher is identified from a partner organisation. The partner organisations themselves have also identified specific professionals who can assist the companies.
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First meeting: The researcher and the company meet to define the specifics of the work.
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Carrying out the service: The researcher and the client meet on a contractual basis for about half a day's work.
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Collaboration afterwards: If the client and the researcher find a common research topic, they may decide to continue working together, e.g. on a joint funding application.
With the borrow a researcher concept, we can expedite the transition of top research knowledge to serve the needs of private and public organisations, with minimal bureaucracy and no recruitment requirements. This enables more agile design of better products and services.
Results and Benefits
Collaborating with researchers can bring new knowledge and perspectives that can advance innovation and product development. Utilizing research findings can help companies develop new products or improve existing ones.
Collaboration with researchers allows companies to leverage academic research and expertise in their operations. This can help companies stay up-to-date with developments in their field, leverage the latest knowledge and techniques, avoid common pitfalls, and improve decision-making.
Research collaboration can provide companies with opportunities to secure funding from various public and private sources. For example, various research and development funds may provide funding for collaborative projects, which can help companies develop new innovations and technologies.
From the researcher point of view:
Collaboration with companies can provide researchers with opportunities to secure funding for their own research projects. Companies may offer researchers research grants, or other funding opportunities, helping them to conduct their research and develop their ideas. Also collaborating with companies can give researchers the opportunity to apply academic research to practical problems and challenges. This can help researchers see how their work can have a tangible impact on companies' operations and products. In addition, collaboration with companies can give researchers access to the resources and infrastructure provided by companies for their research. This may include for example data resources that researchers may not otherwise have access to.
Examples of results and benefits from SME perspective:
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The company gets fast and low-threshold help and support from researchers to solve challenges.
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The company gets a good overview of its own technological performance and high quality support to solve technology challenges based on the latest research.
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The company gets service from the researchers without massive bureaucracy and the number of meetings is very moderate, as both parties want to get straight to the heart of the challenge.
Perceived social/economic impact
Collaboration between companies and researchers often leads to innovation and technological advancements. New products, services, and processes may emerge from the research conducted, which can benefit society by improving efficiency, solving problems, and enhancing overall quality of life. These partnerships between companies and research institutes facilitate knowledge sharing, leverage resources, and promote collaboration across sectors, leading to more comprehensive and impactful solutions. The public will perceive this as positive development, as the collaboration of research and business dissolves barriers between the two and brings cutting-edge research closer to the general public via practical solutions.
Research conducted in collaboration with companies can address pressing societal challenges, such as healthcare, environmental sustainability, and social inequality. By applying scientific research to real-world problems, companies can make meaningful contributions to the betterment of society.
Research collaboration can stimulate economic growth by fostering the development of new industries and markets. Companies that invest in research and development (R&D) gain a competitive edge by staying ahead of the curve, which can lead to increased market share, revenue, and job creation.
Measurable data
There are currently several client cases in development where a researcher’s expertise will be utilised. So far, one successful client story by Skyfora, an innovative Finnish company that produces weather instruments, weather measurement methods and weather forecasts, has been documented and published on the Location Innovation Hub (LIH) website. Skyfora has been able to better understand the capabilities and also the shortcomings of the GNSS software they use thanks to the "Borrow a researcher" service offered by LIH.
Lessons learned
The challenge of the approach is to find the right researchers who are willing to work with companies and who are prepared to engage in an open dialogue that does not necessarily lead to action that benefits the researcher. Researchers' time is very limited, so they must be willing to commit to a collaborative approach. It can also be difficult to get a company to narrow down the problem to a point where the researcher has an opportunity to engage with it and help solve it.
Unfortunately, Business Finland's funding mechanism is difficult for partners, which is why they are reluctant to offer the Borrow a Researcher service to customers, as it is perceived as difficult and slow to organise.
Filling in the Digital Maturity Assessment sometimes proved to be a bit tedious for clients, since they tend to be quite tech-savvy already. Also, assessing the digital maturity level changes in time with the DMA tool is not watertight.
For the creation of this sort of service it is recommended to ensure proper support for the researcher from the EDIH’s side. This is especially important in the early stages of the borrowing process, since they (may) involve dealing with Business Finland and other administrative duties. As mentioned before, the researchers have usually very little extra time. Making the borrowing process as smooth as possible for the involved parties is key.
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