Partnerships with Industry Dr. Susan Williams Georgia Southern University SIGCSE 2009 Why collaborate? Bring together different perspectives and skills Achieve synergistic outcomes Improve research productivity Typical collaborations Your.
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Transcript Partnerships with Industry Dr. Susan Williams Georgia Southern University SIGCSE 2009 Why collaborate? Bring together different perspectives and skills Achieve synergistic outcomes Improve research productivity Typical collaborations Your.
Partnerships with Industry
Dr. Susan Williams
Georgia Southern University
SIGCSE 2009
Why collaborate?
Bring together different perspectives and skills
Achieve synergistic outcomes
Improve research productivity
Typical collaborations
Your colleagues and students
Interdisciplinary
Across academic institutions
With research labs
A different approach:
An example from a “teaching-first”
institution
Benefits
Resources required
Pitfalls to avoid
Partnership between Georgia Southern
University and NCR Corporation to develop
next generation of one of NCR’s point-of-sale
systems
How it began
Why Georgia Southern???
Role of new College of IT
Role of Intellectual Capital Partnership Program
(ICAPP)
My role
NCR donated the IP (source code and
hardware)
More than one million lines of code
Valued by Ernst & Young at $2.7 million
GSU assumed responsibility for software
development
Migration to touch screen hardware
New functionality and features
Translation to Chinese and other foreign languages
Customizations for large clients (US Customs and
Border Patrol, Tim Horton’s Donuts, Amtrak)
GSU has a royalty arrangement with NCR
which generates a revenue stream as new
licenses are sold
Customizations for large clients are negotiated
on a cost-plus basis
ICAPP continues to invest in the project
Benefits to the company
Maintain and enhance (at no R&D cost) a product that
would otherwise have been shelved
Tax write-off for donation
Benefits to academic programs and institution
Reputation and credibility
Enhanced relationships with employers
Demonstrated “proof of concept” for university
outsourcing
Benefits to the faculty/project manager
Access to industry problems, code, data, & users
Benefits to students
Real-world work experience while still in school
Employment opportunities with the company after
graduation
Benefits to the region
Led to several other smaller partnerships with regional
companies
Police Agency Data Network
CogentWare (Business Intelligence)
Morris Multimedia
ColorMaria
And others
IT workforce development in rural Georgia
Funding source for start-up
Legal support/expertise
Physical space and furnishings
Administrative support
Training
Initial knowledge transfer from NCR
Ongoing (with students)
Software and hardware to support development
Source code repository and configuration management
Server(s)
Reference library
A full-time technical “guru” – probably not a
faculty member
An “executive sponsor” who can solve the nontechnical problems
Pool of capable students (across disciplines)
A lot of patience and determination
Universities are often not accustomed to “profitcenter” initiatives
You must “think outside the box”
Secure top-level support before you begin (in
writing if you can)
Allow ample time to process legal contracts
and set up revenue accounts
Work with HR and Budget offices to figure out
how to do what (they will tell you) “can’t be
done”
Recognize need for (and secure) administrative
support
Be honest with yourself about your capabilities,
those of your students, and those of your
department/university
Develop a rigorous training program
Set high standards for performance and stick to
them
Hire the right students (and fire those who
don’t perform)
Make sure that your efforts will be recognized
as “valuable contributions” in tenure &
promotion decisions
Continue scholarly research if possible
Toot your own horn!
Know when to hand it off to someone else