Using real-time analytics and new metrics to increase industry engagement

In our first webinar of 2021, we kicked off a new series that will run in parallel with our live panel webinars that address broader topics and challenges facing the university-industry community. Our new series will focus on specific features within IN-PART’s matchmaking platform and university dashboards and how they can be used for maximum impact and increasing industry engagement.

Our first webinar followed the recent launch of our new Data Insights dashboard and aimed to provide use cases and best practices for boosting engagement with industry using real-time analytics and metrics.

Why are industry engagement metrics and real-time analytics useful for technology transfer officers (TTO)?

One of the most powerful features of IN-PART is the data and metrics relating to how our global industry R&D network interacts with an institute’s technologies. These analytics allow our subscribed universities to see a more complete picture of how their technologies and opportunities are performing to better gauge the level of industry interest in them.

This enables research commercialisation professionals to make informed decisions for each technology, helping them to maximise industry engagement through the platform. Previously, these metrics were provided in a biannual impact report, but with the launch of the Data Insights dashboard, subscribed universities now have hands-on access to an interactive and intuitive interface showcasing real-time industry engagement data.

What industry engagement metrics and real-time analytics are available in the dashboard?

Through a series of interactive graphs and other analytics, TTOs can visualise the journey of the industry audience from initial exposure to a company through to the first connection. Headline figures and intuitive filters allow for an at-a-glance assessment of how an individual technology, a group of technologies, or the whole portfolio is performing over any given time period.

Customisable analytics insights give a more in-depth picture of which technologies are receiving the most reads and engagement, along with which companies are most interested in a technology. In terms of industry activity, the Data Insights dashboard gives graphs of individual company views over time, with details of specific company views for individual technologies displayed to view interest from potential leads.

Updating technologies boosts industry engagement

Metrics such as article reads graphs for specific technologies allow TTOs to clearly visualise when interest in a technology has peaked. We often notice a tailing-off in industry engagement after a technology has been on the platform for over a year, as at this stage it has been disseminated to all the relevant R&D leads currently in our network.

Making updates to a disclosure summary can help to recapture the interest of the R&D audience. Small updates can have a large impact, and simply adding in new information about publications, patents, or stage of development can be significant enough for our team to re-approach previously interested companies. The benefits of refreshing a portfolio in this way can be tracked in the company activity data (Figure 2).

As well as updating existing technologies, regularly adding new technologies will also maximise engagement through the platform and this can also be evidenced with the data available through the university dashboard. The graphs in Figure 3 compare two similar sized universities through 2020. In this, University A uploaded significantly more disclosures to IN-PART that year and updated a large part of their portfolio, resulting in higher levels of engagement than University B. 

Regardless of university and portfolio size, if an institute regularly adds and updates technologies where possible, they tend to receive more industry engagement through the platform.

How else can TTOs use data to increase industry engagement?

The ability to track the interest of companies through real-time engagement data can also support research commercialisation offices with their industry engagement strategies. Leads gathered through IN-PART can be actively followed up on if a TTO has established contacts at a company, or they can be used as evidence of interest to leverage ongoing discussions or funding. In addition, filtering by individual technologies in the Data Insights dashboard allows for in-depth analysis and easier decision-making on the commercial viability of that technology.

The ‘portal views’ figure in the new dashboard highlights the success of making use of IN-PART’s open-access portal. The portal can be easily embedded on a university or research commercialisation office’s website to showcase their technologies as they are displayed on IN-PART for ease-of-access for industry partners. They can also be shared on social media as the full portfolio or individual technologies and circulated internally to academics to encourage engagement with the technology transfer office, or for the academics to share themselves.

If you are interested in making updates to your portfolio, the following blogs provide further information on what R&D professionals look for in a disclosure summary and which pieces of information find most valuable.

• Communicating science to industry: How to write an effective technology disclosure
• What do R&D teams want from universities?
• What do R&D teams need to see in a technology disclosure?

If you are from an institute that isn’t yet subscribed to IN-PART and would like to find out more about how we can help with industry engagement and technology marketing, contact info@in-part.co.uk to start a conversation with our team.

And finally, if you are unsure how to activate your open-access portal or if you would like a full demo of the Data Insights dashboard, get in touch with your dedicated University Liaison at IN-PART (if you’re not sure who this is, please contact joseph.ferner@in-part.co.uk).

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Written by Joseph Ferner. Edited by Alex Stockham.

Copyrights reserved unless otherwise agreed – IN-PART Publishing Ltd., 2021: ‘Using real-time analytics and new metrics to increase industry engagement’

About IN-PART:

We believe brilliant connections can solve real-world problems. We match research pioneers from academia with decision-makers in industry sectors striving for a greater positive impact.

Our goal is to enable connections from around the world to match academic research with industry on a level playing field. Through our intelligent, matchmaking platform we showcase leading university innovations and connect academics with an international community of decision-makers in industry, creating meaningful dialogue and partnership.

IN-PART, a digital partnering platform for university-industry collaboration.

250+ universities and research institutes around the world currently showcase their research and innovation on IN-PART to find new collaboration partners in industry. R&D teams get free access to the platform (create an account here). There are no hidden costs and we don’t claim downstream success fees.

Discover, a bespoke scouting service for open innovation.

Through Discover, corporate R&D teams can leverage our extended academic network, which reaches multiple teams across 1,200+ universities and research institutes worldwide. In response to a specific research requirement or challenge, Discover enables R&D teams to identify new opportunities for commercialisation or to solicit proposals for new research.

Interested in speaking with our Discover team? Request a demo |  TTO or academic? Sign-up for weekly Discover emails.

Image credit: Hello I’m Nik / Unsplash License