Maximising the commercial impact of an innovation ecosystem

Client overview

A leading research institution, home to a growing community of tenant companies and pre-commercial research groups, sought to maximise the commercial impact of its innovation ecosystem and strengthen its position as an innovation campus. Strategic Allies Ltd (SAL) was engaged to design and deliver a tailored workshop to support the translation of science and capabilities into commercial outcomes. The workshop was open to all campus companies (ranging from start-ups and spin-outs to multinational organisations), as well as research groups. For this reason, the subject of the workshop needed to offer broad appeal. To ensure relevance, a pre-workshop questionnaire was distributed to all potential attendees to determine areas of common interest and need. Responses indicated support was required with better defining and communicating organisational capabilities, and identifying and articulating unique selling points (USPs) in continually evolving markets.

The search

SAL used these insights to design and facilitate an interactive workshop directly responsive to the real needs of the campus community. The event was structured around three focused roundtable sessions, each led by a trained SAL facilitator and designed to encourage candid, peer-to-peer exchange:
• Session 1: Identifying and defining capabilities beyond primary products and services.
• Session 2: Practical methodologies for monitoring and responding to customer and market needs.
• Session 3: Exploring real-world innovation challenges from large corporate organisations within SAL’s network, and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
Each discussion group included representatives from at least two campus companies, one research group and one SAL facilitator, ensuring broad cross-pollination of ideas and experience. SAL also launched an online portal providing access to workshop materials, corporate challenges, funding links, and collaboration tools.

“…This was a really helpful workshop, an eye opener. There is so much more I can exploit as a scientist”

“I particularly appreciated the interactive workshop discussions.”

Outcome

All attendees reported improved understanding of broader capabilities and over 80% identified new opportunities for cross-campus collaboration.

8 organisations and research groups requested follow-up 1-2-1 consultations with SAL to explore next steps, including responding to real-world corporate innovation challenges.

Strong interest was expressed in future workshops and potential expansion to other campuses.