How to talk to Industry

How to make contacts?

Main idea: Select companies necessary for the project, identify and exploit interests

• Use existing networks with companies
• Networking events (like ICT proposer’s days), Workshops/Exhibitions
• Asking companies for open problems / challenges ?
  • Are companies willing to tell you?
• Become visible
  • Conferences with industry participation
  • Webpage
  • Be present also in non-scientific media (TV, newspaper)

• Important issues
  • Concrete vision about what to give/what is required
  • Size of the company does matter: SME, big companies
  • Location of the company does matter: important for sustainable cooperation

• It is a long process to approach and concretize results with industry contacts
• Informally at conference, from network events, from personal contacts
• Social networking
• Join local IEEE chapters, Informatics societies
• Have a beer ..

• Think about who to approach, it is a lot of effort to maintain the relationship

How to motivate a partnership?

• Improving their products
• Testing some novel approaches
• Use and apply their products – new applications (“killer application”)
• Benefits of funding itself ( getting money ;-) )
• Contacts to future personnel
• Joint publications (?)
• Free advertisement / being in the media (?)

• Build up trust via small projects
• Show maturity of your work
• Give away master thesis students to company?
• Give company ~6 months planning time for a joint project

How to communicate with industry partners?

• Different ways to approach partners providing:
  • Products, services
  • Personnel/knowledge
  • Governmental-near with social interest
• “Sell” the vision and explain potential outcome
  • Have to identify value for them – possible outcome (profit)

• Be aware of IPRs and “strategic secrets”
  • Data sets they don’t want to share
  • Classified, crucial information for their business
  • Privacy concerns

• Be yourself
• Show abilities / R&D profile
• Refer to successful projects/cooperations
• Present best practise / working devices
• Empower the communication partner to make decisions
• Find „happy medium“ for level of abstraction