Using CRISs in a commercial context
a presentation for
EUROCRIS
given by Julie Horne
Director, Oakland Innovation
Using CRISs in a commercial context
 About Oakland
 Commercial users of CRISs
 Research Methodologies
 Value of CRISs and ‘brokerage’ services
Oakland Innovation and Information
Services Ltd
Established in 1989, based on Cambridge Science Park, UK
Deliver business services to support innovation in science
and technology based organisations
Team of 16 business, information, and scientific specialists
with range of specialist associates
Oakland clients stretch across the
Science and Technology landscape
Technology
Consultancies
TTP
Quinetiq
Research and technology
Organisations
Faraday partnerships
IFR
Universities
AURIL
Birmingham
Cambridge
Intermediary Service
Organisations
Companies
CONTACT
Relay Centres
Air Liquide, Masterfoods,
P&G, 3M, ICI, Shell
Gov. Agencies
DTI
EU
UK Research Councils
Oakland CRIS Experience
 Early database prototypes of UK Research Council
data now relaunched as www.seknet.co.uk
 Technology database for PPARC
 Expert database for WiTEC
Using CRISs in a commercial context
 About Oakland
 Commercial users of CRISs
 Research Methodologies
 Value of CRISs and ‘brokerage’ services
Commercial users of CRIS’s
Companies using science
and technology to innovate
Companies
Air Liquide, Masterfoods,
P&G, 3M, ICI, Shell
New products
New processes
New services
Use Oakland to provide
‘opinion with evidence’ to aid
early stage decision-making
processes
What is the Question?
Who could we work with?
How might this
technology impact
on our business?
What ‘new’
technology
will deliver a
solution to
this need ?
What new markets could
we exploit with our
capability/products?
What is
the question?
Can we get more value from
external knowledge and resources?
Does this
proposition
represent a
worthwhile
opportunity?
Typical Assignments
What technology could be
used to reliably measure
the hotness of spices in
food products?
Study of the future of medical
sterilisation technologies
What opportunities might
nano-technology offer a
polymer materials
manufacturer?
Review of coating technology
For glass – evaluation of potential
substitutes
Typical Assignments
What are the commercial
implications of adopting
GM technology?
What is the best route to
market for an isoflavone
supplement in Europe.
Centres of
excellence in High
Pressure
Processing
What are the
characteristics of
a world class
packaging
innovation team
Using CRISs in a commercial context
 About Oakland
 Commercial users of CRISs
 Research Methodologies
 Value of CRISs and ‘brokerage’ services
Using a mix of tools to facilitate the
research process
Problem Analysis
Data Analysis
Brainstorming
Root Cause Analysis
Structured Inventive Thinking
Scenario Building
Road Mapping
SWOT
Porter
PESTEL
Segmentation
Stakeholder Analysis
Primary
Research
Questionnaires
Telephone Research
Face-to-face Interviews
Focus Groups
Workshops
Secondary
Research
Dialog
STN
CRISs
Delphion
Kompass
Medline
Secondary Research
 Use a variety of online and published sources to compile
information. Eg. Scientific Literature, patents,learned articles,
market reports, CRISs, news feeds etc
Useful to:
– Build your understanding of the science/technology
– ‘Scope’ or ‘Landscape’ the subject or market area
– Build a quick list of broadly relevant individuals/experts
Example of subject landscape
Reliability and completeness of
information
 Secondary research is rarely the complete solution
 Information can be overwhelming
 Scientific Literature is historical
 Hard to understand relative merits of individuals’
research or a group’s ‘gravitas’
You have to talk to people!
Primary Research
Primary research is used to achieve 2 main objectives:
1. To find partners and suppliers and to validate their
suitability
2. To validate knowledge and understanding, help
extend your field of vision, and to generate forward
looking insights
Finding Partners
What are the relevant selection criteria?
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Are you looking for an individual or a group/Centre?
Are certain facilities important/critical?
Do you need breadth, depth or both of knowledge?
Is geography/location/language skill important?
Experience of working with industry?
Do they need to be cutting edge/ leaders?
Does it matter who else are they working with?
Personal characteristics?
S
Elaine Shen
Paul Kulkosky
Adron Harris
Diag 1: Illustration of Peer Recommendation Process
A. Leslie Morrow
Kathryn Kitson
Richard Deitrich
Amardeep Dhillon
Simon Howell
Peter Geerlings
Norman Palmer
Marc Schukit
Hank Samson
Philippe de Witte
Charles Lieber
L. Beilin
Henk Hendriks
Timothy Peters
Keith Tipton
Ting Kai Li
Mario Dianzani
Stefano Govoni
Dharam Agarwal
Ian Puddey
John Littleton
Nicholas Moore
Gian Luigi Gessa
Enrico Tempesta
Emanuele Albano
Jonathan Chick
Flavio
Poldrugo
Paul Verbanck
Fabio Fadda
Zvani Rossetti
Raymond Anton
J A Walburg
Otto Lesch
Giorgi Giorgio
Guiseppe Poli
Gabriele
Pozzato
Kai Lindros
Matti Hillbom
Pat Toseland
Jorg Morland
Ian Hindmarch
Wim van den Brink
Frederick de Wolff
Reinout Wiers
Building Knowledge/Gathering opinion
 Use literature to find springboard data and experts
 Use CRISs to find springboard contacts
 Follow-up contacts and seek opinion and comment
 Seek further recommendations and follow-up
accordingly
BUT
 Who do you listen to?
Sourcing the Intelligence
Intelligence Zone
Springboard
Data
Springboard
Contacts
Weighting the Sources
Criteria 1
Low
Low
Criteria 2
High
Low
Criteria 3
Deriving the Message
Pearls
– provides robust intelligence to
derive the key messages.
Oysters
– confirms the key messages and
reveals challenges to
conventional wisdom.
Fisherman
– occasionally yields new angles
and radical thinking.
Secondary
– Substantiates or challenges
insights harvested through
interviews.
Example project outcome
Task: US client with a patent for a nutritional supplement for
treatment of menopause– what is best route to market in
Europe?
Emerging market: secondary very patchy: so primary research
among stakeholders (clinicians) and retailers of nutritional
supplements.
Research Outcome: Industry structure indicated small players were
owned by big pharmas. Segmentation very significant: culture
very important
Recommendation: No direct marketing but look for licensing
opportunites. Start with Pharmas in Italy. Company now has
licensing deal in place.
Using CRISs in a commercial context
 About Oakland
 Commercial users of CRISs
 Research Methodologies
 Value of CRISs and ‘brokerage’ services
The value of Oakland’s services
Providing anonymity and
objectivity
Applying robust research
methodologies
Extending your field of vision
by accessing new networks
Generating forward looking
insights through in depth
interviewing techniques
Providing pertinent and
actionable advice based on
analysis of research
How do CRISs add value?
Structure gives coherence to
otherwise scattered data
Searching terms and tools
speed up process
Uniform detail
Give validity to information?
Must be reasonably up to
date
Editorial process must be
explicit
Search functions must be
easily understood
Must understand
‘completeness’
Oakland Innovation and Information Services
18 Cambridge Science Park
Cambridge CB4 0FH
Tel +44 (0)1223 507500
www.oakland.co.uk
www.seknet.co.uk