Bridging the ‘Valley of Death’: Can Agile Principles Be Applied in Industry-Academia Research and Innovation Projects?

Abstract

Government funding supports industry-academia research and innovation projects in Norway, sharing the risk of the research component in innovation. However, funding alone may not be sufficient to overcome potential differences in collaborative agendas and ways of working. As a result, positive research outcomes often get stuck in the valley of death, instead of ending up as successful innovations that create value. To contribute to bridging the valley of death, we investigated the importance of six agile principles for collaborative industry-academia research and innovation projects, abbreviated IPN in Norway. The study was limited to the manufacturing sector. We surveyed 124 IPN project leaders (70 from industry; 54 from academia) to evaluate the importance of the knowledge management practices associated with the six agile principles across the three project stages. The statistical analyses indicate the consistency of the agile principles throughout the project stages. This means that agile principles are relevant for IPN projects and can be used as guidelines for improvement of the knowledge management practices. Moreover, the study identifies the agile principles that are perceived as most important to use in different stages of a project. It also identifies the different perceptions of the importance of agile principles of the project leaders from industry and academia. These findings can support project leaders who are implementing agile principles to industry-academia research and innovation projects. The results from the study can also support national and federal research/innovation councils in decision-making when assessing industrial research applications.