A Proposed Management Framework for Commercialisation of Expertise at Public Universities

Abstract

Commercialisation at universities, specifically the commercialisation of academic output at universities, has become an economic imperative since the 1990s, forming part of the changing role of universities. Teaching-learning, research and community engagement have traditionally been central to most universities’ mission statements. During the 1990s, countries such as Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom developed policies to exploit the collaboration between the higher education sector and industry with regard to technology bases, private sector participation and the exploitation of intellectual/academic output. The need has emerged for the development of a framework for the implementation of expertise and commercialisation at universities so that the academic ethos of the university and scholarship are not undermined. For this reason, it is important that universities develop a suitable framework for implementing expertise and commercialisation – one that is appropriately managed within predetermined guidelines.