Tech-hunting CIOs should consider going back to school?not for extra credits, but for the tools to make their lives easier. Hundreds of colleges and universities offer access to research through their Offices of Technology Licensing (OTLs). The University of California at Berkeley’s OTL, for example, readily hawks The Psuedoflow Algorithm, a software component that promises to boost cross-supply chain query speeds anywhere from 25 percent to a whopping 32,500 percent. School reps will also tell you about the university’s Mobile People Architecture, which formats communications (faxes, e-mails, phone calls) to fit just about any device. But both come with a caveat: They might not work in the real world.

University research has traditionally been more about theoretical rather than applied science. But an accelerating rate of practical innovation on campus?particularly in IT?means that CIOs willing to invest their time will find the effort worthwhile. On occasion, the payoff will be a new product or technology suitable for internal use. But even if they don’t find something to run on their servers or connect to their networks, CIOs will almost always glean greater knowledge of what technology is coming down the pike. And that information can be valuable. Ashwin Rangan, CIO of Newport Beach, Calif.-based semiconductor maker Conexant, is unequivocal about his company’s relationships with local research universities: "It is a source of a competitive advantage."

Historical Record

Much of today’s information technology?everything from optical fiber to the Internet?originated in academic re- search. These innovations traditionally go through a lengthy commercialization process, however, where companies take the concept pioneered at a university and turn it into a viable product or service?and it can take years. But this situation is beginning to change. During the last decade a confluence of circumstances, including a decrease in government research funding, industry’s increasing need for innovation and a greater percentage of applied research in the universities, has pushed academic and commercial interests closer together.

To facilitate school-business relationships, most research universities have OTLs and industry liaison groups tasked with keeping corporations involved in on-campus research. OTLs deal with specific technologies, says Katharine Ku, director of Stanford University’s OTL. Industry liaison programs, on the other hand, use newsletters, conferences and site visits to provide companies with a broader look at the research conducted across a university and to give members a chance to rub elbows with professors. Nearly 200 companies, including Ford Motor Co. and Pfizer, belong to MIT’s Industrial Liaison Program, for example.