This book is aimed at a variety of people from different backgrounds including practitioners and brokers of university–industry partnerships (Figure 0.1). This may include:

• • knowledge exchange (KE), business development (BD) and industry-facing academics who wish to be more effective at interacting with industry, in diverse geographies (this could include both those inside tech transfer offices and those based in departments);

• • leaders ‘at all levels’ with a focus on research, external engagement, innovation and entrepreneurship, corporate relations and fundraising;

• • university relations leads within corporates and their philanthropic foundations;

• • other philanthropic foundations;

• • academics and Master of Business Administration (MBA) students with interests including innovation management, university–industry relations (the interface between academic science and industry), organisation theory, entrepreneurship and regional economic development;

• • government policy advisors interested in maximising economic and societal benefits from innovative university–industry–government–civil society–environment ‘quintuple helix’ relationships within a knowledge economy. These relationships are even more vital as we face the global grand challenges, including the climate emergency. This audience would also include funding agency staff from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) and Catapults;

• • non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the United Nations (UN), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Bank and professional associations and societies, interested in research and innovation for public benefit. Internationally professional associations of knowledge exchange practitioners such as the University–Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP) and University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) are also a very relevant audience;

• • venture capital and sovereign wealth funds interested in ‘impact investing’ who wish to learn how to best engage with universities to discover transformational technological solutions to challenging global problems such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

Why now?

More than ever before, practitioners of university–industry relationships require tools to identify, govern and share joint value leveraged through bringing together complementary assets and capabilities. In our experience and interactions with senior industry figures, we have seen the necessity and huge potential to align strategy explicitly with achieving grand challenges such as the UN SDGs to achieve global societal benefit. The SDGs are not a perfect blueprint of an ideal world, but they are a great start.