Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - COINS (Complex and Open Innovation for Networked Society)
Teaser
COINS European Industrial Doctorate partnership will create a sustainable platform for researchers to engage in collaborative production of knowledge by investigating challenges for managing processes of complex and open innovation created by advances in digital technology...
Summary
COINS European Industrial Doctorate partnership will create a sustainable platform for researchers to engage in collaborative production of knowledge by investigating challenges for managing processes of complex and open innovation created by advances in digital technology. Five Early Stage Researchers, accompanied by experienced, interdisciplinary and intersectoral group of supervisors will study development of innovation capabilities required for organizations of different types to effectively respond to institutional, social and technological complexity in innovation ecosystems. Fellows will benefit of rich and unique complementary training programme, which will enable them to pursue variety of professional careers in academia, industry, consultancy and public policy.
They will especially benefit from competency and skills for professional innovation management and technology entrepreneurship. An ambitious outreach programme will equip all fellows with appreciation of the role of business, entrepreneurship and technology in society. They will become responsible researchers and leaders capable of finding solutions for some of the greatest challenges facing our planet. The COINS objectives will be achieved by establishing a long-term partnership between the University of Leeds and Ericsson AB. They are joined by technology start-up Diamentech.
Objectives:
- Establish a highly motivated group of ESRs committed to the collaborative production of knowledge across sectors that fuses academic rigour with practical relevance.
- Strengthen collaboration between industry and academia by providing an innovative arrangement for industrial engagement in doctoral training in the interdisciplinary area of technology innovation management, which will act as a model for the future doctoral programmes at Univleeds.
- Deliver a range of high-quality research outputs that positively impact scholarly knowledge, practising managers, policymakers and wider community influenced by innovation.
Work performed
The following has been done in order to meet the objectives:
A detailed person specification for the role was developed and the posts were advertised widely internally and externally (University website, jobs.ac.uk and the external websites Euraxess , Findaphd, EDAMBA, and EISASM.) 5 motivated ESRs were recruited in two rounds as planned. For both recruitment rounds candidates were asked to deliver a presentation (details in next page) in addition to the interview. Candidate selection was based on the evidence provided in their application form, presentation and interview and this was assessed against the person specification.
The ties between industry and academia has definitely been established. COINS researchers have started their 18 months secondments at Ericsson in September 2017. We have extended the doctoral trainings beyond the Leeds University borders via collaboration with NARTI (Northern Advanced Research Training Initiative). NARTI assists in advancing research capacity and impact amongst doctoral and early career scholars in business and management. All the COINS training events and activities have been open to the NARTI network and in this way we have systematically involved industrial partners into the regional trainings.
Each ESR has a supervisory team, they have created a personal development plan in consultation with their supervisors. In the first ten months all five researchers predominantly focused on: a) desk research for the literature review and research design and b) exploratory engagement with Ericsson supervisors and mentors in order to fine tune their research focus to maximise rigour and relevance of their research. All five researchers have completed the transfer report, which is an important milestone. This is the foundation required for the high quality research outcomes in the next two years and beyond. All the ESRs are currently taking the ULTA-l course offered by the University of Leeds, to again their teaching qualifications.
Number of training events was organised by COINS: Exploring Challenges for Technology Innovation and Management (In addition to the deliverables), Advance Methodology Training School, Strategic Responses to Disruptive Innovation, On Anticipating Evolutions of a Networked Society.
Final results
We committed to enhancing research and innovation related human resources, skills, and working conditions to realise the potential of individuals and to provide new career perspectives. We have contributed to this by the choice of research topics, training events by COINS, where prominent scientists and practitioners in the field were invited and offered their feedback to the ESRs. ESRs have also been advised to attend various trainings and workshops for their academic and complimentary trainings.
The new COINS website was gone live and it is the main site to contain outreach activities. http://business.leeds.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/research-projects/complex-and-open-innovation-for-networked-society-coins/ . Our ESRs contribute to this by writing blogs about the events and training schools.
The visit to a secondary school happened on June 20th. It was an inter-disciplinary event that takes place annually to showcase to local sixth-form students the kind of research that is being undertaken at Leeds in the areas of Business, Politics, Sociology and Human Geography. It explained the research topics and how this contributes to the social and economic landscape both in the UK and globally.
COINS also organized a Corporate Wisdom Innovation Lecture with Sofi Elfving from Ericsson. The event was open to public with pre-registration. You can check the details at: http://business.leeds.ac.uk/about-us/article/corporate-wisdom-innovation-lecture-with-sofi-w-elfving-ericsson/