Research Innovation Sprints

The relationship between research and industry is crucial for driving impactful innovation. While vital for knowledge advancement, academic research often lacks effective translation. Commercially driven industry research produces solutions faster but can lack broader impact. Design bridges this gap by brokering insights among academia, industries, and stakeholders, offering value across sectors. The democratisation of design into research and practice domains has been notable, yet integration into traditional academia remained challenging, leading to overpromised impacts. The Research Innovation Sprint (RIS) method addresses this challenge by facilitating collaboration, aligning research with industry needs, and accelerating the translation of theories into practice.

The RIS method bridges the innovation divide between academia and industry, using design to accelerate solutions to real-world problems. All parties are co-located during a 6-week RIS process. While similar approaches are used in industry, it’s rare for academic research to be applied in this transformative way. During RIS, academics can continue to develop ground-breaking research without the constraints of market viability, allowing space for intellectual rigour. Industry can continue to excel in practical applications and have the resources to scale and commercialise innovative concepts. Design manages the trade-offs and frames opportunities within this ecosystem, developing concepts for meaningful change.

The impact of RIS is evident in academic publications and through tangible solutions in markets, communities, and policy settings. Since 2015, the QUT research team of academics, designers and students has worked with almost 50 organisations, including government agencies, financial service providers, businesses, and manufacturers, to develop new strategies, policies, business processes, and products and services in market. The RIS projects have an impressive implementation success rate of 54%, and their impact is also visible in the newfound skillset and culture of the involved organisations, as well as in the RIS-mindset for commercial partners, academics, and students.

A RIS is a six-week process that involves three phases, each lasting two weeks: Pre-Sprint, Core-Sprint, and Post-Sprint. During this period, designers lead academic and client project stakeholders through a thorough qualitative research process that involves both divergent and convergent thinking. Following design-led principles, the problem space is explored, engagement activities are run, concepts are ideated, prototypes are validated, and implementation is planned. This process iterates based on collected data, stakeholder co-design, and business and technology needs. RIS Publications and Use: Bongiovanni, I., Townson, P., & Kowalkiewicz, M. (2022). Bridging the academia–industry gap through design thinking: research innovation sprints. In K. Straker & C. Wrigley (Eds.), Research handbook on design thinking (Vol. 1, pp. 1–343). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. Dootson, P., Tate, M., Desouza, K. C., & Townson, P. (2021). Transforming public records management: Six key insights. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 72(5), 643–648. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24429 Tate, M., Bongiovanni, I., Kowalkiewicz, M., & Townson, P. (2018). Managing the “Fuzzy front end” of open digital service innovation in the public sector: A methodology. International Journal of Information Management, 39, 186–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2017.11.008 https://www.techarenaboras.se/