Exploring real-world examples where industry-defined problems drive innovation. From traditional research pipelines to practical, open collaboration.
The classic approach in the scientific world is that a researcher identifies a research theme considering the state of the art in their field, while industry seeks research results that can be transformed into new products. The research often looks for economic support from companies, possibly transferring some of its findings to the market.
This model is well known to the technology transfer centers of several universities and research institutions, as well as to industry professionals involved in identifying new technologies and scientific findings to turn into products. Is this the best, or the only, way to create innovation?
Entrepreneurs know that the starting point of any new venture is often not technology itself but rather an unmet need that many people have, or a problem that can be solved in a new, more economical, or more efficient way, often using technology. Some of the most successful companies have been born in this way. Since the scale of a problem correlates with the number of people who could benefit from its solution, large problems correspond to significant market opportunities. Successfully addressing them provides a competitive advantage.
Similarly, beginning with industry needs rather than research alone could lead to more effective research-to-industry outcomes. If companies can suggest research topics, researchers’ expertise in the state of the art can be directed toward challenges that have a clearer path to real-world impact. In this model, innovation emerges from dialogue and collaboration, rather than a one-directional transfer of knowledge.
This perspective aligns with the concept of open innovation, where companies, researchers, and other stakeholders collaboratively identify problems and co-develop solutions. Instead of innovation occurring solely within the boundaries of a lab or company, it becomes a distributed process with multiple actors contributing knowledge, data, and technological capabilities.
An example of this approach is the IEEE World Technology Summit (WTS). Unlike traditional conferences where researchers primarily present work based on academic agendas, WTS experiments with a structure in which industry participants propose technological challenges, and researchers respond with ideas, prototypes, or research directions. In this sense, the summit functions less as a venue for dissemination and more as a platform for problem-driven collaboration.
The topics at WTS reflect areas where industrial demand and research capacity intersect strongly: artificial intelligence applications, energy systems for large-scale computing infrastructure, semiconductor technologies, and digital health. By focusing discussions on concrete technical bottlenecks or emerging product needs, the summit shortens the distance between research questions and market-relevant problems.
A similar approach was demonstrated through a startup initiative at conference ETFA 2025 in Porto, Portugal, where emerging ventures were invited to propose solutions directly addressing industry-defined challenges. Participants worked on real technical problems provided by companies, aiming to create practical, scalable solutions. This initiative was designed to bring together startups, investors, and industry to co-develop solutions, highlighting how problem-driven innovation can apply not only at the corporate or academic level but also in agile startup ecosystems.
The emergence of these collaborative formats reflects a broader trend across the global innovation ecosystem. Major international technology gatherings increasingly function not only as presentation venues but also as platforms for cross-sector collaboration. Recent events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, VivaTech in Paris, Web Summit in Lisbon, Slush in Helsinki, and initiatives like ETFA 2025 bring together startups, researchers, investors, and corporations to explore technological challenges and opportunities.
Although these events differ in scale and focus—some emphasizing startups and venture capital, others highlighting corporate innovation or research breakthroughs—they share a common characteristic: innovation is treated as a networked process, rather than a linear pipeline from laboratory to market.
Those initiatives illustrate a possible evolution of the research–industry relationship. Instead of treating research solely as a supplier of technology that industry later evaluates, innovation can begin with shared problem identification, followed by collaborative exploration of potential solutions.
As technological challenges grow increasingly complex—spanning artificial intelligence, energy infrastructure, biotechnology, and climate technologies—the need for closer interaction between academia, industry, and startups is likely to increase. Open, problem-driven forums may therefore play a growing role in shaping how research agendas and technological development converge in the coming years.
Ph.credit: Unspash
The classic approach in the scientific world is that a researcher identifies a research theme considering the state of the art in their field, while industry seeks research results that can be transformed into new products. The research often looks for economic support from companies, possibly transferring some of its findings to the market.
This model is well known to the technology transfer centers of several universities and research institutions, as well as to industry professionals involved in identifying new technologies and scientific findings to turn into products. Is this the best, or the only, way to create innovation?
Entrepreneurs know that the starting point of any new venture is often not technology itself but rather an unmet need that many people have, or a problem that can be solved in a new, more economical, or more efficient way, often using technology. Some of the most successful companies have been born in this way. Since the scale of a problem correlates with the number of people who could benefit from its solution, large problems correspond to significant market opportunities. Successfully addressing them provides a competitive advantage.
Similarly, beginning with industry needs rather than research alone could lead to more effective research-to-industry outcomes. If companies can suggest research topics, researchers’ expertise in the state of the art can be directed toward challenges that have a clearer path to real-world impact. In this model, innovation emerges from dialogue and collaboration, rather than a one-directional transfer of knowledge.
This perspective aligns with the concept of open innovation, where companies, researchers, and other stakeholders collaboratively identify problems and co-develop solutions. Instead of innovation occurring solely within the boundaries of a lab or company, it becomes a distributed process with multiple actors contributing knowledge, data, and technological capabilities.
An example of this approach is the IEEE World Technology Summit (WTS). Unlike traditional conferences where researchers primarily present work based on academic agendas, WTS experiments with a structure in which industry participants propose technological challenges, and researchers respond with ideas, prototypes, or research directions. In this sense, the summit functions less as a venue for dissemination and more as a platform for problem-driven collaboration.
The topics at WTS reflect areas where industrial demand and research capacity intersect strongly: artificial intelligence applications, energy systems for large-scale computing infrastructure, semiconductor technologies, and digital health. By focusing discussions on concrete technical bottlenecks or emerging product needs, the summit shortens the distance between research questions and market-relevant problems.
A similar approach was demonstrated through a startup initiative at conference ETFA 2025 in Porto, Portugal, where emerging ventures were invited to propose solutions directly addressing industry-defined challenges. Participants worked on real technical problems provided by companies, aiming to create practical, scalable solutions. This initiative was designed to bring together startups, investors, and industry to co-develop solutions, highlighting how problem-driven innovation can apply not only at the corporate or academic level but also in agile startup ecosystems.
The emergence of these collaborative formats reflects a broader trend across the global innovation ecosystem. Major international technology gatherings increasingly function not only as presentation venues but also as platforms for cross-sector collaboration. Recent events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, VivaTech in Paris, Web Summit in Lisbon, Slush in Helsinki, and initiatives like ETFA 2025 bring together startups, researchers, investors, and corporations to explore technological challenges and opportunities.
Although these events differ in scale and focus—some emphasizing startups and venture capital, others highlighting corporate innovation or research breakthroughs—they share a common characteristic: innovation is treated as a networked process, rather than a linear pipeline from laboratory to market.
Those initiatives illustrate a possible evolution of the research–industry relationship. Instead of treating research solely as a supplier of technology that industry later evaluates, innovation can begin with shared problem identification, followed by collaborative exploration of potential solutions.
As technological challenges grow increasingly complex—spanning artificial intelligence, energy infrastructure, biotechnology, and climate technologies—the need for closer interaction between academia, industry, and startups is likely to increase. Open, problem-driven forums may therefore play a growing role in shaping how research agendas and technological development converge in the coming years.
Ph.credit: Unspash
