Case Study: New Intermediary Innovation Organization
Goal:
The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), a public higher education institution, sought to create an externally facing entity to interface with business and government, effectively serving as a “front door” to the university.
Challenge:
The new entity needed to be self-sufficient financially, without new hard dollar investments from NJIT during its startup. It also needed to build market-facing service offerings that business and government would pay for and that would have a positive and visible impact on the New Jersey economy. There was also the challenge of being able to provide business enterprises with privacy from sunshine laws; to manage classified projects; to enter into joint ventures; and to manage tax, product competition, and business valuation issues in a competitive marketplace. Finally, there was the need to shield NJIT from liability.
Solution:
In 2014 NJIT created the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) as a non-profit organization with the capability of forming for-profit subsidiaries. NJII functioned as a division of the university where it could function as a state entity. Its base operations were housed on the NJIT campus and targeted regional programs were subsequently located nearby and elsewhere in the state. Many advantages accrued from this novel, flexible organizational structure.
Process:
NJII’s “new model for industrial innovation” centered on the creation of innovation labs (“iLabs”) to address strategic state priorities in vertical industry sectors and cross-cutting units targeting additional economic opportunities:
Healthcare Delivery Systems iLab – driving interoperability between healthcare stakeholders
Biopharma iLab – Cell and gene therapy process development, manufacturing, and workforce training
Defense and Homeland Security iLab – introducing innovations to the U.S. DoD and DHS
Civil Infrastructure and Environment – sustainable solutions for transportation, utilities, water/wastewater, and buildings
Smart Cities unit – working with Newark and other communities on creating a test-bed for Internet of Things (IOT)
Financial Services unit – offering innovative solutions and services to New Jersey’s financial services sector
Innovation Ecosystems business unit –innovate the commercialization pipeline and accelerate relationships between startups/scaleups and large corporations
Strategy Services unit – offering agile strategy, team composition assessment and design, product-market fit analysis, and market entry strategies and execution
Economic, Cluster, and Client Development unit – cultivating regional economic development projects
Outcomes and Impacts:
The IALR garnered many awards during its start-up years, including:
2007 C. peter Magrath/W.K. Kellogg University Engagement National Award Winner
2006 Virginia Governor’s Award for Innovative Technology Use in Higher Education
2005 University Economic Development Administration Innovation Award Finalist
2005 U.S. Small Business Administration/Kauffman Foundation Entrepreneurship Award Finalist
2005 Southern Growth Policies Board Innovator’s Award
2005 International Communications Industries Association/Archi-Tech Audio Video Award Winner
2004 Southern Piedmont Technology Council Chairman’s Award
