Industry–Academic Collaborations
This column aims to bring relevant research results to interested indus-try practitioners. So, it seemed ap-propriate to start it with two pa-pers on effective industry–academic collaboration.
“Principles and a Process for Suc-cessful Industry Cooperation—the Case of TUM and Munich Re,” by Maximilian Junker and his col-leagues, described the success fac-tors behind a long-term collabora-tion between Technische Universität München (TUM) and the reinsur-ance company Munich Re. This collaboration has facilitated eight projects focused on the quality of software development artifacts. It has been benefi cial both to Munich Re (in terms of improved software-engineering methods) and TUM (in terms of two spin-off companies and numerous research publications).
Retrospective analysis determined that the collaboration’s success re-sulted from following 12 key project management principles grouped into four categories. The project con-
tent principles are to select relevant problems, select manageable-sized problems, and choose concrete, non-invasive solutions. The staffi ng prin-ciples are to include industry staff in project teams, involve the problem owners, and involve management. The organization principles are to maintain regular meetings and dis-seminate project results. The mind-set principles are to allow creative leeway, enable trustful interaction, be open to criticism, and appreci-ate mutual interests. Although these principles might lead to general nod-ding and the question “So what?,” the paper compellingly explained what those principles mean, why they’re important, and the research process that helps realize them. This paper was part of the ICSE ’15 Soft-ware Engineering Research and In-
PRACTITIONERS’ DIGEST
28 IEEE SOFTWARE | WWW.COMPUTER.ORG/SOFTWARE | @IEEESOFTWARE
dustrial Practice Workshop and re-ceived the IEEE Software Best Paper Award (see p. 4.); access it at http:// goo.gl/hK1yCk.