Open research in public-private research partnerships: comparing practices in Ireland and Denmark

Research funders have invested significant resources in both open research and fostering public-private research partnerships (PPRP) with an eye to commercialising publicly funded research. However, there has been little discussion of how PPRP navigate open research mandates when intellectual property (IP) rights are at stake. Drawing on policy documents and interviews with researchers in Ireland and Denmark, this work in progress paper reports challenges and opportunities in open research and commercialisation for researchers working in digital health research. Interviewees referred to lack of time and knowledge, insufficient institutional support and mentoring, and private sector reluctance to disclose data as impediments to effective PPRP collaborations in both open research and commercialisation. Future work will include interviews with other stakeholders in the research ecosystem to further explore policy and practice around open research and commercialisation.