To establish a central support service for the University’s industry engagement, using the processes and platform already developed for Edinburgh Innovation (EI), the Bayes Institute & the Principal’s Office.

This service will centralise support that would otherwise be carried out by specialists in each business unit.

This service is needed in order to handle the volume and pace of work required for the City Deal in particular and the increasing demand for industry relationship management across the University.

The goal is a University-wide Industry Relationship Management (IRM) service, providing support for all industry engagement, including EI, City Deal, the Principal’s Office, and other areas.

Users of this service will adopt common processes for recording and reporting on industry engagement, all using the same technology platform.  This will enable common reporting, along with sharing of information as appropriate (subject to appropriate governance). The service will provide central management for the vendor relationship, with the possibility of negotiating reduced licence costs.