Industrial Collaboration Leads to Pay Dirt
More and more big and small companies are teaming up to develop new products.

Cooperation, not competition, is the route for much new research. Private companies have long worked in tandem with the U.S. government on defense, energy, agriculture, health and myriad basic science research projects.
Increasingly, however, private businesses are teaming up on mutually beneficial research. Strained corporate budgets, limited federal funds for research and development and shortages of talent are pushing behemoths such as Intel and IBM to combine resources -- with each other, with niche firms, even institutions sponsored by foreign governments.
Intel employees partner with software and chip engineers from European companies and from Max Planck Institutes of Germany. The company has also opened three small labs in Germany, where it manages teams of software and computer chip engineers. IBM, meanwhile, collaborates with labs in Massachusetts, New York and Texas on innovations in supercomputing and on software for electrical grid management.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Hewlett-Packard has teamed with Tsinghua University to have labs in Beijing, China, and in Palo Alto, Calif., where new hard-drive technology and keyboard advances are being developed with local firms. Moreover, HP holds competitions for non-HP scientists to develop research projects in computer engineering. On other fronts, collaborative labs bring together IBM, Texas Instruments, Eli Lilly and Swiss university ETH Zurich.
The private collaboration trend is a boon to small firms with a knack for innovation. It allows them to develop and possibly cash in on their ideas without having to give up equity or drum up financing at a time when venture capital is tight.
Among recent examples: California-based Corium International, a small biomedical firm that works on adhesives and drug delivery systems, teamed with Procter & Gamble to improve the seal on Crest Whitestrips, a tooth whitening product. The licensed product -- Crest Whitestrips Advanced Seal -- was launched last year. San Francisco-based VerticalResponse partnered with Intuit Inc. to develop software for e-mail marketing, online surveys and direct mail software. And Kraft Foods Global is collaborating with Minneapolis-based Medisyn Technologies to accelerate discovery of natural ingredients that provide health benefits.
Clearinghouses and matchmakers pair small business technology researchers with larger partners. A leading one is NineSigma Inc., based in Cleveland. Another is the Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology in San Diego. The joint corporate, academic and government-sponsored partnership puts together partners and resources aimed at development innovative technologies. It also helps to find funding quickly.
For weekly updates on topics to improve your business decisionmaking, click here.
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

-
Could This Little Known Data Shift Hurt Your 2026 Social Security COLA?
The BLS has changed how it measures the inflationary data that determines whether Social Security benefits will get a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA). Will it hurt your benefits?
-
Financial Pros Provide a Beginner's Guide to Building Wealth in 10 Years
Building wealth over 10 years requires understanding your current financial situation, budgeting effectively, eliminating high-interest debt and increasing both your income and financial literacy.
-
What New Tariffs Mean for Car Shoppers
The Kiplinger Letter Car deals are growing scarcer. Meanwhile, tax credits for EVs are on the way out, but tax breaks for car loans are coming.
-
AI’s Rapid Rise Sparks New Cyber Threats
The Kiplinger Letter Cybersecurity professionals are racing to ward off AI threats while also using AI tools to shore up defenses.
-
Blue Collar Workers Add AI to Their Toolboxes
The Kiplinger Letter AI can’t fix a leak or install lighting, but more and more tradespeople are adopting artificial intelligence for back-office work and other tasks.
-
The New AI Agents Will Tackle Your To-Do List
The Kiplinger Letter Autonomous AI agents “see” your computer screen, then complete a task, from buying a concert ticket to organizing email. This opens up a world of possibilities.
-
AI’s Medical Revolution
The Kiplinger Letter Medicine is a field ripe for finding both exciting and practical uses for AI. The tech is already being used by doctors and researchers.
-
The Economic Impact of the US-China Trade War
The Letter The US-China trade war will impact US consumers and business. The decoupling process could be messy.
-
AI Heads to Washington
The Kiplinger Letter There’s big opportunity for AI tools that analyze MRIs and other medical images. But also big challenges that clinicians and companies will have to overcome.
-
The AI Doctor Coming to Read Your Test Results
The Kiplinger Letter There’s big opportunity for AI tools that analyze CAT scans, MRIs and other medical images. But there are also big challenges that human clinicians and tech companies will have to overcome.