Corporate partnerships: strategic alliances are all "win-win" for universities and business.

• Author: Held, Shari
• Position: EDUCATION

"THE NOTION OF THE university as a moated castle unto itself is just not the right one for effective organizations in the 21st century," says Brad Wheeler, vice president for information technology and CIO for Indiana University. "I think about the university being more involved in a highly connected ecosystem of purposeful relationships, because that is the only way you can learn and adapt at the speed required for this century."

Strategic alliances between higher education and business are stronger and more important than ever before. Here is a look at some innovative initiatives around the state that benefit the schools, the students, the business partners and the communities.

Indiana University, Bloomington. Strategic alliances born of necessity can yield extraordinary opportunities with a dash of creative thinking. When a move to high definition video was mandated for the production studios of Indiana University by 2009, the search began for a vendor to supply the necessary equipment.

"We changed our philosophy partway through from thinking about just solving a problem to embracing a greater opportunity," Wheeler says. "What surfaced was Sony also had a keen interest in understanding a place like Indiana University where we constantly have a new generation of 'digital natives' coming in as freshmen and faculty and scholars that are retooling some of their work for newer media. It became clear there was an alignment of capabilities between what Indiana had to offer and what was of interest to Sony and vice versa."

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As a result, a three-part strategic alliance was established--buying HD equipment at favorable pricing via a non-exclusive university-wide agreement, a series of research projects and a 10 percent discount on most Sony products for the IU community of faculty, staff and students.

The agreements also establish a framework for future projects. For example, Sony might try out new technology with a group of students or the university might conduct a controlled study about how groups use new emerging technology.

"The key thing for us is really bringing together two very capable organizations," says Wheeler, who is also a professor in the Kelley School of Business. "Sony has a worldwide reputation for their ability to innovate across a range of products and devices and bring them quickly to market. IU has a large community of right at 100,000 students and about 15,000 faculty and staff that are thinking and...