Elements for successful
partnership between Enterprise
and University
Ericsson in Croatia case
EUPIDE 2008
Enterprise-University Partnership in Doctoral Education
June 12th- 13th, 2008
Paris, 12.06.2008.
Assistant Professor Darko Huljenic, PhD
Outline
 Ericsson Nikola Tesla – basic facts
 Cooperation with University
 Common Project forming
 Ericsson Summer Camp
 Achieved results
 Conclusion
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Ericsson Nikola Tesla – basic facts
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Croatian company – main owner Ericsson (49 %)
Company formed 1949th
Ericsson started with owning 1995th
About 1400 employees
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87 % high school education
8 % master and doctoral degree
About 540 employees younger than 32 years
500 new employees in last three years
600 employees in R&D Centre (one of the biggest R&D
Centre in Ericsson – the biggest one outside Sweden)
 Structure of company income:
– 70 % export
 22 % knowledge export to the world markets
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Cooperation with University
Started 1963th – help in forming R&D Unit, continuously until today
Teaching support
Practical problems
Universities
Research Departments
students  professionals
knowledge  results
Ericsson Nikola
Tesla
Research
Cooperation
Projects
 Competence source
 Technology experience
 Practical problems challenge
0.5 mil € / year
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Common projects forming
First phase
– Technology studies for Enterprise (technology trends)
Second phase
 Agreement about Long term Cooperation (Area)
– Yearly Annex (Projects topics)
 Project participants from University side (professors,
assistants, students – main drivers: PhD students) and
Enterprise side (researchers and active/potential PhD
students)
– Project leader from Enterprise side
– Results owner – Enterprise
– Follow Enterprise process
Projects with result orientation.
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Ericsson Summer Camp
 Attraction of best students and their
involvement in real case projects
– Established before 8 years
– ~ 150 students (telecommunication, computing)
– Mentors from Ericsson and professors and assistants
from Faculty
– Use to be 5 weeks during Summer – July, August,
September
– In 2008 we have 32 students dealing with IP state of the
art system technology
 Involvement of PhD students in defining and leading
topics of interest for Enterprise
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Financial support for scientific growth
 Enterprise needs continuous innovations and new
products
– Own research and prototyping
 Money & Time & People
– Cooperation with Universities
 University needs problem space to have practical
experience – cooperation with Enterprise
 Scholarships program
– Undergraduate program
– Postgraduate (Doctoral) program
 Own resources (employees) – Research Unit
 University resources (topic in connection with
Enterprise challenges) – Common projects
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Achieved results
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Research results publications
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Patents (2 common)
Prototypes
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University (4)
Enterprise (5)
Technology Studies
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Used in education process
Used for further products development
Laboratories
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International conferences (150)
Journals (45)
Base for further business directions
Diploma thesis, master thesis, doctoral thesis
Enterprise Participation in teaching (undergraduate, postgraduate)
Enterprise competence shift programs
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Conclusion and further steps
 Key elements for successful cooperation:
– Common area of interest (in longer perspective)
– Common projects (mixed teams, common goal)
– Enterprise ready to use achieved results/proposals and
people
– Continuous finance support
 Key issues in Enterprise area:
– Profit focus in short period of time
– Globalization (local Enterprise focus, local community)
 Further step:
– Local regulation (by law – community partnership)
– Regional (EU) cooperation
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