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Long abstract:

The Irish State has invested significant resources in fostering public-private research

partnerships (PPRP) and the commercialisation of State-funded research. However, with the introduction of open science mandates that publicly funded researchers must adhere to, there has been little discussion of how PPRP navigate competing these open science mandates when intellectual property rights are at stake. Although Ireland has made significant investments in translating State-funded research (including data and datasets) into commercialisable outputs, the 2021 National Open Research Foundation (NORF) landscape report found that in the Irish research ecosystem, there is little comparable infrastructure for supporting the goals of open research. Lack of policy and best practices leaves the research ecosystem navigating competing interests.

In this talk, we report on early findings from a study in which we are examining the tensions inherent in open science mandates and commercialisation in the context of Irish public-private research partnerships (PPRP). We focus on Digital Health research and innovation as a case study since Ireland has significant strengths and ambitions in this arena (Ireland is home to 9 of the top 10 Pharma and Tech companies and 18 of the top 23 Medtech

companies in Europe). Further, Digital Health represents a research arena where public access to data and outputs is essential to citizen well-being but commercialisation mandates are considered crucial for economic growth. Drawing on policy documents and interviews with research ecosystem stakeholders, we examine how tensions between openness and closure are co-shaping science policy, institutional and organizational cultures, and work practices.