New Jersey Partners with Elsevier, Academic and Industry Leaders to Increase Innovation Exchange

On Dec 7, 2017

The State hosted the inaugural meeting of the New Jersey Research Asset Database (RAD) Board of Advisors, formally announcing it has selected Elsevier to create an online portal that will facilitate access to research expertise and other assets at the State’s higher education institutions.  The RAD, which is currently under development and is expected to launch early next year, will serve to increase innovation exchange, establish greater collaboration between academia and industry, aid universities in managing research enterprise, and help to market New Jersey as a center of innovation.

The genesis of the RAD initiative stems from a 2010 report issued by the New Jersey Policy and Research Organization, which included key recommendations to advance collaborative opportunities between academia and industry.  The Legislature and Governor subsequently authorized $1.5 million in the Fiscal Year 2017 state budget to support development of the RAD. In July 2017, Elsevier, a global information and analytics company, was selected to create the database following a competitive Request for Proposal process led by the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA).

“As Chair of the Council on Innovation, which has been focused on aligning businesses and academic institutions to grow New Jersey’s economy, I am thrilled to announce the creation of the New Jersey Research Asset Database – a comprehensive online portal that will serve to strengthen the ability of our institutions to compete on a national and global scale,” said Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks.  “The RAD will serve as a gateway to innovation, allowing us to better market commercial ideas and products and attract more federal funds to ensure groundbreaking research can continue at our world-class institutions.”

The RAD Board of Advisors convened for the first time at the EDA’s Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies (CCIT) on the Technology Centre of New Jersey campus in North Brunswick. The Advisory Board is charged with providing oversight and recommendations to ensure successful implementation of the RAD and the advancement of a sustainable business model.  Advisory Board members include representatives from the five research universities selected to participate in the initial pilot version of the database – Princeton University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rowan University, and Stevens Institute of Technology; and, industry representatives from the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, Choose New Jersey, BioNJ, the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey, the Research and Development Council of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Tech Council.  OSHE and EDA will serve as staff to the Board.

“The RAD will allow New Jersey’s diverse and thriving industry sectors to better meet their strategic and research needs by providing a direct pathway to the research, experts, and facilities at the State’s renowned academic institutions, which will stimulate technology-led economic development,” said EDA Chief Executive Officer Melissa Orsen.  “Elsevier has demonstrable success and expertise in advancing similar information systems and we are confident that the New Jersey Research Asset Database will set a new standard for innovation exchange.”

Combining state-of-the-art technology and a vast repository of research data, Pure has been building information systems for academic institutions for almost two decades.  Utilizing Elsevier’s Pure software platform and through the integration of existing databases at the university level, the RAD will showcase New Jersey’s leading research experts and facilities, enhancing the visibility of research output and increasing opportunities for collaboration. Businesses will be able to easily gain access to relevant areas of expertise, facilitating the transfer of technology to the marketplace.  The publicly available, online portal will showcase 5,000 researchers from the five participating universities and allow users to access information related to literature reviews; grant applications; intellectual property; physical university assets, including lab space and equipment; funding sources; and, job, internship and professional development opportunities.

“We are very pleased to be supporting research and innovation in the State of New Jersey,” said JC Heyneke, Senior Vice President for Elsevier’s Pure. “By leveraging Elsevier’s data in Scopus, and technology in our Pure solution, we will help New Jersey researchers, universities and State offices showcase the incredible depth and breadth of research assets in New Jersey.”

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