KE Concordat

The Knowledge Exchange Concordat is a framework established in the UK to enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing between academia, industry, and other stakeholders. It aims to support the exchange of knowledge, expertise, and resources to drive innovation, economic growth, and societal benefits.

Universities are major contributors to society and the economy at local, national and international levels. A key and growing part of the role of universities is proactive ‘knowledge exchange’, which is defined as a collaborative, creative endeavour that translates knowledge and research into impact in society and the economy.

The Government is committed to a strategic, long-term approach to knowledge exchange. In return, it expects that universities are able to demonstrate the value of what they do and commit to pursuing excellence and sharing good practice. The concept of a Knowledge Exchange framework was highlighted in the Industrial Strategy Building a Britain Fit for the Future in 2018 as a way in which the contribution of universities to that strategy could be demonstrated and further developed.

As highlighted in the report of the McMillan Group in 2016, University Knowledge Exchange (KE) Framework: good practice in technology transfer, there is no single profile of knowledge exchange that is appropriate to all universities. What is best for a given university is very context driven through the discipline portfolio it has and the environment in which it is located. One size will not fit all.

There have therefore been two core challenges around identifying metrics that would allow the scale of KE activity to be measured, and in developing a framework through which the whole range of universities can describe and explain their own specific approach to KE. A technical group chaired by Professor Richard Jones of the University of Sheffield has provided advice to Research England on the development of a metrics-focused knowledge exchange framework, and proposals for a pilot study have been published.

This consultation addresses the second challenge through the work of a joint UUK/Research England task group chaired by Professor Trevor McMillan, Vice-Chancellor at Keele University. It is proposed that a KE concordat be produced that provides a mechanism by which universities can consider their performance in the wide range of aspects of knowledge exchanges and make a commitment to improvement in those areas that are consistent with their priorities and expertise.

The aim of this concordat is therefore to give universities and their staff and students clarity of mission and to support their development, give partners an accurate representation of the approach that individual universities are taking to KE, provide clear indicators of their approaches to performance improvement, and give our governing bodies and government broad confidence in the activity that is taking place in universities. It also aims to stress how collaboration between universities and partners in various aspects of KE can be beneficial to all participants.