Table 1 Four Phases of Network Development

Phase I

A few individual key actors initiate or renew connections among scientists working on related issues [70, 71]. These actors are often academics or government scientists who reach out to industry with an idea for a research project [68, 72]. In this phase, knowledge exchange occurs through publishing and presenting papers, conferences and a few proprietary projects between individual scientists and individual firms [71].

Phase II

After the key actors receive a positive response from their partners, a formal agreement must be reached [70], including an IP strategy [71, 73] and clearly identified objectives. Subsequently, partners need to commit to the network by providing or obtaining funding, which is then invested to stabilize the network [70, 71]. Lastly, members of the new network develop a leadership structure, for example through a manager [71] or a board [70].

Phase III

This phase establishes routines of interaction, trust and knowledge sharing within the network [70, 71]. With increasing trust between the members of the network and faith in its success, contractual routines are relaxed and members become more agile in their interactions [71].

Phase IV

Phase four is the knowledge-generating phase [70]. The members of the network are exchanging explicit as well as tacit knowledge and contribute to new discoveries and their interpretation [71]. This success leads to further commitment by the members of the network and often sub-projects evolve around specific issues [70, 71].