b'Industry EngagementWORLD CLASS FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCENBIC exists in order to expand, catalyseIn summer 2021 we launched our Open Innovation and harness the UKs academic andpartnering platform, hosted by Innoget. Through industrial strengths in biofilms for thethis platform on our website, industry and academic benefit of the UK. We aim to deeplypartners have exclusive access to directly post technology calls and technology offers, respond to understand unmet needs in our industrialother members postings and generate connections partners contexts and markets.and collaboration opportunities. Partners also have Through ongoing engagement, we thenthe ability to access to Innogets Open Science and Innovation network of over a hundred thousand experts aim to demonstrate the ability of NBICto further explore collaborations outside of NBICs research partners to address these needs,partner consortium.hence driving opportunities for industryThe four workshops we designed and led have seen 236 and academic collaboration, investmentattendees with an approximate mix of 60:40 academics and income.and industry partners. These have all taken the format of exploring the key unmet needs from industry, Our strategy is to match unmet industrial biofilmhow the current state of the science and technology needs with possible solutions in order to become anlandscape could address these requirements and in essential part of our industrial partners network or opendoing so developed a shared understanding of the innovation pipeline. We listen, understand and exploreopportunities and challenges. The outputs from our needs and/or capabilities, and then create and supportfour workshops are summarised below. Three of these connections. We also find ways of progressing theserepresent 3/4 of our key strategic themes: Detect, connections either through our own funding routesManage and Engineer biofilms. The last is a workshop (Proof of Concept calls) or helping signpost to otherwe ran on Microbe - Metal Interactions in conjunction opportunities. with the Center for Biofilm Engineering. Our fourth NBIC Each month we carry out partner searches where wekey strategic theme, Prevent, will be the subject of an aim to matchmake an unmet need to an opportunityNBIC workshop in November 2021.or solution (bilaterally between industry and academics) either via a personal contact through our innovation team or emails targeted to our wide network. 28'