This quarter's Alliance Advisory focuses on cross-sector collaborations and public sector - private sector partnering and features interviews with the US FDA and MIT, two respected and influential organizations in the public sector and higher education. Both the FDA and MIT have been partnering with organizations across sectors for many years, and both have leveraged that experience more recently to engage in pioneering corporate collaboration efforts. Both organizations have logged numerous and long-standing partnership accomplishments.

Cross-sector collaborations present unique challenges. By their very nature, these collaborations present cultural and alignment issues. Public sector and private sector organizations are run very differently, with very different missions and objectives. This divergence in focus presents differing concerns or limitations - whereas profits and commercialization may be important (indeed, core) for the private sector, it is exactly what the public sector (and certainly non-profits) seek to avoid or control.

As revealed in our interviews with the US FDA and MIT, these collaborations can yield significant value for both participants. Communication, management and focus are required for success - and the common issues listed above should be anticipated - but the benefits of public sector - private sector partnering are highly compelling and rewarding for those who manage the process well.