Patron or Perish? Interrogating the Role of Industry Funding in Academic Research

• In Event: Corporate Influence on Science and Regulation – I

Abstract

When the Google-funded think tank New America Foundation parted ways with a team of employees who had released a white paper supporting regulation of the tech giant (Vogel 2017), the ensuing controversy highlighted growing concern over the influence of the information technology industry on public and scholarly discourse. Universities are increasingly reliant on industry funding to underwrite their programs, placing them in the center of the debate. While advocates point to the potential benefits of industry support for research activities in light of unpredictable public funding, there is cause for concern about the enmeshment of academic and industry values, and the risk of industries shaping research agendas to serve their financial interests.
We report from our experiences convening and observing a discussion on industry funding and influence at the 2019 ‘Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems’ (CHI), a prominent technology conference with a long history of industry participation and research partnerships. Representatives from prominent tech firms and academia were featured panelists. Among the questions we attempt to answer are; “How do researchers and funders view their relationships and obligations to each other and their institutions?” “What are the values held by researchers and funders, and how does each partner navigate the balance of those values in practice?” “How can we ensure that industry/academic research partnerships produce knowledge and insights that are truly pro-social?” And, “What standards should researchers adopt when accepting industry support?” We reflect on the conference discussion and highlight areas in need of further reflection.

Authors

• Michael Katell, University of Washington (Information School)

• Meg Young

• Peaks Krafft