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A case study of industry–academia communication in a joint software engineering research project

Rico, Sergio LU orcid ; Bjarnason, Elizabeth LU orcid ; Engström, Emelie LU orcid ; Höst, Martin LU and Runeson, Per LU orcid (2021) In Journal of software: Evolution and Process
Abstract
Empirical software engineering research relies on good communication with industrial partners. Conducting joint research both requires and contributes to bridging the communication gap between industry and academia (IA) in software engineering. This study aims to explore communication between the two parties in such a setting. To better understand what facilitates good IA communication and what project outcomes such communication promotes, we performed a case study, in the context of a long-term IA joint project, followed by a validating survey among practitioners and researchers with experience of working in similar settings. We identified five facilitators of IA communication and nine project outcomes related to this communication. The... (More)
Empirical software engineering research relies on good communication with industrial partners. Conducting joint research both requires and contributes to bridging the communication gap between industry and academia (IA) in software engineering. This study aims to explore communication between the two parties in such a setting. To better understand what facilitates good IA communication and what project outcomes such communication promotes, we performed a case study, in the context of a long-term IA joint project, followed by a validating survey among practitioners and researchers with experience of working in similar settings. We identified five facilitators of IA communication and nine project outcomes related to this communication. The facilitators concern the relevance of the research, practitioners' attitude and involvement in research, frequency of communication and longevity of the collaboration. The project outcomes promoted by this communication include, for researchers, changes in teaching and new scientific venues, and for practitioners, increased awareness, changes to practice, and new tools and source code. Besides, both parties gain new knowledge and develop social-networks through IA communication. Our study presents empirically based insights that can provide advise on how to improve communication in IA research projects and thus the co-creation of software engineering knowledge that is anchored in both practice and research. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
case study, collaboration, communication
in
Journal of software: Evolution and Process
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85111489733
ISSN
2047-7481
DOI
10.1002/smr.2372
project
Embedded Applications Software Engineering
ELLIIT: Efficient Business Prototyping in Software Startups
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cb7a5069-07fc-4de7-9293-d1407211f3d1
date added to LUP
2021-08-16 11:12:09
date last changed
2023-09-26 23:04:44
@article{cb7a5069-07fc-4de7-9293-d1407211f3d1,
  abstract     = {{Empirical software engineering research relies on good communication with industrial partners. Conducting joint research both requires and contributes to bridging the communication gap between industry and academia (IA) in software engineering. This study aims to explore communication between the two parties in such a setting. To better understand what facilitates good IA communication and what project outcomes such communication promotes, we performed a case study, in the context of a long-term IA joint project, followed by a validating survey among practitioners and researchers with experience of working in similar settings. We identified five facilitators of IA communication and nine project outcomes related to this communication. The facilitators concern the relevance of the research, practitioners' attitude and involvement in research, frequency of communication and longevity of the collaboration. The project outcomes promoted by this communication include, for researchers, changes in teaching and new scientific venues, and for practitioners, increased awareness, changes to practice, and new tools and source code. Besides, both parties gain new knowledge and develop social-networks through IA communication. Our study presents empirically based insights that can provide advise on how to improve communication in IA research projects and thus the co-creation of software engineering knowledge that is anchored in both practice and research.}},
  author       = {{Rico, Sergio and Bjarnason, Elizabeth and Engström, Emelie and Höst, Martin and Runeson, Per}},
  issn         = {{2047-7481}},
  keywords     = {{case study; collaboration; communication}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Journal of software: Evolution and Process}},
  title        = {{A case study of industry–academia communication in a joint software engineering research project}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smr.2372}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/smr.2372}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}