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Reuters published its first world’s top 100 innovative universities ranking, building on a methodology that employs 10 different metrics. The criteria focused on academic papers, which indicate basic research performed at a university, and patent filings, which point to an institution’s interest in protecting and commercializing its discoveries.
Booz & Company’s annual study of R&D spending reveals the tools that are transforming innovation—from customer insight to product launch. The study focuses on the digital enablers of the innovation process—how the most successful companies are, and aren’t, using digital tools and processes to improve speed, decrease cost, enhance quality, reduce complexity, and sharpen insight into customer and market needs to improve their innovation efforts.
The University of Salford has designed a pilot MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) named “Search and Social Media Marketing for International Business”. This is a free online course that will provide information for businesses who want to gain a better understanding of social media in the workplace and enhance international trade prospects. 
Terry Young, President of Beyond the First World Corporation, outlined a series of models of university-industry cooperation, and valorisation of university IPR. Research universities he says is a recent development,
INNOPOLIS, an INTERREG IVC project, has organised a study visit and workshop meeting in Manchester between 16th and 20thof May 2011. The scope of the study visit has been to understand the technology transfer that is taking place in Manchester innovation ecosystem and the practices of cooperation between enterprises and academia in University Cities.
A recent NY Times article discusses how visionaries, researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs, are all working together to move technology ‘from the lab to the marketplace’ at a handful of universities in United States.
While geographic co-location has obvious benefits for firm innovation, it can also have serious drawbacks. HBS professor Juan Alcácer and Ross School of Business professor Minyuan Zhao explore how firms tap into the rich resources of technology clusters while protecting the value of their innovations.