The 2015-16 HE Business and Community Interaction (HEBCI) data has been released by HESA. For the first time, the data has been published online free of charge to download. The HEBCI data is an important source of evidence for activity and income levels across the wide range of knowledge exchange and commercialisation activities pursued by the UK’s higher education institutions.

Initial headlines are positive, with year-on-year increases in collaborative research, contract research and IP income. We will be reviewing the data and commenting on what the results mean for the UK’s higher education KEC professional community. The full data sets are available on the HESA website here. Universities UK has already commented on behalf of the sector, saying that the data 'shows that universities have a robust platform on which to build further, and deeper, engagements with businesses of all sizes and across all parts of the UK'. This supports policy directions outlined in the Industrial Strategy Green paper where universities play a vital part as knowledge generators and 'anchor institutions' across all ten pillars. 

Follow us on twitter or check back for updates on the HEBCI survey outcomes.