How hoarding knowledge is hurting the chemical industry in the long run

I once worked on an industrial research project that aimed to develop a carbon fibre reinforced polymer composite with exceptional mechanical properties. After spending around two years working on different formulas and generating a ton of results, it started to become obvious that the envisioned targets were still far out of sight. A decision was taken to cut the losses and scrap the project.

If the target mechanical properties could have been realised, the discovery would have been a major commercial success. Yet, now, after years of time and money spent, it had no financial viability as a patent and had no place to fit within commercial research infrastructure. So, the knowledge generated all went into (eternal) storage, never to see daylight again.

It was neither the first time for me nor the last it was to be. Today, as a scientist who has worked in research and development (R&D) for seven years, I have seen invaluable research knowledge go in the dumpster too many times, not because the results had no novelty, but only because it had no commercial viability. It was always heartbreaking for me to see all that human effort and capital investment making no impact whatsoever. Usually, the consolation phrase in corporate language to justify such an action is ‘we look forward to rejuvenating the project in future’. However, in my experience, this only happens rarely.

So how can this practice hurt the industry in the long run? To answer this, we need to understand the differences in how universities and commercial entities do research. Universities prioritise very small-scale novel studies, which are ideal to turn into publications, whereas industry takes into account the practicality and commercial viability for the foreseeable future. For instance, in electrolyser research, universities mostly use small solution volumes and small electrodes to test the materials, while in industry, larger, actual Membrane Electrolyser Assemblies and Balance of Plants are used, which represent the real-life conditions under which we use commercial electrolysers to produce saleable hydrogen.

Significant resources, both human and monetary, are wasted

However, knowledge surrounding these realistic tests is almost non-existent in the public domain because most commercial entities that conduct them prefer to hoard the knowledge, even though not all the results are commercially viable. I find this to be a notable obstacle when I am initiating an industrial research project. Without appropriate literature, I have to do the groundwork as well, which is another way of reinventing the wheel. This way, significant resources, both human and monetary, are wasted.

I have not observed an effective system at any of my workplaces which helped knowledge sharing. Shared repositories and regular review meetings can help to a certain extent within an organisation. Only an inter-organisational platform could bridge the vast knowledge gaps in the R&D industry.

Industry is as much a key player in scientific discovery as universities and has been responsible for countless important breakthroughs. The corporate mentality of hindering competitors by keeping information under lock and key is well understood, yet in the case of research outcomes with no commercial viability, the industry must try to curb their fears and instead communicate the science for the greater good. Such a practice might help keep each other away from deep rabbit holes and can go a long way in improving the productivity of commercial R&D activities. Of course, any benefits to the industry sector overall will only be measurable after years of practice and if multiple organisations participate.

Also, unlike in universities, most scientists in the industry have no incentive to publish. They are usually not encouraged to do so either. Therefore, it is easier just to move on and forget about the time and resource investment. This trend is inhibiting the progression of science in the long run and is simply wasteful. More must be done to change this norm, as we live in an ever-more resource constrained world. One effective way would be to include publications in key performance indicators.

I conclude with one last account, which I call one of my great little achievements. Some years ago, I managed to save some research knowledge from obscurity. It had no financial viability as a patent and the client wanted to move on after two years of work. I pushed for it to be published as a journal article under the consent of both my management and the clients. This was not as difficult as one might think. In my experience, if someone makes a justified argument for publication to a manger, they will listen.

Today, the article portrays citations from numerous research institutes and universities alike, proving that it made an impact in the research community. I am glad that I put my time and effort into getting that knowledge published. I wish I could have done the same for the other projects as well.