The USA has been a leader at innovation in every conceivable field since the Second World War. While several reasons have been cited for this position of leadership, where the USA really has an edge over the others is unparalleled scientific development. And while private companies do play a role, the vast majority of this scientific leadership has emanated from public funds. Even some of Apple and Google’s business innovations owe their source to the public domain. There are several ways in which private can and do tap into such public fund sources. Private firms must closely track developments in public companies by monitoring scientific journals or nominating internal researchers to technology based seminars. Public- private partnerships or industry- academia linkages further increase the collaboration across the industry. IBM for example has had a long and fruitful history of working with academicians. In such ways the cultural divide needs to be bridged. This also helps exploratory research which does not start with a particular goal in mind. The gap between industry and academia sadly still persists and this needs to be closed fast. Academics and research firms are developing new products but it is taking substantial time to bring them to market.

Source: https://hbr.org/2016/04/innovative-companies-get-their-best-ideas-from-academic-research-heres-how-they-do-it