I'm on the other side of the divide: entities partnering with CSIRO (now part of Data61) to collaboratively bring research to market. On the technical front, t

I'm on the other side of the divide: entities partnering with CSIRO (now part of Data61) to collaboratively bring research to market. On the technical front, they are great, if a little condescending at times. It's on the "business" side where they are difficult to work with, potentially to the point of killing the venture. For a government organisation, who you might think would be on "your" side, they are as hostile as any competitor. You typically end up bound by a one sided contract, as CSIRO have enough lawyers to out lawyer any small company. You have to be careful sharing information with them, as they tend to patent their research before revealing it to their partners, and after the fact you find out that the stuff you were collaboratively discussing and contributing to is now "theirs" to be licensed back to you. There is also potential for them to do a "spin out", in competition with your existing collaboration, and then it is a bun fight to get the organisation to see the potential for conflict. I think it can be traced back to the government's push for CSIRO to pay its own way, and past successes. Since the WiFi patent bonanza, CSIRO/Data61 has "gold fever" and every industry interaction is locked down tight, to ensure that CSIRO gets a pound of flesh. Frankly, I don't think the WiFi bonanza would have happened with today's environment, as the lawyers would have smothered the life out of the project with up-front demands. As it was, the commercialisation was done largely independently of CSIRO, by partners whose names are not on the patent, and CSIRO got their cut after the event. I'd guess, data61 is a good source of support if you're inside the organisation and spinning out. For those external to the organisation, my guess is that the costs outweigh the benefits, so better to go it alone. I'd love to hear of other people's experiences here. Incidentally, the word I'm getting is that most of the "new" money is old money relabeled, but that's just the way Australian politics works.