The Virtual Research Laboratory: Taxonomy and Analysis

Government laboratories and industrial research organizations often choose to outsource research and development (R&D) services to other entities. They may do this to reduce costs, or to gain access to unique capabilities that would be difficult to assemble and maintain in-house. They may manage the process at arm's length, or may choose to be more actively involved. A virtual laboratory is a tightly-knit form of R&D outsourcing with authoritative joint management processes. The central organization is involved in the execution and management of the research to such an extent - and the various partners have such a depth of commitment and coordination - that the collaboration looks almost as if everyone belonged to a single institution. A virtual laboratory occupies the middle ground between performing research in-house on the one hand and issuing typical research contracts to external organizations on the other hand. There have been various examples of successful virtual laboratories. One such example was the relationship between the Rockwell Scientific Company and The Boeing Company, in which the former acted as a virtual research division of the latter for several years. Another example was the Federated Laboratory structure of the Army Research Laboratory (ARL). Under this structure, virtual divisions were actively led by a government research institution (i.e., the ARL), which was also an important active participant in the research. Virtual laboratories are more likely to succeed when they are given high-level executive priority at all participating organizations, have dedicated managers at each division, provide stable multi-year funding, and have some centralized control of incentives for researchers.