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Good practice Imported

ORIC — Pakistan's Nationally Mandated University Research, Innovation & Commercialization Offices

Pakistan · Islamabad · See the Pakistan profile · See the Islamabad profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 50% 67/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Pakistan's Higher Education Commission has mandated university ORIC offices since the early 2010s, growing to 71 offices and 197 licensing agreements by FY2022–23 — though an independent study found some offices still struggle to deliver on their mandate.

71 offices
ORIC offices nationwide (FY2024-25)
197 agreements
Licensing agreements, FY2022-23 (FY2022-23)
7 offices
Offices in top 'W' performance band, FY2024-25 (FY2024-25)
7 offices
Offices rated underperforming, FY2024-25 (FY2024-25)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC)
Period
2013–2025
Keywords
technology transfer, higher education policy, university-industry linkage, research commercialisation

Context

Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) began requiring universities to establish Offices of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) in the early 2010s, giving every accredited higher-education institution a single unit responsible for research support, IP, industry linkage and commercialisation.

Activities

HEC scores every ORIC annually against a formal self-assessment scorecard covering human resources, research support, commercialisation and sustainability, sorting offices into performance bands, paired with a dedicated online portal and a 'Triple Helix' industry-academia-government linkage initiative.

Results

By the FY2024-25 evaluation cycle, HEC had notified 71 ORICs nationwide; in that report, 7 offices reached the top 'W' band, 38 sat in 'X', 43 in 'Y' and 7 were rated underperforming. Universities reported 197 national and international licensing agreements in FY2022-23.

Conclusions

Independent academic assessment is more mixed: a peer-reviewed study of public-sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa concluded ORIC there had 'not been effective in achieving its core purpose,' citing geographic distance from industry, thin research-infrastructure funding and weak faculty training in commercialisation as recurring barriers.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC), 71 university-hosted ORIC offices

Conditions for success

  • Formal annual self-assessment scorecard sorting offices into performance bands
  • 'Triple Helix' industry-academia-government linkage initiative

Common failure modes

  • Independent peer-reviewed study found ORIC 'not effective' at some universities (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
  • Scorecard itself confirms results vary widely by institution, with 7 of 71 offices rated underperforming

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Data sources

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