Academy-Industry Collaboration to Promote Human Flourishing: A Case Study With a Digital Moral Community

Academy-industry collaborations offer an opportunity to address the goals of both the scientific community and technologists. However, such collaborations require careful planning to ensure success and mutual benefit. This paper proposes design thinking, a person-centered approach to problem-solving, as a framework to guide these partnerships and presents a case study of an academy-industry collaboration. Two organizations, 7 Cups and the Science of Virtues Lab at Baylor University, partnered to develop an artificial intelligence chatbot to increase gratitude within a digital moral community. We document our collaborative process, including the planning required, challenges encountered, and outcomes achieved. We conclude with a series of recommendations related to developing shared goals, recognizing and addressing obstacles, building relationships, communicating, addressing institutional and contextual needs (e.g., Institutional Review Board requirements, community membership), and continuing collaboration. We also embed these recommendations within the Three C’s Model of Academy-Industry Collaboration that encourages collaboration partners to (1) Clarify (Pre-Engagement), (2) Connect (During Engagement), and (3) Continue (Post-Engagement).