“To really address these problems, it’s going to take a long-term, well thought-out collaboration process,” Perez said. “And then we need to pick the low-hanging fruit and start delivering on some of those processes.”

Holcomb said each of the five founding companies had paid $60,000 in membership dues, but 15 to 20 other companies had expressed interest in joining the non-profit alliance.

The group also plans to convene a public symposium early next year with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to connect researchers with officials from the private, academic and government sectors.