As an academic researcher, would you be interested in working with practitioners as a side gig to help them with their research to solve their business challenges? If so, under what conditions?
This would absolutely be interesting! At the end of the day, the purpose of scientific research is to inform businesses and policy makers to adopt evidence based policies and strategies. If the business can offer quality data , then why not? I would assume this can be considered consulting as well.
Before starting my life as a professional and deciding to dedicate myself to research, my tutors made it very clear to me that the best way to grow as a researcher was to tutor other people (teach them, learn from them and work side by side in what we know as research pyramid, where they work according to their knowledge and allow me to work on other more complicated aspects of the projects) Working with practitioners should be our procedure as professionals in this industry, to create new professionals with the quality that is needed.