[avip]

It's indeed "an incentive issue" only not the one you've mentioned, but the one OP hinted at. Research is focused on what's publishable, hence tenure-trackable, and not on what's useful to solve real-world problems (of course, the two occasionally coincide)

[mousetraps]

Why so black and white? There are many incentives at play, and many ways to contribute to solving real world problems.

I’ve spent time in both academic research and industry.

Research is not supposed to be immediately applicable. The goal is to produce new knowledge - more importantly shared knowledge. Publishing is not a bad measure of that. Additionally, ability to secure grants provides incentive to focus on problems others want solved.

No incentive system is perfect, but I don’t really see how this is any different from any organization. And I don’t think it’s fair to judge an entire discipline by the negative examples.

[avip]

I didn’t judge anything nor said something “negative”

[mousetraps]

Okay fair enough, maybe we’re just talking past each other :).