How can I stay active in academia from an industry position? Places like the old Bell Labs and Genentech gRED have an environment where the scientists publish quite a lot. Suppose I wanted to build my research R&amp;D departments to have strong academic ties. What would I need to have in place to keep in touch with academia?
People tend to do whatever gets rewarded.  So if you want your department to establish strong academic ties, then find ways to formally reward that.  In addition, people do stuff that they like to do when they don't have to cut through red tape.  In particular, you should


Make it easy for your researchers to attend conferences
Establish a culture of seminars, and make it easy to bring external visitors