play a supporting role

基本解释

Since in most cases faculty know the context of their invention and how it can be best commercialized, they should drive the licensing process, and the OTL should play a supporting role.
因为在大多数情况下学院更加了解他们的发明以及如何使其得到充分的商业应用，学院应该主导专利授权的过程，而OTL则应该扮演一个后勤支援的角色。
Gates's notion that the Internet would play a supporting role in the information highway of the future, rather than being the highway itself, was out-of-date the day The Road Ahead was published.
盖茨的观点是互联网将在未来的信息高速公路中扮演一个辅助性的角色，而不会成为信息高速公路本身；这个观点在《未来之路》出版的时代就已经过时了。
Development agencies may play a supporting role in facilitating and financing some of these partnerships but, to date, they have not been direct participants in many of them.
发展机构在为其中部分伙伴合作提供便利和融资方面可发挥辅助作用，但到目前为止，它们仍为直接参与其中的多项合作。

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Furthermore, IT operations must now play a new role supporting the banks competitive position in the industry while ensuring compliance with new industry, governmental and international mandates.
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