Advanced nations have garnered the benefit they deserve from higher learning institutions, as universities play a very key role in the socioeconomic transformation and development of the nation through the innovation of new technology, upgrading the existing low-level technology to medium or high technology.
They are also viable instruments for devising better or new and effective management techniques and formulating and suggesting economic and other relevant policies by producing competent, civic-minded, responsible and patriotic citizenry.
Having all these cardinal essences of the universities and their further value when they are bonded with industries, The Ethiopian Herald held talks with Hussein Taha, an industrial engineer graduated from Addis Ababa University in Industrial Engineering, to have professional information about the greater significance of University-Industry linkage.
He said, “Whenever universities and industries work together, pushing the boundaries of knowledge, expertise, innovation and advancement would be easy and they have become powerful engines for the socioeconomic development of Ethiopia. Besides, University-Industry engagement requires both sides to engage far beyond the traditional and common exchange of research for funding and staff training.”
The good thing here is that the existing scenario has revealed the fact that government is primarily considered a source of new policies and management techniques not only for the general public but also for higher learning institutions, he added.
As to Hussein, universities and industries strategic partnerships would unequivocally foster the discovery-driven culture of the university with the innovation-driven environment of the country. In order to overcome the traditional partnership culture and communication boundary that tends to weaken industry and university collaboration of all types, contemporary ties have to be well entertained. Collaboration within the universities or academia itself should be enhanced by fulfilling institutions infrastructure, such as laboratories, testing facilities, qualified and experienced staff, he opined.
True, he said establishing organizations and programs that connect research with business and catalyze collaboration is of paramount importance in solidifying networking among stakeholders like entrepreneurs, trade associations, university researchers and administrators, capital providers, and business support service providers so as to foster innovation and entrepreneurship across and within the private sector as well as facilitate greater university-industry engagement. The establishment of science parks and technology incubators for the purposes of technology transfer would also have to be significantly useful in accelerating creativity and creative thinking.
Ethiopia, more than ever before, needs technological competence and an inclusive development strategy based on a combination of commodity and labor-intensive, albeit sometimes high-tech, exports by foreign producers, he added. The linkages have become more important in light of the development challenges facing Ethiopia. The ability to take advantage of these opportunities depends on knowledge-centered capabilities, that in turn can be enhanced through linkages. Across sectors, linkages between educational institutions and firms either individually or collectively, need to be made robust.
As to Hussein, the closer the cooperation is the more conducive to knowledge spillover would become. The joint establishment of scientific research bases is the most closely coupled and interactive mode of cooperation between different entities, involving a formal research agreement and referring that enterprises, universities, or scientific research institutes invest a certain proportion of resources. Such a viable indenture helps promote knowledge exchange and innovation among all parties with knowledge complementation and subsequently enhances the innovation ability of each party.
University-industry linkages are now widely spread in Ethiopia and industries tend to be satisfied with their interactions with them, though a lot remains to be done. Our universities have to innovate new ways of improvements for strong entrepreneurial culture and flexible policies for higher education institutions to enter into partnerships.
He said, “Aligning education, industrial, and economic policies to strengthen innovation policies helps increase competitiveness. Research and innovation have helped boost collaboration between higher learning institutions and the industry. True, university-industry collaboration is instrumental in laying the groundwork for innovation.”
The need for universities to increasingly commercialize academic knowledge has increased the relevance of industry-university collaborations. By collaborating with industrial firms, universities gain access to additional funds, particularly for research, test the practical applications of their research on real-world problems, foster links with knowledge users, and facilitate technology transfer, Hussein added.
Because these linkages usually involve sophisticated research and innovation, universities in emerging economies lack the ability to engage more actively with firms. An important motive for universities to link with industrial firms is informed by benefits, such as fostering the commercialization of research outcomes and technology transfer. Knowing how the university-industry linkage operates as promptly and efficiently as possible would make the sectors in particular and the nation in general fruitful at the end of the day, how legitimacy can contribute to entrepreneurial university emergence in Ethiopia has to be top on the agenda, especially in the era of technological advancement.
He further stated that the academic-industry interactions should be rapidly moving towards the forefront of science and technology policymaking, planning and management. The goal of supporting university-industry linkage is to promote the relevance and contribution of universities to the socioeconomic development of the society across the nation. Hence, the universities and industries are expected to work more to be significant sources of information, either in terms of suggesting new projects or helping the nation push growth and development steps forward. Therefore, the trend of university-industry linkage has to be systematically and scrupulously appraised and strengthened to find out best practices, determinants and challenges for sustainable collaboration.
Here, said Hussein individual, organizational and institutional factors need to be identified as determinants and establishing multidisciplinary research centers with industry buy-in, student internships, and job placement programs. Besides, establishing University-Industry Liaison office and leadership commitment are expected to be keyed out as best practices for effective university-industry linkage.
Furthermore, setting up a technology fund, supporting the establishment and management of science parks and technology incubators for the purposes of technology transfer, encouraging private sector active participation in curriculum development, integration of the private sector, the research community and government agencies, establishing organizations and formulating programs that connect research with business and serve as an interface between idea creation and business generation are pivotal in bringing about change, he underscored.
According to him, developing a collaborative culture, improving the innovation system and facilitating greater university-industry collaboration has become the timely avenues for change. University-industry partnership is a relatively new phenomenon that emerged during the past century and has strongly expanded in scope and number over recent decades. University-industry linkages cover a large range of diverse realities in both teaching and research, from the more traditional, such as student placement schemes, staff exchanges, and consultancy services, continuing professional development, joint research and development, to recent areas such as small enterprise development—the creation of spin-offs for the joint commercialization of products.
He further elucidated that the industry academia interactions are rapidly moving towards the forefront of science and technology policy making, planning and management. With the ongoing economic reforms there has been a dramatic change in the economic and business environment confronted by industries, academia and public laboratories-protection is getting replaced with competition, controls are giving way to liberalization, and import substitution is replaced with export promotion and globalization.
“A university industry relation has changed dramatically in recent years. Universities, research laboratories and research institutions are keys in driving a nation’s innovation system. The leadership of the university is strongly supportive of technology commercialization and student/researcher entrepreneurship. Leading universities have multiple methods to link their students to work experience and job opportunities in the private sector.”
As to him, the major elements characterizing best university industry relation program include institutional support, the mutual benefits to both university and corporate partners are the focus of corporate engagement strategies, research development is integrated between the industry relations office and the office of research administration in order to increase levels of industry-sponsored research and to facilitate technology transfer, and cross-campus coordination on corporate strategy identification, execution, and information-sharing are common places for change.
BY MENGESHA AMARE
The Ethiopian Herald JANUARY 7 / 2024
