HEC to promote academia-industry linkage

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is pursuing a plan to promote initiatives aimed at encouraging collaboration between academia and industry with a particular focus on development of locally relevant education, an HEC official said on Wednesday.
The official said a modest University-Industry Technology Support Programme had been launched as a first step that would provide research grants of up to six million rupees to conduct research activities.
He said the plan would focus on technological innovation and indigenisation, industrial internship programmes and involvement of industry experts in the university bodies. "The universities are being encouraged to have a one-window operation to facilitate interaction between academia and industry," he said.
He said HEC had identified certain universities as "National Centres" to identify priority areas with relevance to fast-track socio-economic development. These centres would serve as focal points and receive special funding in their pursuit of excellence, he added.
The official said HEC had launched the National Technology Incubator (NTI) project to commercialise the research being conducted in the various universities, research labs, institutes and research centres in the country.
He said efforts were being made to establish a technology triangle of universities, industries and research and development organisations that was internationally recognised as an effective mechanism to accrue benefits of advancements in science and technology.
Some knowledge transfer processes depended heavily on cutting-edge research resources, such as the exploitation of new intellectual property through licensing and the formation of spinout companies, he said. The official said the universities would be required to establish a career centre, encouraging students to gain practical work experience during their education.
"When combined with the spirit of entrepreneur-ship, these academic institutions can change the economic destiny of the country," he said. He said the universities must promote a culture of innovation where young graduates move ahead towards job creation instead of adopting traditional strategy of employment in the public sector.