Industry-Academia Co-operations in the Pacific Region

1. Bethia Daniel-Thomas Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology Saint Lucia Industry-Academia Co-operations in the Pacific Region

2. Presentation Outline • Introduction • Industry-Academia Co-operation Defined • Drivers of Industry Academia Co-operation • Benefits of Industry Academia Co-operation • The Academic Landscape of the Pacific Region • Types of Industry Academia Co-operation in the Pacific Region • Case Studies • Present Challenges • Applications for the Caribbean Region

3. Introduction • Industry-Academia Co-operations are growing globally. • Shared aim is to transform knowledge, skills and materials into products and services, involving trained people and both seek to add value in the process. • The differences lie in the extent and diversity of these resources leading to mutually beneficial collaboration. • Globally, increasing policy support for innovation to fuel competitiveness and sustainable development.

4. Industry-Academia Co-operation Defined • Industry-Academia Co-operations are essentially partnerships or collaborative efforts between industry and universities or colleges. • Industry is used as a catch-all phrase, which includes any private, public or voluntary sector organisations, whether large or small which might benefit from working with a university. • Academia largely refers to universities; institutions for which higher education and research are the main focus.

5. Drivers of Industry-Academia Co-operation • Limited finance, primarily on the part of universities is a major driver for University-Industry Linkages in the Pacific. • Access to university research facilities, students and personnel, is becoming increasingly cost-effective for Industry. • The establishment of a modern sector of enterprises, mainly concerned with technological development. • Political support.

6. Benefits of Industry-Academia Co-operation • Platforms from which multifarious problems can be addressed. • Opportunities to attract funds for teaching, research and increased financial autonomy. • Access to latest knowledge and expertise for industry. • Development of scarce and high level of skills, relevant to the requirements and needs of industry.

7. The Pacific Region

8. The Pacific Region Cont’d

9. The Academic Landscape of the Pacific Region • The Pacific Region has a multiplicity of colleges and universities. • The main universities that are based in the smaller islands of the South Pacific include: University of Guam, University of the South Pacific, University of Papua New Guinea and Papua New Guinea University of Technology. • Australia and New Zealand also have several universities which offer a range of specialisations.

10. Types of Industry Academia Co-operation in the Pacific Region • Contract Research • Collaborative Research • Sponsored Research • Other research links associated with third party funding • Postgraduate Studentships • Student Projects and Placements

11. Case Studies

12. Contract Research • Centre for Software Innovation - CSI • Is entrenched within the Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments of the University of Auckland in New Zealand. • Facilitates research contracts between the university's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) researchers and the ICT industry. • Applied research to generate intelligent solutions for industry problems.

13. Collaborative Research • The Electrical Power Engineering Centre – EPE Centre • Hosted within the University of Canterbury • Identified as a Centre of Excellence for Electrical Power Engineering • Sponsored by the Power Engineering Excellence Trust (PEET)

14. Collaborative Research Cont’d • Enables a link between electric power academia and industry, encouraging training of experts in the power engineering field. • Experience gained from EPE Centre aided other industry-academia collaborative projects.

15. Sponsored Research • Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) Initiative for Research and Product Development centered on a deterrent type of grass for wildlife and insect control. • Alleviated bird problems encountered by the airline and agricultural industry, with the development of a feeding deterrent grass seed product for wildlife management. • Boosted agricultural economy by creating a market for seeds of this type of deterrent grass and also reduced costs incurred by bird strikes and the insurance premium for bird strikes.

16. Third Party Funding Research • The Australian Research Council - ARC • Engages in several funding initiatives, namely Linkage Projects. • Under the Linkage Projects programme, the ARC is able to grant postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers many opportunities to engage in industry-oriented research training. • The ARC stipulates that the amount contributed by the partner should be equal to, or greater than the funding provided by the ARC, either in cash or in-kind or both.

17. Postgraduate Studentships • Postgraduate Studentships equip students with the relevant skills for developing the commercial areas of their research under the supervision of the University’s Entrepreneur in Residence.

18. Student Projects and Placements • These placements give students valuable practical experience in the field. • The industries in which the students are placed are also given the opportunity to take advantage of the valuable resources and skills of the students enrolled in the programme from diverse academic backgrounds and subsequently result in increased diversity in the industry.

19. Challenges • Communication issues between the academia and industry. • Disparity in priorities for professional advancement between the academia and the industry. • Limited supervisors available for collaboration due to poor marketing and limited capital for projects. • Culture and values of collaborating parties.

20. Focus on the Caribbean Region

21. Lessons Learned • The function of Project Management is of critical importance – key requirement for success. • Allow extra flexibility for deliverables and delivery dates. • Establish a good set of key performance indicators • Discuss project details with all relevant stakeholders from both industry and academia.

22. Lessons Learned Cont’d • Understand cultural differences between industry and academia. • Minimise the research-practice gap by engaging both partners in the planning, execution and reflecting processes. • Identify a champion from the inception

23. Recommendations • Collaboration should be led by senior researchers. • Collaboration should consist of a network of partners. • Collaboration should be developed incrementally over time in knowledge-building and confidence-building steps through a sequence of joint projects and successful grants.

24. Recommendations Cont’d • Research partners should each be able to bring to the table, skills, knowledge and expertise that are relevant to the collaboration. • The initiation of the idea for the collaboration should be intellectual, innovative, worthwhile and RELEVANT TO THE NEEDS OF THE COUNTRY’S INDUSTRY

25. “…collaborate or die!”

26. Thank You!