Strong links between the industrial sector and academia are vital tools for tackling Pakistan’s key economic challenges and would help bring new business models to the country that are rapidly gaining ground all over the world, experts said.
Experts from industry and academia were addressing a brainstorming session on ‘Strengthening of Academia and Industry Linkage’ here at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Friday.
Higher Education Commission Executive Director Dr Arshad Ali, LCCI President Abdul Basit, Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa, Pakistan Engineering Council Chairman Javed Saleem Qureshi, LCCI Standing Committee on Industry-Academia Linkages Convener Umer Saleem and vice chancellors/representatives from 15 universities spoke on the occasion.
HEC Executive Director Dr Arshad called for a strategy as to benefit industries using academic research. He said that an action plan should be defined in this regard. He said that at present, there were 183 universities in the country with three million students. He said that the HEC was well aware of the issue of weak links between academia and industry and was fully committed to facilitating both parties.
“Bridging this gap and exploring all potential areas would harness economic development and ensure prosperity for future generations,” he added, pledging his full support to the LCCI.
LCCI President Abdul Basit said that understanding between industrial and education sectors should be developed on a sustainable basis. He said that the LCCI had been working on the particular issue for a long while. He said that the LCCI had declared 2017 as the year of industry-academia linkage. “The objective of this initiative is to gain direct benefits from the research work being carried out at universities,” he said, adding that it would reduce the cost of doing business and enhance employment opportunities as well as the competitiveness in industrial sectors. Abdul Basit also emphasised the need for demand-driven research, saying that it would be beneficial both for researchers and industrialists.
Other speakers informed the participants that the LCCI had formed a standing committee on industry-academia linkages to strengthen liaisons the two parties. They said strong linkages would also resolve the brain-drain issue. They said that in today’s scenario, reverse engineering had become a key to success as it helps extract knowledge and makes it possible to reproduce any product.
