Research Relevance in the World Scenario: University and Enterprises Collaboration Strategies

Prof. Dr. Claudio da Rocha Brito

President Elect IEEE Education Society
cdrbrito@copec.e

This presentation aims to reflect about University and Enterprises Engagement as key factor in the promotion of sustainable development, pursued by all nations in present world. It is based on an extensive bibliographical research and the practical experience close to different universities and enterprises. The collaborations, integration and partnerships between university and industry must be pursued by the executives and academics by managing the agreements on the core elements necessary to make the partnership work well and last time enough to get good results.
Based on experiences developing projects for universities and enterprises and literature it is possible to outline some few advises for academia to establish and maintain a good relation with industries and enterprises. Encouraging and strengthening the collaboration between university and industry in countries aims to enable benefits to both:

• the university, which needs to sustain itself financially, due to the reduction of public resources, and
• the private sector, which need to adjust to global challenge that is imperative to make the production - quicker, more efficiently, with reduced costs and higher quality - of goods and services.

However what is still seen in this 21st century is a mismatch in this collaboration between universities and companies/industries whose relations are still modest and do not reach the goals. To promote this integration or collaboration has become a key factor necessary to continue to have development that humanity has had and whose results can be seen in communications, housing, transportation, health and others, to ensure the continuity of life. The enhancement and promotion of collaborations with enterprises not only ensure students’ employability but also brings financial resources, increase the teacher’s quality and promote the regional development. Enterprises will look for strategic collaborations that receive significantly more funding and last longer and that enables innovations to be taken to market by industry/enterprises in five to 10 years.
And no matter the political scenario of the country, governments must invest in Science and Technology for the sake of national economy and development in a global competitive environment that nations live. Besides effective collaboration between university and industry/enterprise need incentives to become a reality. Along the history universities have become international organizations, not only in recruiting students from all parts of the world, but also through international research partnerships and joint venture investments overseas, often with the private sector. No doubt that this role has become imperative for universities in order to keep up with the challenging educational and research global environment. Best universities attract the best students and best students make the university better.