Academia-industry collaboration can boost business and benefit Pakistan’s economy. But the two sectors are not working together. They need to cooperate to create new opportunities for the youth and improve the economy. Calling for stronger academia-industry linkages, former president of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Zia Alamdar said ideas and knowledge could be better channelised by developing relations between industry and academia. He said influx of information is transforming society, and only by strengthening industry-institution ties can we use it better. “Faisalabad, which is considered the mainstay of Pakistan’s textile sector, boasts of institutions like National Textile University and University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. However, their collaboration with industry is not on a par with the changing economic landscape,” he pointed out. Alamdar said by joining hands the business community and industry would be able to generate demand-driven workforce, which would ultimately improve industrial productivity.

“The trained workforce will also help boost textile exports.” Dr Hafiz Abdul Raffay, a recent PhD graduate, said academia and industry need each other, but they are not cooperating for the country’s economic good. He said combining academic theory and industrial practice could improve research and development. “We are not converting our academic research into practical use, that's why our business sector, particularly the textile sector, is facing numerous issues,” he added. “Innovation and growth can be achieved through industry-academia collaboration as it will prove a cornerstone for the national economy,” he stressed. He said both industry and academia have resources and funds for launching joint ventures. Only trained youth could improve Pakistan’s economy by adapting to the fast-changing global business trends. . An anonymous professor at Government College University agreed that academia-industry interaction is vital for growth. “However, Pakistan faces many challenges in developing such linkages.”

He said students needed both theoretical and practical knowledge. “At the Government College University we are trying our best to provide students with theoretical, and to some extent, practical knowledge. However, only the industry can train them in a professional manner,” he added. “We are producing a number of PhD doctors every year, but their inputs are not properly channeled,” Aftab Ahmed, a former president of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said. He said by ensuring partnerships with industries, educational institutions could produce efficient people, who would be able to steer the economy out of crisis. He said academic research needed practical applications, and only industry-academia collaboration could produce skilled workers. “We are producing good and intelligent students, but they need more hands-on experience. It takes two to three years to train a newbie efficiently. Industry exposure will help them get insights into the real-world,” he added.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)