Is There a Gap Between Industry and Academia?

During the CIO 100 on 29th to 30th November, 2011 at Safari Park, there was a heated debate on whether there is a gap between industry and academia in Kenya. The answer to this question is a definite ‘Yes’, not a ‘maybe’ but a ‘Yes’. The fact is demonstrated by there shear requirement of experience during most of the companies’ recruitment process. If the industry was confident with the product of the academia, the years of experience would not be required for entry jobs. Another illustration of this gap is based on the fact that we rarely find products in the market as a result of ideas conceived in the academia. Mostly, we source for products and services from abroad. One of the illustrations is the construction of Nairobi-Thika super highway; we have locally sourced for raw materials and manual labour, while hiring engineering, design and construction services from India and China. Don’t we have skilled engineers to handle such a task?

Now that we have identified this gap, how do we bridge it? First, the academia needs to be aware of what exists in the industry. For instance, professors can visit the various manufacturing plants and telcos to catch a glimpse of the technology in use. The academia needs to understand what the industry considers as deliverables. A manufacturing plant, for example, would like an engineer who can configure or troubleshoot a Programmable Logic Circuit (PLC) for a conveyor belt using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) in the shortest time possible. No manufacturer would be interested in a graduate who studied the intricate details of a transistor, but rather the application of it in modern technology. Once this awareness has been created, the academia can then develop a focused curriculum that instills skills required in the industry.

Secondly, the industry needs to reach out to the academia. Safaricom Ltd in collaboration with Strathmore University has set a good example introducing a Master of Science (MSc.TID) programme is designed to support innovation and entrepreneurship in the Telecommunication sector as in important pillar of sustainable economic development. Using such an approach, we can tackle the problem of lacking job readiness in the telecommunications sector is partnerships between the industry and academia. The Cisco Networking Academy (NetAcad) is also aimed at responding to these challenges. The curriculum incorporates hands-on experience when teaching students about computer networks. The NetAcad Program offers various curricula, viz, CCNA, CCNP, Network Security, Fundamentals of Wireless LAN, which cover the principles and practice of designing, building, and maintaining networks capable of supporting national and global organizations.

Another applicable aspect of encouraging the collaboration between academia and industry is exhibitions and competitions. These activities would enable those students to solve real-world engineering problems. . Competition veterans become employees who can be productive on the job from day one. One such activity is the IEEE Centurion Engineering Students Exhibition. The exhibition proves there is a need and opportunity for Kenya to organise an Innovation System in which academia, private sector and public sector collaborate. The Government, through National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), can play a facilitating role to create an innovation system that takes full advantage of Kenya’s comparative advantages.

In Indian, major IT firms have launched partnering initiatives with various institutions of higher learning. For instance, Infosys has launched a program called 'Campus Connect' to align the education being given at various engineering colleges, with the requirements of the industry. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, a joint venture of Mahindra group and British Telecom, have set up an engineering college, Mahindra College of Engineering, that will equip engineers with the skills required in the industry. Wipro, an innovative IT company in the IT services, BPO and Research and Development, has also started a program called the Wipro Academy of Software Excellence, in association with The Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) to prepare fresh graduates for careers in software programming and provide them with the necessary skills. If Kenya follows these examples, the gap between the academia and the industry will be extinct.