A major two-day academia-private sector conference to promote research and education innovations has started in Kigali on Thursday. It has drawn participants from the five East African Community (EAC) member states and follows a partnership formed between the Inter-Universities Council of East Africa (IUCEA) and the East Africa Business Council (EABC) in 2011.

The partnership aims to provide a point of connection between knowledge and human resources produced by higher education institutions and the dissemination of the same to the private sector for their eventual diffusion into the productive, social and service sectors.

It focuses on enhancing linkage between the private sector and higher education institutions; promoting the utilisation of higher education research output and innovations by the private sector/business community; promoting consultative engagement in curriculum and research development and implementation; and jointly organising dialogue forums and exhibitions.

The first jointly organised forum and exhibition, dubbed “Higher Education Forum and Exhibitions”, was held in Arusha, Tanzania on October 2012 under the auspices of EAC. The participants resolved to hold the Forum and Exhibitions as an annual event, on rotational basis in the EAC Partner States.

The Second Forum and Exhibitions titled “Academia – Private Sector Partnership Forum” was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013, during which time the East African Development Bank (EADB) joined in as a partner.

Based on the recommendations from the 2012 Forum, IUCEA and EABC carried out a survey to establish existing university/industry linkages in East Africa, whose results were discussed during the 2013 forum.

From these discussions and other inputs from the participants, the forum resolved that a regional research and innovation capacity building programme be developed, whose goal would be to create and expand the research and innovation space in East Africa by among other things shaping the academia, public, and private sector research and innovation agenda.

It was also resolved that some regional research and innovation hubs be linked to business and innovation clusters supported through public and private funding, and business advise by both public and private sectors. Currently, IUCEA in collaboration with EABC, EADB, and EAC is developing the programme.

“In order to expand the scope of the event to focus on the triple helix model in promoting research and innovation in the region, the 2013 Forum also resolved in future forums and exhibitions should be held under the title “Academia-Public-Private Partnership Forum”, and that the 2014 Forum and Exhibitions be held in Kigali, Rwanda,” a statement from the organisers said.

The forum at Serena Hotel will mainly focus on generating inputs for enriching the regional research and innovation capacity building programme currently under development.

It will be geared towards coming up with strategies for implementing the programme on supporting the development of academia-public-private partnership platforms in the EAC.

The Kigali forum will consist of three keynote presentations by prominent individuals from Nigeria, South Africa and Singapore who will highlight their respective countries' experiences with respect to the session theme “How should East African Community harness the region’s innovation potential for driving socio-economic development through academia-public-private partnership?”

EAC Secretariat and Institutions, heads of higher education institutions, national commissions and councils for higher education, and national commissions and councils for science and technology in the EAC Partner States and all other stakeholders in academia and the private and public sectors have been invited to participate in the forum.