Addis Ababa University (AAU) Office of the Industry Linkage and Technology Transfer held a validation workshop on Industry-University assessment report as well as to consult on the establishment of AAU-Industry Forum at Sarem International Hotel on the 10^th of June 2022.

The workshop was attended by stakeholders from various government institutions and industries and discussed the working relationship between the university and the industry so far. They also agreed to establish the AAU-Industry forum to build up better networking systems in order to achieve the millennium development goals.

Mitike Molla (PhD), the Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer of AAU on her speech said that as research is one of the pillars of the university’s duties, it is necessary to transfer the results of the research to the technology sectors to benefit the society, open up new jobs, develop industries and bring development to the country.

According to Dr. Mitke, “AAU and the industry are still working together to do this, but nothing has been done to strengthen it. Now, however, we have drafted a policy to regulate industry and university linkage, and the policy has already been approved by the Senate.”

“Today we are going to look the study report on the relationship between industries and the University, based on the principles of this approved policy. According to this study, the university and the industry are very close and can help each other a lot in many aspects,” she added.

Dr. Mitike also expressed that a forum will be established by them to bring about industry-led change and increase productivity. “Industrial parks are now expanding in Ethiopia and we are working together to increase the productivity scale by combining our knowledge.”

Prof. Daniel Kitaw, Lecturer at Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, expressed on his keynote address that the biggest difference between the developed and the developing countries is based on the technological advancement. “We live in a time that the world is becoming increasingly competitive. Nowadays, we can be competitive only when we equip ourselves with technology, research and develop our industries, both in manufacturing and service providers by working together based on knowledge and research,” he said.

Kassu Jilcha (PhD), Director of Student Career development and PI of the Industry- University assessment study, presented the study report that explored how universities and industries have been working together and what they have done so far and the challenges they faced.

Shumey Berhie (PhD), Director for Industry Linkage and Technology Transfer also addressed the prerequisites for the establishment of AAU-Industry forum and mentioned that the study shows the university has its own resources and so does the industry, working together will make both effective.

“This platform is the core of our cooperation and we can do a great deal of integrated work on the areas of internship, externship, staff exchange, consultancy, research, technology transfer, and community engagement,” he underlined.

According to Dr. Shumey, it is expected that there will be a joint platform led by an Executive Committee and that any institution from industries, governmental and non-governmental organizations, such as research, community engagement and technology transfer can work together in the committee.

Reporter: Tsion Aysheshim

Photo: Andualem Aseffa

Editor: Abraham Girmay