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Volume – 3; Issue - 1; Year – 2017; Page: 992 – 998
DOI: 10.22192/iajmr.2017.3.1.7

Indo – Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IAJMR)

ISSN: 2454-1370

UNIVERSITY - INDUSTRY LINKAGE IN ETHIOPIA, A STUDY ON

TWOSELECTED UNIVERSITIES
Y. Ayenew 1* and A. Teklay2
1
Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, Adigrat University, Ethiopia.
2
Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, Adigrat University, Ethiopia.
Abstract
The aim of our study was to access the current status, identify problems and propose promotional
measures for university - industry interaction works in Ethiopia. The study shows that university -
industry linkage is at its infant stage in the country and the common types of interactions are limited to
student internship program, consultancies and training programmes. Lack of laboratory facilities,
inadequate infrastructures (like communication, transport, journals, books, etc), time constraint due to
heavy teaching load and lack of strong industry linkage offices are identified by the academics as the
main barriers for collaboration with industries. Moreover, improving laboratory facilities, conducting
workshops for industry staff, encouraging regular industry visits by academics and setting up strong and
decentralized industry linkage offices are identified by the academics as the main measures to promote
collaboration with industries.

Key words: University - Industry linkage, Types of interaction, Barriers and Promotional measures .
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Introduction

Recently, the role of university - linkage works; although this works are generally
industry interaction for the economic seen to be limited to the traditional ways of
development of a country is taking the attention interaction and they are not done inan organized
of policy makers both in developed and manner. Identifying the main problems
developing countries. As one of the rapidly prohibiting strong and dynamic linkage between
growing countries in the world, Ethiopia is universities and the productive sector and
undergoing various transformation works. proposing ways that will help develop successful
Increasing the number and capacity of linkage will have a huge importance in driving
universities has been taken as one of the major forward the current interaction between
part of the transformation works, because the universities and industries.
country has considered universities as one of the The primary duties expected from
most important actors for its development. universities are thought to be teaching-learning,
research and community service (which can be
Training graduates has continued to be interpreted in various ways). These
the main work of these universities. In addition, responsibilities are not basically independent
they also have already started some industry rather they are works overlapping each other.
Most of the universities in Africa are not
*Corresponding author: Luay Ahmed Naeem actively involving in the third mission and
E.mail: [email protected] consequently they are labelled to be an “ivory
Received: 05.12.2016; Revised: 27.12.2016; towers” (Fourie, 2003). The teaching learning
Accepted: 10.01.2017. and researches with less or no benefit for the
productive sector remained to be their basic
tasks for many years. However, in recent times

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Ayenew/Indo – Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IAJMR), 3(1): 992 – 998 993

governments, including many African‟s, are The perception regarding the role of the
urging universities to take the initiative in government in guiding university-industry
establishing a strong linkage with the linkages has recently evolved through different
community in general and industries in proposed frameworks. The framework, “triangle
particular (Ssebuwufu, 2012). of university-industry-government relations”
was proposed by Sabato and Botana (1968).
Innovation and technological They also stated that the government in
advancement are key elements in a countries developing countries should play a leading role
economic competitiveness and economic in the development of university-industry
development. Universities are expected play a interactions. Other more recent frameworks
central role in the development of such works include the “national innovation systems”
both by producing the required professionals and (Freeman, 1987) and the “triple helix of
participating directly or indirectly in it. university-industry-government relations”
Although, this is the truth in one side, industries (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, 1996, 1997).
and the government should also have their share
in establishing strong linkage between The triple helix model considers the
universities and industries to bring innovation, academia-industry-government linkage as an
technological advancement and other benefits interconnected dynamic relationship rather than
related to these. The perception regarding the a simple one way communication. It also
role of universities, industries and governments suggests that the role of each actor in the linkage
in the process of innovation has been changing will change over time and these will in turn
from time to time. An earlier perception on the bring in a change in the internal structures of the
role of universities and other research bodies is acting bodies (Martin, 2011). The linkage here is
what is known as the “linear model of overlapping with relatively independent
innovation”. According to this model institutional spheres and hybrid organizations
universities and research institutions are emerging at the interfaces (Esham, 2008).
considered as creators and disseminators of
knowledge. It was thought that this knowledge The perception regarding the role of the
would be absorbed, in a linear fashion, from government in supporting the linkage between
basic to applied research and will be a major universities and industries varies depending on
ingredient for innovation in the productive sector the political ideology followed by it. Under the
(Martin, 2011). ideology of socialism the government was
considered as the one who plans and directs the
The recent model, which is also termed interaction. This will leave little space for ideas
as “mode 2” (Gibbons, 1998), perceives coming from the bottom and will in turn
academic institutions to have an discourage innovation. In the liberal western
“entrepreneurial” mode of functioning, in world, the government was interfering in the
addition to their former roles, to engage directly university industry interactions only when it is
in economic development through enterprise and thought that there is a failure which cannot be
spin-off creation (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, rectified by the two bodies. But, in recent
2000). Nowadays, many enterprises have decades most western governments and many
developed internal R & D capacity which emerging economies are shifting their role from
reduced the dominance of academic institutions acting at failures to active involvers by
in the production and dissemination of scientific developing targeted science and technology
knowledge, and universities are also engaging policies, legislative frameworks and incentive
themselves directly in the production process. So mechanisms for initiating university-industry
now, the process of innovation cannot be taken linkages. These works have basically the
as simply a linear process, rather it occurs in a following aims (Martin, 2011):
spiral mode through strategic networks between
different actors at the national and international - Creating incentives for joint university
levels (Martin, 2011). industry R&D activities.

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Ayenew/Indo – Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IAJMR), 3(1): 992 – 998 994

- Supporting the development of new Table - 1: Number of departments

technology based firms (Spin-offs).
- Creating a climate and structures for University No. of departments
innovation. Addis Ababa 04
Creating enabling framework conditions Jimma 07
for sustainable university-industry interactions
Table - 2: List of departments
2. Necessity
Ethiopia is a developing country which Discipline %
currently is undergoing economic revolution. It (Number)
will be difficult for this transformation to travel Biomedical engineering 2.6 (1)
long unless it is supported by a joint effort of Chemical engineering 17.9 (7)
academic institutions and industries. As Civil engineering 23.1 (9)
Ethiopian universities are not generally active on Electrical engineering 33.3 (13)
this regard, it will be of great importance to and computer science
evaluate their current status, identify the Material science and 5.1 (2)
problems and proposing solutions for their engineering
linkage work with different industries. Mechanical engineering 17.9 (7)
and Industrial
3. Objective engineering
The objectives of this research work are:
Table - 3: Position of respondents
1) Assessing the current university-industry
linkage in Ethiopian universities.
Position of respondent % (Number)
2) Identifying the challenges which are
Head/ Director/ Dean 25.6 (10)
prohibiting good linkage.
3) Proposing ways for strong university- Chair holder 74.4 (29)
industry interaction.
4. Methodology
Status of Interaction with Industry
The study was targeted at Respondents were asked to judge the
Technology Institutes of two universities namely status of industry linkage in their institute. The
Addis Ababa and Jimma. Questionnaire was result was given in Table - 4.
mainly used for data collection. All institute
directors, school deans/directors, department Table 4: Status of interaction with industry

heads, program coordinators and specialization Respondent Institute’s status of industry linkage
chair holders were participated in the Good Intermediate Poor
questionnaire survey. Additionally, data was Total 15 (38.5 %) 15 (38.5 %) 9 (23.1 %)
collected by interview with the industry linkage Biomedical 0 (0 %) 1 (100 %) 0 (0 %)
engineering
officers of the two institutes. The questionnaire Chemical engineering 1 (14.3 %) 5 (71.4 %) 1 (14.3 %)
was distributed and collected personally by Civil engineering 6 (66.7 %) 3 (33.3 %) 0 (0 %)
Electrical engineering 4 (30.8 %) 4 (30.8 %) 5 (38.5 %)
contacting respondents. and computer science
Material science and 0 (0 %) 0 (0 %) 2 (100 %)
5. Results and Discussion engineering
Mechanical 4 (57.1 %) 2 (28.6 %) 1 (14.3 %)
Characteristics of the sample departments engineering and
The respondents participated in the study Industrial engineering
are given in Table - 1, Table - 2 and Table - 3,
and categorized based on different criteria.

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Ayenew/Indo – Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IAJMR), 3(1): 992 – 998 995

Types of Interaction with Industry Questionnaires where respondents didn‟t

Responses were collected regarding this respond in the right way were rejected.
and the results obtained are given in Table - 5.

Table - 5: Types of interaction with industry

Sample size = 34 (5 rejected)
Service Rank
1 2 3 4 5 Left blank
Internship 25 (73.5 %) 1 (2.9 %) 3 (8.8 %) 1 (2.9 %) 1 (2.9 %) 3 (8.8 %)
Consultancy 3 (8.8 %) 9 (26.5 %) 6 (17.6 %) 3 (8.8 %) 1 (2.9 %) 12 (35.3 %)
Research 3 (8.8 %) 9 (26.5 %) 5 (14.7 %) 6 (17.6 %) 1 (2.9 %) 10 (29.4 %)
Training 1 (2.9 %) 7 (20.6 %) 9 (26.5 %) 4 (11.8 %) 2 (5.9 %) 11 (32.4 %)
programs
Technology 1 (2.9 %) 1 (2.9 %) 0 (0 %) 4 (11.8 %) 12 (35.3 %) 16 (47.1 %)
development

Perception of academics on barriers to

University-Industry interaction interaction between universities and industries.
Respondents were also asked about their The result of the survey was given in Table - 6.
perception on the barriers that prohibited good
Table - 6: Constraints to University - Industry Interactions
No. Item Mean score
Addis Jimma Total
Ababa (13) (25) (38)
1 Inadequate laboratory facilities 1.7 2.4 2.2
2 Inadequate infrastructure(communication, 2.1 2.4 2.3
transport, journals, books)
3 Time constraint due to heavy teaching and 2.2 2.4 2.3
administrative work
4 Lack of autonomy to work with industry 2.5 2.5 2.5
5 Academics are not aware of the possible 2.0 2.8 2.5
channels for getting sponsored research and
consultancy assignments
6 University norms and procedures hamper 2.6 3.2 3.0
collaboration with industry
7 Lack of motivation and entrepreneurial 2.8 3.1 3.0
spirit among faculty
8 Industry is not interested to collaborate with 3.2 3.0 3.1
universities
9 The university structure is not adapted to 2.5 3.4 3.1
the needs of industrial collaborations
10 Geographical location of the university 4.6 2.5 3.2
results in less access to the industry
11 Collaboration with industry limits the free 3.9 3.3 3.5
choice of research topics
12 Academics don‟t feel confident enough to 3.8 3.8 3.8
undertake industry oriented research
13 The university has no policy towards 3.9 3.7 3.8
collaborations with industry
14 Our research capabilities are not relevant to 4.2 3.9 4.0
the industry
15 Collaboration with industry has a negative 4.6 4.2 4.3
influence on the pedagogic mission of a
university
16 It is not the mission of the academic 4.8 4.4 4.6
researcher to collaborate with industry

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Ayenew/Indo – Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IAJMR), 3(1): 992 – 998 996

Perception of academics on promotional - industry interactions as per the perception of

measures to University-Industry interaction academics. This was also included in the
It is important to identify the questionnaire and result was given in Table - 7.
effectiveness of measures to improve university
Table - 7: Perception of Academics on Promotional Measures
No. Item Mean score
Addis Jimma Total
Ababa (13) (25) (38)
1 Improve laboratory facilities 3.8 3.7 3.7
2 Conduct seminars, workshops for staff 3.7 3.5 3.6
from industry
3 Encourage regular industrial visits by 3.6 3.4 3.5
staff
4 Setup strong U-I linkage units in 3.7 3.4 3.5
universities
5 Publicize university activities relevant 3.4 3.4 3.4
to industry
6 Involve staff from industry in teaching 3.1 3.4 3.3
programmes
7 Give more autonomy for academics to 3.4 3.1 3.2
work with industry
8 Provide consultancy/collaboration 2.8 3.4 3.2
based promotions for academic staff
9 Tax concessions for companies 3.0 2.8 2.8
collaborating with universities
10 Make it obligatory for academics to 2.6 2.9 2.8
undertake a certain amount of work
with industry

6. Conclusions  Coordination and management of

 University - industry linkage is at a growing interactions at universities, except internship,
stage in Ethiopian universities while it has are mostly done by the individual researchers
long distance to go forward, as can be seen or the dean of the faculty or the head of the
from international experience. department. The newly established
 Internship is the main work universities are interaction units are yet to play a significant
interacting with industries. Consultancy role in managing interactions.
services, research and trainings are the other
forms of interaction between universities and 7. Recommendation
industries, where civil engineering and Recommendations regarding universities
mechanical engineering departments are  The industry linkage offices should be
mainlyinvolved in this area. reorganized in a strong manner with
 Lack of laboratory facilities, inadequate more power and personnel. Also,
infrastructures, time constraint due to heavy officers should be relieved from other
teaching load and lack of strong industry responsibilities like teaching.
linkage offices are identified as the main
barriers for collaboration with industries.  Universities should give more attention
 Improving laboratory facilities, conducting and more budget to establish fully
workshops for industry staff, encouraging equipped and both teaching and research
regular industry visits by academics and oriented laboratories.
setting up strong and decentralized industry  As time constraint is mentioned as a
linkage offices are identified by the major barrier, staff members with a
academics as the main measures to promote research capability should be relieved
collaboration with industries. from heavy teaching loads. More
importantly, universities should enforce
the recruitment of research staff.

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Ayenew/Indo – Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IAJMR), 3(1): 992 – 998 997

 In the absence of large number of  Industries should be major funding

research institutes, universities of sources for university research. This can
Ethiopia are expected to cover the works be in the form of contract researches,
of PRIs. So, universities should develop patent licencing and others.
a stronger and industry based research
capabilities. Recommendations regarding the government
 Universities should allocate more budget  Recent models of Academia – Industry -
for R & D works. Government linkage depict that the
 Universities should perceive industry government‟s role in establishing strong
linkage in a wider way. As is observed academia-industry linkage is not merely
in the study, universities are focusing facilitation, but to have a strong hand in
mainly on internship and staff and the process.
department initiated consultancy works.  The government is responsible in shaping
Universities should engage in more the national innovation system of the
advanced works like joint research with country. For this, the government is
industries, development of spin off expected to continuously lead the
companies and university owned collaboration works through the
enterprises, patent licencing and development of policies and guidelines.
establishment of science parks.  The government, as the current major
 Universities other than Addis Ababa source of funding for R & D works,
University has rated geographical barrier should allocate more budget for R & D
as a major problem for interaction. In works in universities.
addition, it is known that there are only  There should be more PRIs in selected
few large firms in the country. So, this fields, which contain competent
study recommends universities to focus researchers and full laboratory facilities.
on supporting micro and small  Different funding programmes and
enterprises. interface organizations should be
 Universities should take the motive to established to initiate and facilitate R &
organize regular seminars and D works and to fill the observed gaps
workshops with industries and other like establishment of research
relevant stakeholders. In addition, there laboratories.
should be an industry representative in
the universities‟ senate meeting. 8. References
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