Panel: How do we organise Lics’ Academy initiatives in Africa? Alexandre O. Vera-Cruz Metropolitan Autonomous University, Mexico Member of the 1st Conselho de Estratégia e Governo da UNI-CV (Cabo Verde) Visiting Fellow at the University of Malaya All African GLOBELICS Seminar on Innovation and Economic Development Tanzania March 2012

1. Learning from the experience of the Globelics academia: Interaction of students from different countries Building of a shared vision Building networking between young students over time Some basic ideas

2. Broaden the approach of the Academia in Africa: Enrolment targets: BA and masters, not only PhD Policy makers, NGOs, officials working in municipalities Languages: there are different Africas in terms of languages and culture Academia in different languages Inclusive: looking to enrol in the English academia students from different countries Look for being inclusive but recognising the existing differences Combine experts of Globelics with: Experts from the region Diaspora Experts from other regions Some basic ideas

Look for connecting the existing theory with the African reality Less econometrics and more development Incorporate the vision of different regional agents: academia, policy makers, NGOs, donors, this will contribute to: The understanding of the reality The generation of interaction between different agents Ideas for the program contents

Role of the University in Africa Concentration of the well trained people Possibility of focusing on local problems Need to foster problems-oriented research without forgetting the basic science required for that Promote the upgrading of productive activities through the formation of skills Act as an intermediary between universities and the productive sector Ideas for the program contents: linkages university-productive sector

Type of existing linkages Many informal linkages between a small segment of the population a small segment of the population, who is well trained, occupies positions in the academia, government and productive sector They circulate within the 3 sectors Tend to be simple short term linkages of collaboration, with low technological content Very limited collaboration through R&D activities The existing linkages They may be a powerful way to to change agents behaviour and generate an innovation culture Need to identify these linkages and promote them Ideas for the program contents: linkages university-productive sector

An example: Existing linkages in Cape Verde Agents: Universities: public and private (UNI-CV, ISCCE, JEAN PIAGET, ISECMAR) Research centres: INIA Firms, farmers, public sector Type of existing linkages Stays of students in firms and the public sector Students write final course papers based on practical cases of firms Entrepeneurs or officials teach some courses at the universities Academias in specifc sectors (e.g. Software with Microsoft) Joint projects with NGOs to develop activities focused on solving problems of inclusiveness

They are simple forms of interactions Mostly related to human resources formation They do not require a high degree of maturity of the research capabilities They do not require an inclination towards R&D by the firms They cover a broader set of agents They tend to be based on informal links between students, researchers/teachers and entrepeneurs In some cases they have moved toeards the formalization of teh links to ensurethe quality of the process (stays of students in firms) Cont... An example: Existing linkages in Cape Verde

Implications for the Academia program: Include the topic of the role of the universities for development Discuss the nature of university-productive sector linkages in Africa Discuss a broader approach to universities-productive sector linkages than the linkages based only on R&D collaboration Ideas for the program contents: linkages universities-productive sector