By Cristina Müller, 29 May 2006

In a meeting of university, private sector and government professionals from Ethiopia and partners of various nations, Ethiopian President Girma Giorgis on Monday called for greater communication between the three areas, in order to enhance the utility of the university in the development of the country.

The university must be seen as being more than just a recipient of grants, it must be part of the country’s development plan, said President Giorgis, in his opening remarks to the Conference on launching a program to transform University-Industry-Government Relations to Enhance Capacity Building in Ethiopia, from 29-31 May 2006, at the United Nations Conference Center, in Addis Ababa.

The conference is part of the Ethiopian Triple Helix Association, dedicated to promoting a roadmap for Ethiopian universities to encompass a third mission of economic development in addition to research and teaching. The conference also aims to assist Ethiopia in designing strategies to facilitate collaboration and modalities for an effective networking amongst university, industry and government in the interest of furthering the Ethiopian economy.

Sponsored by Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), with logistics support provided by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), besides President Giorgis, attending the opening session of the meeting were the Minister of Education, Sintayehu Wolde-Michael, Ambassador Stefan Tillander, of Sweden, Augustin Fosu, the Director of ECA’s Economic and Social Development Division (ECA/ESPD), Dr Arega Yirdaw, CEO of MIDROC Ethiopia, Professor Thomas Anderson, of Sweden, and Professor Henry Etzkowitz, of the USA. The two professors work in a global project to promote the interaction between university, private sector and government.

The three-day meeting will host professionals from universities, government and private sector from Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. They will present papers on their country experiences and propose a way forward for Ethiopia.

The meeting is particularly relevant to the ECA, given the focus of the Commission on issues of employment on the African continent.

“Our research tells us that to improve employment perspectives with consequent impact on our economies, we must invest in an integrated capacity building strategy for development,” said Augustin Fosu, in his speech to the Triple Helix plenary.

Speaking on behalf of Josephine Ouedraogo, Acting Deputy Executive Secretary, Fosu said that more than providing training and technical assistance, buiding capacity entails the ability of individuals, organizations and institutions to deliver tasks and mandates.

“A capable society,” he said, “is able to build and sustain knowledge systems that enable countries to do the work for themselves, reducing dependency on outside assistance at the level of the individual, organizations, and in the institutional context.”

To achieve this, a society must develop a tripartite arrangement between government, the private sector and the university. This partnership will ensure that the university not only delivers professional of high caliber that are relevant to employment in the private and public sectors, but also will assist – particularly through research and development – a country in building a sound and innovative economic basis.

“More and more, university, private sector and government in every country are partnering to produce the thinking and research that are crucial in building progressive and inclusive societies, where the individual is not only encouraged, but allowed to contribute to make his or her country a better place for him or herself, and for future generations,” said Fosu.

In his address, Sweden’s Ambassador said that it is important for a country to provide an environment where a great number of entrepreneurs will try to establish themselves. “Not all of them will be successful, but eventually some will and will become a household name at the global level,” he said.

He named Swedish companies such as Ericsson, Ikea, and Scania, as some of the companies that benefited from partnerships of this kind in Sweden.