Importance of Collaboration Between Academia & Industry For the Future of Construction Research (PART 1)

1. Why do we need collaboration? What are the benefits? How can we do it? What are the challenges to be overcome? SOME PRACTICAL CONSIDERTATIONS IN TERMS OF COLLABORATIVE WORKING...

2. "Collaboration between industry and academia will continue to play an increasingly central role in helping us deliver on our shared vision for the future of technology…..Microsoft is constantly deepening its partnership with academia, and is committed to jointly developing new ideas and solving many of the key challenges in computing.“ Bill Gates 24 July 2001

3. What is the “shared vision” in construction?

4. Since October 2001, the UK has invested almost 300 million GBP (444 million euro) in knowledge transfer, enabling universities, colleges and hospitals to increase their research and development potential and build strong links with industry. 213 new spin-off companies were set up in 2005, compared to an average of 70 a year before the Higher Education Innovation Fund was set up. The turnover of spin-off firms increased from 212 to 289 million GBP (314 to 428 million euro), while the number of people employed by such companies went from 10,500 to 12,000. Furthermore, over the same period, the income received from intellectual property by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) increased by 83 per cent, and the number of patents recorded by HEIs rose by eight per cent. HEI income from contract research for business increased from 266 to 328 million GBP (394 to 485 million euro), while HEI income from consultancy increased from 103 to 122 million GBP (152 to 181 million euro).

5. 'Such encouraging results demonstrate what universities and business can achieve when they work together,' Alan Johnson, Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education.
…….'We have always maintained our commitment to encouraging effective university-business collaboration. I am confident that the increased resources we are providing through the Higher Education Innovation Fund will go a long way in boosting and increasing the success already recorded in this area‘…..

6. The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) – a bigger driver for the “research-led” universities
A significant part of the assessment related to involvement with Industry in terms of research
Those Departments/Universities that scored highly had significant involvement with Industry through research projects.

Up-date on Iskandar Development Zone in South Johor

In my previous message I mentioned the special economic zones in Malaysia and specifically Iskandar.

The special economic zone of Iskandar Malaysia grew out of a 2005 government requested feasibility study by the Khazanah Nasional which found that the development of such a zone would be economically, socially and developmentally beneficial.

A series of informative articles have appeared in the Star Online Business today as follows;

From Vision To Action
Johor MB's Views on Iskandar
How Khazanah Masterminded Iskandar
Iskanda Investments Change Strategies
UEM Land's Aspirations for Iskandar

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES

Northern Corridor Economic Region
East Coast Economic Region
Sabah Development Corridor
Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy

Malaysia's marketing opportunities and biggest challenges

1. Despite recent events that have been broadcast far and wide, Malaysia is still considered to be a safe, peaceful and happy place to live.

2. Malaysia's greatest strength has to be it's people who want continued economic development. There are many marketing opportunities for this country which hopefully will be part of the realisation of the "new economic model". But these opportunities mean facing up to some big challenges. For example, a lack of a highly skilled workforce, too little research and development, an over-dependence on oil revenue, not enough innovation and creativity in the private sector.

3. How can Malaysia become a high income nation based on innovation?

Reputation = Performance = Reputation

1. Good reputation in business, particularly for professional and contractual services in the construction sector, is crucial.

2. A corporate reputation takes ages to develop and preserve, and yet can be weakened or destroyed over night.

3. The reputation of the construction industry has been very poor. Perhaps it is misunderstanding or ignorance of what this important sector contributes to the economy and society as a whole. This could be due to media preoccupation with the "disasters" and bad news stories.

4. There is no doubt that "people" and "communities", which include our key business stakeholders, have the impression that construction is poor value for money, polluting and corrupt.

5. Many construction businesses are finding the market environment to be tougher, and competition intense, due to economic downturn. This will continue for some time to come.

A new year - challenges and opportunities

1. 2009 was a challenging year for the economies of most countries across the globe. Whilst the financial crisis started in the last quarter of 2008, its impact was felt by the middle of last year.

2. Many companies were resilient and have survived so far.

3. For the Malaysian economy, foreign direct investments (FDIs) have been relatively low for the whole of the last decade. The average FDI being about 4% compared to Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, whose performance was in the region of 15% to 25%.

4. Increased FDI's leads to an increase in skilled expatriate population, generate more demand for housing and office space and higher value employment opportunities.

5. Malaysia's global competitiveness is also affected by security, government delivery systems, corruption, market size, productivity of the workforce etc.