Innovation Crucial For Malaysia To Achieve Developed Status

By Melati Mohd Ariff PUTRAJAYA, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- Innovation is an essential factor that can hasten Malaysia's transformation into a developed nation as well as a high-income earner by 2020. Among the efforts involved in increasing innovations are the sharing of technology and good practices that are available in developed nations like those in Europe. Towards this end, Malaysia has been picked as the host of the 3rd ASEM University-Business Forum where the theme is 'Driving Innovations'. ASEM stands for Asia-Europe Meeting and the ASEM University-Business Forum is conceived as a platform for European and Asian higher education and industry representatives to meet. Recent developments in university-business cooperation in the two regions are presented and different approaches jointly discussed at the forum. The first meeting was staged in Bangkok (Thailand) in 2010 while the second edition was held in Bonn (Germany) last year. MAJOR EVENT The director-general for the Higher Education Department in the Higher Education Ministry, Prof Dr Rujhan Mustafa, told a media conference at his office here recently that the forum is a major event held at least once in every two years. The third edition of the forum will see the participation of 16 Asian nations and Asean Secretariat apart from 27 European Union (EU) countries. The event will be held at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 5-6. European commission delegates from Australia, New Zealand and Russia will also attend the forum. Industry representatives, academicians and researchers are among those expected to attend the event. On ASEM, Prof Rujhan says it is an informal dialogue and platform for cooperation between Asian and European nations. He explains that the objective of ASEM is to deal with political, economic and cultural issues with the aim of enhancing relations between the two regions. STRATEGIC SHARING The forum will provide a platform for higher education institutions and business/industry stakeholders to present and share recent developments in university-business cooperation within the ASEM region. It is also staged to discuss different approaches in building successful collaborations. At the forum, key questions will be tackled through the presentation of practice examples and participants will be invited to share the lessons learned and look at the relevance of the methodologies for their respective institutions or countries. "The forum is a platform for us to intensify efforts on creating more innovations that can help drive and spur the nation's economy. "The largest expected outcome of the forum is for the production of quality graduates in order to meet the needs and demands of the international market," says Prof Rujhan. The forum will discuss three main topics, which are "Accreditation/Recognition", "Graduate Employbility-Based Curriculum" and "Knowledge and Technology Sharing." Prof Rujhan is scheduled to deliver the keynote address on the first day of the forum to be followed by the address from the European Commission representative. Prof Rujhan says the outcome of discussions at the forum will be tabled at the 4th ASEM Ministers of Education (ASEMME 4) meeting in Kuala Lumpur in May 2013. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT One of the factors that can characterise Malaysia's image in the innovation field is research and development (R&D). Prof Rujhan says since the Higher Education Ministry took shape, the government has made major investments in R&D. "Our first achievement when this ministry was set up was the establishment of research universities (RUs). "Today, we have five RUs and they are the pioneers for other universities to improve from the R&D stage to the prototype (stage) and later, for commercialisation," he explains. He says the RUs are among the driving forces in the nation's innovation field. "To date, the outcome has been more than expected as the RUs were only set up five years ago. Lecturers in RUs are also researchers. They not only conduct research, but also publish reports and bring the products into the market. "In the field of innovation, I can say that we are on the right track. We only need to do more to hasten the process," says Prof Rujhan. CREATIVITY Creativity is an important element in producing outstanding manpower. Prof Rujhan says the ministry has advised the government on the need for a more dynamic curriculum in transforming Malaysia into an innovation-based nation. He says the change should be made at the primary and secondary school stage, right up to the tertiary education level. "We have drawn out a blueprint and the Special Cabinet Committee on human capital development has agreed with our proposals," he adds. Under the blueprint, primary school pupils will focus on creativity while those in secondary schools will be taught on the innovation aspect. "When they move into tertiary education institutions, they will already have the necessary creativity and innovation. The next step is for them to venture into the entrepreneurial field. "Even now we have incorporated entrepreneurial elements in the university. We stress on the entrepreneurial aspect among the students and lecturers and we focus on their collaboration," he says. The university students will be exposed to soft skills including critical thinking and communication apart from team work. BUSINESS AND UNIVERSITY Another important component in innovation is the relation between industry/business and university. Prof Rujhan says efforts need to be intensified towards this direction. "In developed nations of Europe, universities are the drivers of innovations. The collaboration between universities and industries has long been established. "The universities obtain direct assistance in the form of funds and expertise. The students only provide their creativity. "This collaboration is still new in Malaysia and faces many obstacles. "Anyhow the formula only came into effect after the creation of the Higher Education Plan 2007. Hence, we are still new in this (aspect)," he says. According to Prof Rujhan, the readiness of the industries to collaborate with the universities has yet to reach the desired level. Among the reasons is that R&D aspect remains a small component in their operations and does not need researchers. According to Prof Rujhan, those with doctorate qualifications in Malaysia are usually in universities as compared to countries like South Korea where many become researchers and pioneers of technology and innovation in industries. "It is the same in Europe. I have pointed out that we need to bring the Europe experience and see how it can help to hasten the collaboration between universities and businesses in this country. "We have to bring the best practices in Europe here and this can be achieved through bilateral discussions. "Therefore the best stage is this informal forum," he says referring to the 3rd ASEM University-Business Forum. -- BERNAMA