November 18, 2015

Academics must not retreat to the safety of the silos

Universities can and must demonstrate they are capable of fostering innovation, writes Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Judy Raper.

Early last year a symbol of old manufacturing, the towering stack from the decommissioned Port Kembla copper smelter, came crashing down. It was a poignant metaphor for the cycle of change in NSW’s Illawarra as heavy manufacturing declines and new knowledge  and service-based industries become more prominent.

The fall of the stack was a visible reminder of just how much the region, and nation, is changing. Much has been written in recent days about the state of innovation and entrepreneurship, sparked into life by Malcolm Turnbull’s desire to reframe the nation’s economic debate.

Outgoing Chief Scientist Ian Chubb weighed into the debate with his report 'Boosting High-Impact Entrepreneurship in Australia' and widely cited comments about the role universities played in encouraging students and academics to become the economic engine rooms of the nation.

The heart of his argument was the observation universities were pivotal in the innovation cycle yet had been too slow to provide the environment needed to nurture entrepreneurs.

The supposed intransigence of the university sector, its failure to adapt to changing times and societal needs, is held up as one of the reasons for the idea the nation is stuck in economic neutral rather than the lack of a dynamic higher education-­research interface.

At UOW innovation is in our DNA. We grew from a small college established to train engineers and chemists for the region’s metals industries.

Certainly, there is much that needs to be done to encourage more young people into science, mathematics, technology and engineering courses. We recognise Australia doesn’t compare favourably against other developed nations when it comes to building linkages with industry. And the university sector is exposed to short-term funding cycles, policy changes and political volatility.

University of South Australia Vice-Chancellor David Lloyd correctly pointed out universities have been innovating for a long time. More than 20 years ago, when I was an academic at the University of NSW, our young chemical engineers in training were put through the rigours of what now would be called an innovation program.

We asked them to develop a product, a business plan and produce that product in our small-scale plant. These students were subject to the processes they could expect in industry. Today, we’d badge this type of program entrepreneurship or innovation.

The problem, and solution, lies in how universities themselves approach an uncertain, and perhaps volatile, landscape.

Across my academic career I have observed that when times are tough, the academic world retreats into silos as it seeks to protect its core business (teaching and research). The desire for innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration is lost and the fertile ground for innovation dries up.

Rather than debate the supposed dearth of innovation, perhaps the pertinent question is: why now? What is driving this new appetite for disruption that challenges traditional models? The challenges society faces are increasingly complex and multifaceted. Innovation is code for answers, solutions and new paradigms.

To address this changing scenario, in July 2013 we launched the global challenges program Transforming Lives and Regions, which brings together researchers from diverse disciplines to focus on three core challenges: living well, longer; sustaining coastal and marine zones; and manufacturing innovation.

Apart from the resulting innovative research, the global challenges program is itself an innovation, breaking down faculty and discipline barriers and focusing on real-world problems.

The current signals across the higher education sector increasingly point towards the need for such an approach — exacerbated by the present debate that puts the sector in the spotlight as critical enabler of Australia’s future.

Now is not the time for conservatism. The university sector must not retreat to its silos, where faculties and academics cite core business as priorities.

Universities can and must demonstrate we are capable of fostering innovation, much as we have done for decades and will continue to do.

This article was originally published in The Australian. Read the original article. 

• Find out how UOW is transforming the way we do research through the Global Challenges program: Download the White Paper.  

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