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Technology transfer and graduate employment “vital’ for Regional Development Western People, Ireland www.westernpeople.ie
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Enhancing the role of institutes of technology by enabling them to make their particular contribution to the aims of the National Spatial Strategy could be a major factor in its success, Dr Sean McDonagh of the Skills Initiative Unit, told a conference on “Gateways, Hubs and Higher Education: Implementing the National Spatial Strategy” in Institute of Sligo last week.
The conference was organised by IT Sligo to promote debate on how the higher education sector should respond in order to promote regional development and implement the National Spatial Strategy.
Regional development will depend heavily on knowledge and technology. The increased mobility of foreign direct investment required the strengthening of national and regional innovation systems, he said.
Graduate and post-graduate employment contributed to technology transfer from higher education to industry but among regions the capacity to employ graduates was uneven. The BMW region had the lowest level of graduate and post-graduate employment. This showed the need to promote graduate employment opportunities in regions and for regions to collaborate in order to ensure full access to research and knowledge sources, he continued.
Institutes of technology should be given move freedom of action to respond to their regionís needs, within an accountable framework and inappropriate ëtop downí measures should be removed, Dr. Richard Thorn, Director of Institute of Technology Sligo said, speaking on “Higher Education as a Regional, Social and Economic Growth Driver”.
Institutes needed to increase key drivers of sustainable economic growth in their regions, such as the quality of economic and social infrastructure, human resources and the regionís natural resource base, including agriculture, tourism, the seafood sector and rural enterprises.
Explicit commitments to learning and innovation; to the concept of the learning region and to a move away from mass production systems were all actions that education institutions, particularly institutes of technology, could do to help bring balanced and sustainable regional development under the National Spatial Strategy, Dr Thorn added.
National policy should support a diverse system of higher education accessible to students at all levels and should resource co-operation between higher education institutions, Dr Thorn said.
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