5Th Institute Of Applied Science And Technology(IAST) Industry Academia Interaction Series Marked.

Scores of people representing academia, industry, the business community, key government institutions and students enthusiastically participated in the

5Th Institute Of Applied Science And Technology (IAST) Industry Academia Interaction Series, which was held at the ISSER Conference Centre, University of Ghana, Legon.

The event which was chaired by the

President of the Association of Ghana Industrial (AGI), Dr. H. Kwesi Ayim Darke,witnessed a cocktail of long interesting speeches on the theme:

 “Industry-Academia-Government Connect: Harnessing the relationship during a pandemic”.

In his welcoming address the Director of IAST, Prof. George OduroNkansah, indicated that the pandemic has thought us lessons. Businesses folded up, some laid off staff whiles others had to take drastic cost-cutting measures. 

The result was a monumental refocusing of business strategies for survival. Industry-Academia collaborations that were already on knife-edge were shoved away. Indeed, the schools were closed so it made business sense to not engage us. These were periods of uncertainty and even mistrust.

Prof. George Oduro Nkansah emphasized that with all this doom, there was a silver lining. 

Citizens started asking, and rightly so, why the university professors were not “inventing” vaccines or providing clarity of information on the pandemic. Government, businesses and individuals donated money, logistics, food and any item they have to research institutions like Noguchi, WACCBIP, etc., to re-energize and motivate the overworked staff. TV and radio shows had experts from academia as regular panellists. People wanted expert advice and realized the importance of academia at this point. 

Prof. George Oduro Nkansah said, “we have seen the countries that reaped the rewards for their continuous support of academia”.

Today, we are gathered here to discuss a very relevant topic: “Industry-Academia-Government Connect: Harnessing the relationship during a pandemic”. 

“There are those who might say this is an overburdened subject, however, for university-industry collaborations, this is a relevant and timely discussion that needs to be had. Yesterday and today, it is a pandemic, tomorrow may be World War III, and the day after, it may be unimaginable. The time for deeper, meaningful and impactful collaboration should be a top priority of any serious country which has seen the ravages of this pandemic. The rhetoric of “paper” collaborations and tokenism coupled with the insignificant investment in academia is bound to collapse our future. We are going to have under-educated citizens competing in this knowledge-based era”.

Prof. George Oduro Nkansah took the opportunity to invite all participants to the official opening of our Industry-Academia Exhibition. 

In a speech read on behalf of Prof. Boateng Onwona- Agyeman , Provost, College of Basic and Applied Sciences 

by Prof. Elvis Kwason Tiburu , indicated

that, the 5th IAST Industry-Academia Interaction Series is significant and timely for a number of reasons. First, the establishment of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST) in 2012 was in recognition of the fact that the problems of development require not just interdisciplinary applied research but also a greater and deeper collaboration between academia, industry and government. 

Therefore the Institute was to mobilize UG faculty and their partners, as well as resources to deliver knowledge, innovation and technology to industry in a targeted manner to facilitate their further development. The Provost said, over the years the IAST Industry-Academia Interaction Series has created mutual platforms where industry players come face-to-face with academia to discuss high-level local and international innovative technologies for collaborations and promote strategic partnerships between the University of Ghana research faculty in different disciplines and Industry among others.

The Managing Director of Zoomlion Ghana Limited Mrs. Gloria Opoku Anti on behalf of the Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong delivered a key note address.

She spoke around the theme: “Industry-Academia Relationships – The Jospong Group”.

 Expressing that, despite the achievements with academia over the past years, the Group still believe this partnership needs to be strengthened. 

“As the Group moves to become a fully Integrated Waste management company with focus on value addition, we can say we need such partnerships more than ever.''

“The company will continue to benefit from graduates from academic institutions at all levels and from different parts of the world. This will sustain the human resource needs of the company for now and the future. We look forward in giving feedback to academia to ensure that our graduates easily fit into the working environment upon completion".

“Today I am happy to tell you that the Group is currently looking forward to the implementation of 41 waste recovery and treatment plants across the nation. With this about 80% of solid, liquid, and medical waste will be managed in the most sustainable way with positive impact on public health, environment and the economy"

The event was climaxed with a grand exhibition by representatives of the private sector, industry, academia, government institutions.