a model of a research and entrepreneurial university...

International Association for Management of Technology IAMOT 2015 Conference Proceedings

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A MODEL OF A RESEARCH AND ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPING

NATIONS: THE CASE OF NILE UNIVERSITY

TAREK M. KHALIL President of Nile University, Egypt

[email protected]

Copyright © 2015 by the President of Nile University. Permission granted to IAMOT to publish and use.

ABSTRACT

Education is the most important sector influencing development of nations. The experience of the

USA, several European countries, and more recently of South Korea, India and China are but few

examples of the positive influence gained from attention to education on economic growth and

improvement of the standards of living. All components of the education system chain from

preschool to primary, secondary, tertiary and graduate education are important. Higher education,

however, can provide greater value added particularly when combined with research and

innovation. Research universities have a significant role to play in this regard particularly if combined

with an entrepreneurial culture. Research entrepreneurial universities not only participate in

education and dissemination of knowledge but also create knowledge and innovations. They give

special attention to technology transfer and entrepreneurship with direct impact on economic

return and development. Developing countries and in particular African countries face many

challenges that must be addressed without delay. These include education, health care,

transportation, logistics, security, information and communication, energy, water supplies,

environment and many more. Research entrepreneurial universities consider these challenges as

fertile opportunities to tackle through relevant curricula, research and technology transfer.

This paper presents a model of a new university established recently in Egypt called Nile University

(NU). This model can be a useful one for similar effort in Africa and many developing countries. The

author relies on personal experience gained in establishing the University in Egypt where he serves

as founding president. The model is an independent, nonprofit research and entrepreneurial

institution of higher learning. The university conceptual design is based on the management of

technology philosophy for development and wealth creation. The university philosophy in Education,

research and focus on graduate education is explained. The emphasis on entrepreneurship

education and promotion qualifies it to be a truly entrepreneurial university.

Key words: Education, culture of knowing, learning culture, Research university, entrepreneurship,

development, wealth creation, innovation.

BACKGROUND

Egypt with a population of about 90 million people is the most populous country in the Middle East

and one of the largest in Africa. Egypt is a developing country with an exploding population that has

put severe stresses on it educational and economic systems. Even though the country has been

recognized as a traditional leader in education for the region its educational and economic systems

have suffered seriously over the past 4 decades because of wars, population explosion and

mismanagement of its average national assets. Illiteracy about 30% and is higher among women

UNESCO,2015. While education is free by law, it suffers from limited resources and lacks the quality

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that is demanded by modern societies. Many graduates of the current system do not master the

skills needed by the market place and as a consequence they become unemployed or under‐

employed creating pressures on the socio‐economic system. Until recently higher education was

delivered by two types of universities, public ones controlled by the government or private ones

controlled by investors. The public ones are well established but suffer from overcrowding and lack

of resources whereas the private ones are small, do not have adequate faculty resources and some

may aim more for profit as they are established as business endeavors and controlled by investors.

Both types of institutions are serving education needs within the constraints imposed by their

governance. Research is conducted in public universities and to a much lesser extent in private ones

and the same goes for post graduate education. Both research and graduate studies are not given

high priority in most universities as undergraduate education is given the top priority. Only one

university (Cairo University with a population of more than 100,000 students) appears in the

Shanghai ranking list of top 500 universities (Shanghai Ranking of World Universities,2014). Some

community leaders and government officials recognized that there is a gap that needs to be filled

through promoting a third type of universities to be independently governed, nonprofit, and

research oriented ‐‐ thus the idea of Nile University (NU) in Cairo. This model is very common in the

west and in fact most top universities in the world such as Harvard, Stanford, MIT..etc follow this

non‐profit independent model.

Nile University (NU) was established in 2006 through a public‐private partnership with a vision to be

a world class research institution of higher learning committed to excellence in education and

research. Nile University became the first national (Ahleya), non‐governmental and non‐profit

university in Egypt in the 21st century.

NU mission is to contribute to the development of the technology‐driven economies in Egypt and

the region through the pursuit of education and research at the highest levels of excellence.

To fulfill its vision and mission NU had to focus on three major pillars towards that end: Excellence

in education, relevant applied research, innovation and entrepreneurship. These are the three pillars

of modern universities.

NU EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

The existing education system in Egypt is based on a culture of knowing. It is based on highly

structured fixed curricula, traditional classroom environment with old blackboard instructions, very

large numbers in classrooms and lectures, “do as you told environment “with suppression of free

thought and argument, rote learning and standard final paper exam for all.

To change this culture NU committed to creating a learning culture. The type of education that

focuses on learning how to learn, promotes free expression, creativity, harnessing information from

all sources rather than one way lecturing by professors, team projects, use of technology in

education, and calls for small numbers in classrooms and lectures.

NU is a leader in technology and business education in Egypt and the Middle East/North Africa

(MENA) region. Its business and technology‐based programs and research centers are designed to

address critical areas of vital importance to the economic growth and prosperity of the people of

Egypt and the region and to engage in cutting edge applied research.

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The university also adopted a three pronged approach as depicted in Figure 1, to implement its

educational vision and mission. The first is focusing on limited number of relevant programs that

address the country’s future needs and that permit graduates to be employed in a competitive

global marketplace. This is accompanied by benchmarking the best institutions in the world in each

program and when feasible, establishing partnership with institutions that deliver such programs.

The second prong is to establish international collaborative efforts with recognized universities and

research institutions and to attract expatriates and international faculty to collaborate or teach at

NU. The third prong is to establish strong ties with the industrial and business community for mutual

benefit. In their relationship emphasis is given to increasing internship opportunities, conducting

sponsored research, promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and competitiveness.

SabbaticalsReturning Expats

Overseas Cooperation& Strategic Partnerships

…

MOTBusinessSoftware engineeringNetwork securityEmbedded systemsWireless…

MultinationalsEgyptian companies

SMEs…IT

CommunicationElectronics

Other …

Industry

Expatriates & International Partnerships

Programs

Uniqueness

NU

Figure 1: A three pronged Approach for implementation

NU offers programs leading to Diplomas, Masters and PhD degrees and a strategic set of

undergraduate programs in selected areas as well as executive education and professional

development programs. NU’s graduate programs are offered in collaboration with international

partners that are distinguished in their respective fields.

NU Research Philosophy

Nile University positions itself as “Egypt’s Research University”, elaborating that a research

university is a category of Institutions of Higher Education engaging in extensive research activity

and that:

Offer a range of baccalaureate programs

Are committed to graduate education through the doctorate

Give high priority to research and as such create and produce new knowledge not just

disseminate existing knowledge

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Award Doctoral degrees

Receive research funding from government and other public and private entities

Research at Nile University targets areas and challenges of strategic importance to the nation and

aiming to drive growth for technology‐driven economies in Egypt and the region.

Egypt has many challenges and problems that need immediate attention. Some of those are shown

in the figure 2 below. NU researchers view those problems to be opportunities for researchers to

contribute solutions direly needed. While all types of research are important and needed, the reality

of financial constraints and weak infrastructure and development systems in Egypt and many

developing countries compels a logical conclusion giving priority to applied research. This type of

research concentrates on solving pressing problems needing immediate attention and produces

faster and less risky return on investments. Basic research requires more time, effort, development

infrastructure and financial resources to reap its benefits.

Click to edit Master title style

Click to edit Master subtitle style


TransportationAccident Prevention

Energy

Environment

Agriculture

Pest & Virus Resistance

Health

Cardiac Disease

Technology plays an important role in addressing all these

problems opportunities

NU Research Philosophy

Figure 2: NU Research Philosophy



Click to edit Master title styleNU Research at the Service of the Community

Inter-disciplinary• Same core skill-set required• Interrelated challenges

Figure 3: Applied Research that serves the community

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Research at Nile University targets areas and challenges of strategic importance to the nation (Figure

3) and aiming to drive growth for technology‐driven economies in Egypt and the region. Applying

state of the art technology and capitalizing on strategic academic and industry partners that are

leaders in their field, NU’s applied research topics address areas such as:

Healthcare: Mobile healthcare, diagnosis and networking using sensors, cardiac and retinal medical

imaging, personalized medicine, cancer diagnosis and drug delivery using nanotechnology, remote

surgery,..

Agriculture and Crops: Decoding buffalo genome and palm tree genomes, big data analysis,

Intelligent and precision agriculture systems,..

Traffic and vehicles: Intelligent traffic monitoring, wireless vehicular networks, smart traffic

cameras,..

Energy and Water: Water purification and desalination using nanotechnology, energy harvesting

and scavenging, improving efficiency of solar cells using microelectronics, optimizing energy usage &

leveraging renewable energy, cloud‐based management of urban water systems

Software and Communications: 4G Mobile phone technology and application, LTE, relaying, white

space, interference management , educational games and eLearning, virtual reality, resource

allocation in networks, …..

Social Applications: Data and text mining, social trends analysis, sentiment analysis, ..

Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness: Technology transfer, mapping Egyptian

entrepreneurship eco‐system, managing Innovation, assessment of national innovation system,

competitiveness of Egyptian enterprises with emphasis on SMEs, sustainable and lean

manufacturing,…

NU AS AN ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY

Egypt and every country seeking to develop its economy must strive to be a knowledge society,

creative, innovative producing science, technology and innovations necessary for development and

wealth creation. This requires building infrastructure and a national innovation system of high

efficiency. It requires improving educational systems, encouraging creativity and innovation, reform

of regulatory and legal structure ‐‐ all aiming to facilitate innovation, production and export.

Recognizing that there are always limited resources, the focus should be on priority areas for each

country. A modern university role in this regard is vital. Universities should not only create and

disseminate knowledge but should also see to it that this knowledge benefits society by applying

such knowledge and bringing it to markets. This is accomplished through technology transfer and

promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. The university engagement in creating value‐ added

goods and services results in economic benefit to the university and the country. NU is bringing this

message to the country through its interdisciplinary programs of research and its management of

technology focus and programs. The message is spread throughout the university and its teachings.

In fact it has been imbedded in the design of the university academic structure, which follows the

management of technology philosophy as shown in the figures 4 and 5 below.

An important component in the success of an entrepreneurial university is its ability to motivate and

unleash students’ creativity and innovative capabilities. This is accomplished by removing barriers to

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creativity, freedom of thought and expression and encouraging ideas to sprout at all levels from

undergraduates, graduates and faculty.

Other components include designing interdisciplinary programs and activities and adopting an open

door policy amongst students, faculty and administrators facilitating flow of ideas, conducting

entrepreneurship forums and competitions and encouraging students to participate in them. Also

adopting progressive intellectual protection rights policy, pushing ideas to become marketable

projects, helping incubate startups and assisting in finding financial resources for spin offs.

Discipline-based knowledge

Engineering Systems

Available Technologies

Strategic/Long-Term Issues Relating Technology

Science and Technology Policy

Process of Technological Innovations

R&D Management

R&D Infrastructure and Technological Change

Technological Entrepreneurship and New Ventures

Product/Process Life Cycles

Technological Forecasting and Planning

Technological Innovations and Strategic Planning

Technology Transfer

International Technology Transfer and the role of

Multinational Corporations

Finance

Marketing

Business Policy/Strategy

Control/Accounting

Organizational behavior

Human Resource Management

Production and Operations Management

International Trade

Microeconomics

Business

Wealth Creation(MOT)Technology Business

Wealth Creation is Integration of Technology and Business

Figure 4: Management of Technology as a Key to Wealth Creation and Development‐ (Khalil, 2000)

Graduate School of Management of

Technology

Business Foundation:Marketing, Management,

Entrepreneurship, Finance, …

TechnologySpecialization Courses

A B C D E F

Graduate ProgramsMBA, PhD

Continuing Education& Professional Training

Undergraduate

School of Business Administration

A: ITB: CommunicationC: …

NU Schools

Graduate ProgramsMSc, PhD

Continuing Education& Professional Training

Undergraduate

Communication & Information Technology

Engineering& Applied Sciences

Petroleum & Mining

Engineering Schools

Figure 5: Implementation of MOT philosophy is a university structure

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A special focus is also given through the Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and

Competitiveness (IECC). The center is engaged in many of the university activities in intellectual

property protection, entrepreneurship promotion and training at the university and across the

country, technology transfer and incubation needs. The University is also collaborating with

institutions that have incubation capabilities and may consider developing its own incubator at a

later stage. There is also a strong and important tie with Egypt’s main business park, the Smart

Village which together with the university capabilities constitute important elements of a technology

park or Technopolis. The operating model of the entrepreneurial university is depicted on the figure

shown below.



Click to edit Master title styleOperating as an Entrepreneurial University

ICT

MOT

Business

Eng. &AppliedScience

(Energy, Petroleum & Mining Eng.)

WirelessNetworks

Boinformatics

Medical Imaging

Mechatronics

Nanoelectronics

Nanotechnology

...

Incubation

Technology Transfer

IntellectualProperty

CORE KNOWLEDGE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ENTREPRENEURSHIP

KNOWLEDGE VALUE CREATION VALUE HARVESTING

Business-driven SME’s

Interdisciplinary Programs

Figure 6: Operating as an Entrepreneurial university

Core knowledge is generated and disseminated in the various schools and programs. Research

conducted at the research centers of NU and by graduate students provides new knowledge and

added value that deserve exploitation. Harvesting results occur through preservation of intellectual

property rights, taking technology to markets, spin offs in small enterprises or other methods of

technology exploitation that brings financial or social benefits Figure 6 is an illustration of this

concept. Coaching, mentoring and incubation may be needed for young researchers, faculty and

students and this is facilitated through the innovation, entrepreneurship and competitiveness

center’s (IECC) programs.

The entrepreneurial university is one that acts in an entrepreneurial way, encourages

entrepreneurship and produces entrepreneurs.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUDING REMARKS

All countries are striving to develop their economies and raise the standard of living and quality of

life for their citizens. Many developing countries however have greater hurdles because of lower

knowledge base and lack of strong institutional structure. Countries that put strong emphasis on

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improving education and research infrastructure have been successful in their development efforts

and have shown more and faster progress than those that are slower in charting that course.

Examples include South Korea, India, China, Singapore, and Brazil. In fact the USA which possesses

the lead position among the world economies (The World Bank data, 2014) has relied to a great

extent on the quality of its higher education institutions, research establishment, and technological

prowess keep its leadership and competitive posture in the world. Establishing a research university

in a developing country espousing the MOT philosophy of wealth creation and competitiveness can

certainly make an impact on development. It can help bridge the knowledge and technology gap and

promote innovation and entrepreneurship as pillars of progress.

The establishment of Nile University in Egypt is an actual implementation of this philosophy and

serves as a model to be pursued by developing countries.

The experience gained has proven to be both challenging and rewarding. It showed that using a

management of technology point of view in setting up such a university is very feasible and

important. The successes obtained are significant and visible. Yet the challenges are many

particularly in a troubled region such as the Middle East. Progress is impeded by forces beyond

control in many instances including revolutions, wars, terrorism and financial challenges. But the

cause is worth pursuing as there are no alternative exist if progress and development are desired.

Education, research and innovation are the foundation of progress, development, competitiveness,

wealth creation and prosperity.

REFERENCES

Khalil, Tarek. (2000) Management of Technology: The Key to Competitiveness and Wealth Creation,

Mc Graw Hill Book Company, New York, NY.

Shanghai Ranking of World Universities, (2014), http://www.shanghairanking.com

The World Bank data, (2014), http://databank/worldbank.org.

UNESCO, (2015), http://en.unesco.org/countries/egypt

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