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Regional Engagement Forum

Tuesday, 16 September 2003 Presentation
Narelle Kennedy, Chief Executive, Australian Business Foundation
Narelle Kennedy Chaired the University of Western Sydney, Business Higher Education Roundtable Regional Engagement Forum in Parramatta on 24 September 2003. Here you will find the introductory remarks, panel questions and closing comments from this Forum.
  • Welcome to the Industry Panel, where our business speakers have insightful stories to tell about relationships they have forged with universities and other post secondary education providers. They will not just describe the good news, but analyse the obstacles and shortcomings and speculate about even more productive engagements for the future.
  • My task is to question the obvious, to help you assess the state of play and future challenges for business/education engagement and to elicit your best, most practical ideas for fostering enhanced regional engagement.
  • Based on the intelligence distilled from 6 years of ABF research as an independent business think-tank, let me start by trying to define the fundamental purpose of business/education linkages. Why are we interested in this subject?
  • Well, today economic prosperity is increasingly dependent on innovation and knowledge. Economic success in a modern business environment tends to be characterised by the growing knowledge-intensity of industries where there is more value in intellectual capital, eg design, skilled workers, market and customer intelligence and know-how, than in plant and equipment and the physical means of production. What you know is at least as important as what you own and use in business.
  • This means that continuous innovation is a survival strategy for business enterprises. Businesses must always be alert to what can give them an edge; what is it that makes customers buy from them, preferably at a premium and keep coming back for new and better offerings. All in a tough and crowded market where free and fast information flows reduce the shelf-life of your average competitive business idea, the duration of first mover advantage and product cycles in businesses.
  • Businesses must create or discover the essential ingredients that are hard for others to copy or to substitute, and that allows a firm to build its own distinctive know-how and capabilities.
  • So, this is the slide rule by which educational providers must measure their contribution to local businesses. What is it you can do to provide forms with knowledge and skills that they can transform into distinctive know-how and capabilities that meet demonstrable market demands and customer needs at home and abroad?
  • Let's hear what our speakers' experiences have been.


Panel Questions
  • What's the active ingredient that makes engagement with the university/education provider work for you as a business person?
  • What's the most pressing need in your business today? In an ideal world, what is the single most important thing an education provider could do to help you meet that business need?
  • What's the most common mistake businesses make when seeking to engage with education providers? And vice versa?
  • Many examples of good business/education linkages just bring benefits to the two parties involved. Are there examples of good business/education linkages that have a wider impact, e.g. for a whole region, for all school leavers, for the long term unemployed etc?


Closing Remarks
  • The most recent ABF research project was recently launched here in Western Sydney. It was the report of a 2 year action research project entitled "Regional Infrastructure: New Economic Development Opportunities for the Hunter, the Illawarra and Western Sydney."
  • Its central question was : could different approaches to infrastructure lead to greater economic benefits for three of Australia's most well-established industrial regions?
  • A key element of the answer was the importance of investing in knowledge and learning infrastructure (as much as the usual calls for improvements to transport and telecommunications and the like). This referred to technology parks, industry clusters and education/ business linkages that can transform regions into hubs of high performance industries.
  • The creation, use and transfer of knowledge has become decisive to successful business and economic performance. Knowledge infrastructure is needed to help regions compete on the basis of skills, distinctive know-how and fresh ideas and capabilities that meet market needs at home and abroad.
    The creation of clusters of high performing industries, development of key research and education centres and a Learning Communities program to lift the skills and employability of local citizens, were identified as infrastructure initiatives designed to turn regions into knowledge hubs well-placed for the new business environment.
  • This remains the challenge for regional engagement between business and education provide
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