Program Introduction

Almost in all the countries, the enterprises are dominantly constituted by small and medium scale enterprises. Therefore, the enhancement of technological and industrial competitiveness in the small and medium scale enterprises is inevitable for the economic development of these countries.

However, developing countries must put high priority on public health and poverty reduction as urgent issues to be solved and cannot afford to allocate a large amount of budget for strengthening of small and medium scale enterprises and promotion of industry-university linkage. In addition, universities own only a limited amount of research budget, and industrial companies are not yet ready to spend a large amount of funds for research and development for technology innovation and product quality enhancement. As the result, industry-university linkage is still immature in developing countries. Regardless of this situation, many Japanese automotive industry companies moveinto developing countries by creating the automotive supporting industries. Automotive supporting industries include a wide variety of industries such as materials, electrical and electronic instruments, mechanical parts and so on, since more than thousand parts are needed to assemble a vehicle.

The present training program is designed so as to effectively and efficiently foster human resources who can coordinate industry-university linkage, by utilizing Japanese experiences and know-how, and to eventually enhance the technological and industrial competitiveness of automotive supporting industries in developing countries.

Program Objective

To achieve the program objective, participants are expected to:

1. Understand the basic knowledge of U-I-G linkage
2. Acquire the basic knowledge of technology management
3. Understand the intellectual property law with its applicationAcquire the basic knowledge of technology management
4. Understand the industrial needs and improve the problem identification ability
5. Improve the Needs-Seeds matching ability
6. Be able to foster other young U-I-G linkage coordinators in their own universities or institutions

Course Contents

This training program has been conducted from October 5th to November 13th, 2009 at Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT) in Japan. Nine government researchers, university academics from six countries were nominated for this training, which took place in Toyohashi where world-famous automobile industry is located. The main activities are listed as follows:

1. Orientation at Toyohashi
2. University-Industry (U-I) Linkage and Technology Management
3. Intellectual Property Right (IPR) for Universities
4. Case Studies on Technology Management and University-Industry linkage
5. Practice of NEEDS-SEEDS Matching
6. U-I Linkage Success Story in the Developing Countries -Report from University of Moratuwa, using the experience of this course-
7. Action Plan Presentation, Closing Ceremony

1. Orientation at Toyohashi
   • Upon the arrival, Professors of ICCEED conducted the Course Orientation. The information about contents and schedule of the training, matters related to transportation in Toyohashi City and others necessary daily life were described.
2. University-Industry (U-I) Linkage and Technology Management
   • This seminar session was conducted by Ms. Chie Sato of Biztech Inc. The sessions encompassed important areas in University-Industry collaboration related Technology Management, commencing from the Introduction to the U-I collaboration with specific examples from Japan. Ms. Sato also covered the role of Technology Management and coordinators.
3. Intellectual Property Right (IPR) for Universities
   • This seminar session covered the most important areas commencing from a very relevant historical background and the current status of IPR matters worldwide, typical IPR framework encompassing legal aspects, institutional and national benefits of a robust IPR scheme, issues and challenges in implementing IPR scheme. The lecturer was Dr. Hiroshi Kato, who is a professor, college of law, graduate school of law, Nihon University and had a variety of experience and knowledge in IPR matters.
4. Case Studies on Technology Management and University-Industry linkage
   • This lecture was delivered by Mr. Hidekatsu Kashiwara and Dr. Katsuhiko Inoue. They explained the process towards innovation with Business Intelligence, issues and success factors of Business, as well matters and issues in basic coordination procedure in U-I collaboration by giving model cases.
5. Practice of NEEDS-SEEDS Matching
   1. Preparation for Company Visits
      • Trainees collected the data of companies (Sales, Profit, Research budget, Products) through Internet and companies' brochures. They used the tool-kit for University- Industry Linkage which was developed by TUT during this whole exercise.
   2. NEEDS Survey at Companies
      • Trainees visited two companies: Sintokogio, Ltd., and Musashi Seimitsu Industry, Co., Ltd. The Trainees had discussed the technical challenges of these two companies as well as visiting production lines in their plants.
   3. NEEDS-SEEDS Matching
      • After the companies visit, Trainees tried to find the most appropriate professors at TUT who had expertise and research experiences for the companies'NEEDS. In order to find out resource Professors at TUT, trainees used Researchers Data Base of TUT which was found to be an effective and a convenient tool to look for researchers for companies' NEEDS. After making appointments with Professors at TUT, trainees had discussed issues and challenges of companies in order to find the best solution to suit them. Through the discussions with professors of TUT, trainees had ideas for the solution for Companies' challenges and formulated proposals for two companies.
   4. Research Proposal to Companies
      • Trainees made presentation to companies highlighting the solution to their technical challenges. All of these two companies highly appreciated the proposals made by trainees.
   • Through these activities, the trainees were able to understand the systematic method of University. Industry Cooperation that could be applicable to Universities in their countries. At the end of the U-I coordination training, trainees formulated an Action Plan for Strengthening University-Industry Linkage in their respective universities.
6. U-I Linkage Success Story in the Developing Countries -Report from University of Moratuwa, using the experience of this course-
   • In this session, U-I linkage success story was presented. Prof. Rahula Anura Attalage from University of Moratuwa explained about the general guideline of the MEXT International Cooperation Initiative fiscal year 2009 to the trainees. This project aimed at introducing systematic university-industry cooperation in University of Moratuwa in order to strengthen educational activities, research works and social contribution. The professors from University of Moratuwa took part in this group training course (FY 2007 and 2008) and they conducted the MEXT project as the leading members. After the explanation of the MEXT project, the discussion was made between the trainees, Prof. R. A. Attalage and the course lecturers.
7. Action Plan Presentation and Closing Ceremony
   • The trainees made presentation of their action plan to TUT professors and course lecturers at the end of this training course. After the action plan presentation, the trainees received their certificates at the Closing Ceremony.