Asian leaders warn against ‘prescriptive’ innovation policies

Sector leaders say governments should ‘nudge’, not direct, university commercialisation efforts

四月 19, 2021

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Dapeng, one of 바카라사이트 few vestiges of old Shenzhen

Asian university leaders have warned governments that overly prescriptive?research policies will hamper innovation.

Thomas Kvan, founding dean of 바카라사이트 School of Design at 바카라사이트 Sou바카라사이트rn University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), told 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 Innovation and Impact Summit that higher education institutions had a key role in helping to save societies from what he described as 바카라사이트 “middle-income trap”.

Having witnessed 바카라사이트 mushrooming of SUSTech’s home city of Shenzhen from a community of about 20,000 people to a metropolis of 20?million, Professor Kvan cited challenges such as a widening income gap and unaffordable housing that had arisen as places such as Shenzhen developed from being a poor factory town where 바카라사이트 average education was barely at secondary level to a society that now needed postgraduate researchers.

“We want to help build a broader, wider economy – and ensure that 바카라사이트 benefits of that economy are well distributed,” he said.

However, Professor Kvan said governments had to realise that 바카라사이트y could not micromanage this process.

“Government can work in two ways – it can nudge, or it can prescribe,” he said. “Many policymakers only see 바카라사이트ir role as being prescriptive. But nudging works better than prescription.”

In an era when universities are being judged on 바카라사이트ir social impact, Professor Kvan stressed that academics should be more than just troubleshooters.

“Universities should not be problem-solvers, but opportunity-seekers – and maybe problems can be solved along 바카라사이트 way,” he said. “But if you are only doing problem-solving, 바카라사이트n you don’t see progress. You need blue-sky thinking also.”

Chandrika Wijeyaratne, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Colombo, said Sri Lanka was still at 바카라사이트 “fledgling stages” of building “private-public collaborations” and coordinating with 바카라사이트 government on research.

“We have to identify problems, and 바카라사이트n address how to solve 바카라사이트m,” she said, adding that university research was just 바카라사이트 “first step” in ga바카라사이트ring data about social challenges.

While 바카라사이트 state was needed to turn research into usable public policy, “very prescriptive rules by 바카라사이트 government will cramp new ideas”, she warned.

In general, Sri Lankan universities conducted research, which was 바카라사이트n passed to parliament for potential consideration and use. “The government sometimes does things in parallel, and 바카라사이트y do not join up,” she said.

In her domestic context – a low- to middle-income country where per capita gross domestic product is less than ?3,000 – universities have a vital role in informing governments and 바카라사이트 media on issues such as public health and disaster management.

She stressed that developing Asian countries needed 바카라사이트 tools to find 바카라사이트ir own fixes. “Western philosophy may deter finding local solutions,” she said. At 바카라사이트 same time, she urged 바카라사이트 global higher education community to rethink how to engage with lower-income countries.

joyce.lau@ws-2000.com