'Build Bangladesh as a land of opportunities'

Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, National Research Professor, President of Global Research Alliance and Chairman of India's National Innovation Foundation, talks with Syed Mansur Hashim and A.B.M. Shamsud Doza of The Daily Star about prospects of University-Industry Collaboration.

Dr. R.A. Mashelkar

THE Daily Star (TDS): Why is University Industry Collaboration (UIC) a relevant idea for Bangladesh?

R.A. Mashelkar (RAM): The fundamental issue that confronts all nations today is how research can convert money into knowledge and knowledge into money. We keep focusing on the first.

The government gives us money, and scientists keep turning it into knowledge in the form of papers and patent. More important is the second aspect -- converting knowledge into money -- leading to both economic and social development. For doing that, one has to complete that chain of education, research and innovation. Because education actually disseminates known knowledge, research creates new knowledge and innovation converts that new knowledge into wealth. Many universities focus on the first, not on the second and least on the third.

Obviously universities are on the supply side because bright ideas, bright intellectual assets get created in the universities. Industries should be on the demand side; putting demand to this knowledge so they can be converted into marketable products, because it is not possible to create wealth out of just any form of knowledge. So these partnerships become extremely important.

I feel Bangladesh has great universities and very bright students. It is a question of utilising their potential in terms of connecting them with industrial enterprises, and for the industrial enterprises to create wealth out of those ideas.

TDS: What would be the starting point of UIC in Bangladesh?

RAM: In terms of agriculture, Bangladesh has done very well. The fact that you are able to feed 160 million people is really admirable. Of course, along with the issue of food security, there is also the issue of food safety; issues of nutrition that needs to be dealt with. There are other sectors of the industry, for example health or pharmaceutical industry, which are also growing.

In exporting garments, Bangladesh has done well too. There is a scope for looking at new technology not only in terms of productivity but also in creating special products.

And then you have the other sectors of the economy, where again knowledge can be used in order to create enhanced values.

I also find an emergence of information technology. Recently, we were at a software park in Bangladesh where we met many bright youths with startup companies; they were growing at the rate of 15-20% which is wonderful. So, I would say that the enterprise of young people is mushrooming here.

We need to provide a support system. For example, the Bangladesh government has created provisions for taking equity in startup companies. Now we can go from InfoTech to Biotech and move on to other sectors.

TDS: What should be the process of connecting universities and industries?

RAM: First, one has to realise that although knowledge creates wealth, not all knowledge creates it. It is only monetisable knowledge that creates wealth. That means one needs to think of intellectual property rights. For example, you cannot sell knowledge, which does not belong to you. It means that we have to have the patent literacy.

Now what does patent literacy mean? It means reading a patent and writing a patent. You read a patent in such a way so as so that you can bypass it and create your own patent. You write a patent so that no one can bypass it. So, how do you develop that?

Unfortunately, I find that on the level of literacy on patenting, Bangladesh has miles to go. Therefore one of the first things that I would do is train the students graduating from schools. They cannot come out patent illiterate because they are entering a knowledge economy. So train them in understanding patent, find out if their research is patentable and then make a techno-commercial evaluation of the patents, and so on.

The government has a huge role to play since it is just not the university side, you have to make the Bangladesh patent office talk, have highly trained patent examiners who are able to read complex patents, because these days even bio-technology patents are a thousand pages.

We have to have smart intellectual property lawyers. It is not just scientists who can make the intellectual property, if they are not supported by systems, you would not be able to create them.

Second, in terms of research, one should be solving problems that need to be solved. And that is what the industries understand very well, because they are closer to the market. So how do we make the university research system more responsive to the problems that need to be solved? Number three is the industrial benefit; because of the work that they are doing they would get a strong scientific base. So it is actually a win-win situation.

And third is where universities only strive to get excellence, where they have relevance. And relevance is directly linked to growth and development. So directing university research so that industrial research prospers in the country is a great idea.

The fourth point is that any idea is like a baby, you need to incubate it. The right environment is needed to convert the idea into a product. So you require special understanding and that is where commercialisation becomes extremely important.

Beyond that when you have new ideas and you support them, you also take risks and require risk-financing. If you are taking such a risk, you need some "ad"venture capital. That financing is missing today, so how do we create that?

And while you are doing all these, we also need support systems -- institutional systems and structure which support innovation. Not everything lies in the research stage. There is a whole eco-system. Creation of a new idea is a single man's job, but to convert it into a sellable idea requires a lot of people -- from design to manufacturing to sales to marketing. This orchestra needs to work properly. Therefore, we need to see how we can create this ecosystem.

TDS: How should the pedagogy of university be changed to suit the creative economy?

RAM: I think there are two ways. Innovation is about doing things differently. Teaching and learning procedures are undergoing a dramatic change around the world. Take digital learning and what do you see is infinite possibility of learning in a very different way.

On YouTube you will find thousands of tutorials done by Khan Academy. So students can master the concepts before coming to class, the entire pedagogy of learning has to change. Of course physical learning has its place. It is a blend of digital and physical learning that we have to have.

The new generation which is coming up is impatient; they are aspirant and they have a better understanding of the good things in life, thanks to communication. To meet their expectations and their demands, and to recognise the fact that they have access to knowledge which teachers do not, universities need to keep up with it. This transformation, the sooner it is done, the better.

Flexibility and freedom are fundamental to the university system. Ability to think free and act free are what makes the university system what it is. That should not be taken away. But autonomy has to be accompanied with accountability. So each country with regard to its own history and culture; have to develop its own system.

In the early years, it was an agriculture economy. Then came the era of manufacturing, then service or knowledge economy and now it is creative economy. In this transition, being in agriculture means mainly labour, but as you go to creative economy it becomes about the mind. That transformation is universal and I am sure it is happening in Bangladesh too.

TDS: In terms of regulatory framework -- which comes first? How important is the government's role? Is it the government or the industries who take the initiative for this transformation?

RAM: The government is the most important stakeholder -- that is where the regulation becomes important. Those structures have to be put in place.

I often see people in India lamenting for brain-drain. I used to tell them that the US is the land of opportunities and India is the land of ideas. If India becomes a land of opportunity then ideas will stay here. I think this is also true for Bangladesh. Build Bangladesh as a land of opportunities, then you will, automatically, find robust creativity and pool of talents.

There is a law that tells that 1% carry 90% intellectual capacity of the population. It means that if you lose that 1% you lose 90%.

Three things matter: Talent, technology and trust. Bangladesh has talent as elsewhere in the world. But it is lagging behind in latest technology and trusted institutions, where government needs to play the key role.