CROSS INSTITUTIONAL NETWORKING: ISSUES AND PERSPECTIVES

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CROSS INSTITUTIONAL NETWORKING ISSUES AND
PERSPECTIVES
Prof. Patrick Honohan, TCDProf. Ronaldo Munck,
DCU
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BACKGROUND

• WHAT ROLE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR IN
  DEVELOPMENT?
• HOW TO ADDRESS AFRICAN NEEDS REGARDING HIGHER
  EDUCATION?
• HOW CAN IRISH HE SECTOR WORK WITH OTHER
  INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNMENTAL AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL?

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Why Higher Education?

• The development community is now more accepting
  of HE's economic benefits, realising that these
  include creating public knowledge, exchanging
  skills between industry and academia and better
  technology
• Funding for higher education Facts and
  figures Sian Lewis

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HIGHER EDUCATION vs POVERTY REDUCTION?

• The long neglected role of research capacity and
  higher education as key drivers in the successful
  economic and social development of African
  countries is being reassessed
• Recent cross-country evidence increasingly points
  to an important role for HE in
• 1) Raising GDP directly through a productivity
  effect and
• 2) Increasing the speed at which a country adopts
  technology.

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3rd level enrolment Africa falling further
behind
Bloom, Canning and Chan, 2006
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African universities today

• African universities are now building the next
  generation of intellectual leaders on the
  continent.
• They identify as one of the most serious gaps in
  their core research and educational mission
• Insufficient capacity to provide doctoral
  training and to retain independent investigators
  who can direct research and education within the
  institution (Association of African Universities,
  2004). 
• It is increasingly evident that the limited
  capacity of African universities to renew
  themselves through advanced research training has
  become a major development bottleneck
• stymieing efforts to tackle development
  challenges in an effective and sustainable
  manner.

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MOTIVATION FOR N-S PARTNERSHIPS

• Networking with African Universities needs to
• respect partner independence (Samoff and Carrol,
  2004) and
• fit the development agenda of partner
  institutions (Sawyerr, 2004) while helping to
  assure academic quality
• Different approaches possible

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Alternative models of N-S partnerships

• Example The TCD-led project
• Doctoral Training for Development in Africa
  experiments with three alternative methods
  bilateral, multilateral and Africa-led)
• Bilateral (TCD-Makerere) traditional,
  concentration of risk, limited S-S learning, low
  transactions costs
• Multilateral (Indigo GH) ambitious, overheads,
  networking writ large, multi-direction learning
• Africa-led (AERC) Service teaching writ large

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Cross-Institutional Networking

• CDPC partners with universities, NGOs, private
  businesses, and other organizations across Africa
  and Ireland.
• The Consortium emphasises South-South linkages.

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Cross-Institutional Networking CDPC connects
educational, NGO, and private enterprise
expertise across Ireland.
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ISSUES

• POLICY/RESEARCH INTERFACE WEAK
• HIGHER EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH FRAGMENTED
• IRISH-AFRICAN PARTNERSHIPS UNPLANNED

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PROPOSAL

• ESTABLISH A NETWORK OF PARTNERSHIPS OR
  DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH PLATFORM
• COORDINATE IRISH-AFRICAN RESEARCH CAPACITY
  BUILDING AND COLLABORATION
• ESTABLISH A RESEARCH/POLICY DIALOGUE ON A
  STRUCTURED BASIS

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OBJECTIVES

• TO CREATE SYNERGIES AND AVOID DUPLICATION
• TO BUILD CRITICAL MASS IN IRISH DEVELOPMENT
  RESEARCH
• TO ENABLE A SUSTAINED ENGAGEMENT BU HIGHER
  EDUCATION IN RESEARCH FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT

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ISSUES TO ADDRESS

• VISIBILITY to raise the profile of international
  development work in higher education
• MAINSTREAMING from development research to
  research for development?
• SUSTAINABILITY create a platform for development
  research policy/practice engagement