Building Strategic University-Industry Partnerships and Sustainable Growth: The Lebanese Experience

Abstract

The relationship between academia and industry is old. However, a twist is necessary to move from the traditional exchange of funding for research to the creation of long-term strategic partnerships of mutual benefit. The purpose of this study is to explore the effort made in Lebanon to forge the industry-academia link and to highlight the challenges faced. The researcher relied on both secondary and primary data. A review of the literature is made to set the theoretical framework regarding the need for creating strategic partnerships between academia and industry and its impact on sustainable economic growth. The researcher distinguished strategic partnership from the conventional exchange of research for funding approach. Moreover, she described the lessons learned from international experiences. Primary data are collected about Lebanon through interviewing key actors both in the industry and in academia. The study revealed that Lebanon realized several years ago the need to link academia to industry, several actors took measures to facilitate the collaboration. However, some measures did not reach their full potential yet due to some challenges. The author suggests few recommendations to overcome these challenges and strengthen the academia-industry collaboration.