CONECTA: A VIRTUAL SHOWCASE FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS REQUIRING KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGY.

Abstract

"The project aims to contribute to the strengthening of university-society relations, agreeing that higher education is an important means of promoting citizenship, combating social inequality, increasing the competitive capacity of States, increasing local economies, either through the placement of skilled workforce on the market, or through a likely emergence of innovative markets and the generation of a range of sociocultural factors which are essential to promote life in society. The model of higher education, open and articulated with external actors, occupies a prominent place in many countries. The so-called “triple helix”: universities – governments – society, constitutes an undeniably successful model. This model has helped to leverage national economies, which simultaneously has generated virtuous processes of economic development and appreciation of higher education institutions in these countries. The necessary process to transform scientific creation and technological innovation into something able to improve the life quality of populations and cities requires countless interactions among the world of science and technology, governments and the market. In this context, scientific and technological activity is perceived as a complex process in which the strategic integration between actors in the three domains and the establishment of networks become the key elements. This is about understanding university governance from a more contemporary perspective, considering the present day complexity and the availability of existing technological tools, enabling the establishment of a dialogue and knowledge sharing in a plural and democratic way. In times of so many challenges, it is up to the university to exercise creativity and critical thinking to find sustainable and ethically valid paths that guarantee the consonance of the public university with the country’s development, reaffirming the institution's role in society, as its participation in confronting inequality and the different forms of discrimination based on gender, race, religion, as well as, and especially, THE ROLE OF THE UNIVERSITY AS A VECTOR OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, highlighting its potential for collaborating in the production of innovative solutions to overcome problems requiring technology and knowledge. It is understood that a connection between theory and practice and, even more, a connection between different areas of knowledge will lead to the interdisciplinary approach demanded by social issues, making CONECTA a showcase of easily accessible solutions and innovations. Thus, the project proposes the creation of an application which can 1) SHARE KNOWLEDGE: Produce a database composed of projects already carried out by the university, in a user-friendly language accessible to the non-academic public and focused on experiences, innovative methodologies and solutions; 2) IMPROVE AND EXPAND INTEGRATION UERJ – SOCIETY: Strengthen UERJ’s integration with society through scientific dissemination and technology transfer; and 3) GENERATE POSITIVE IMPACT: Create, implement and consolidate an application to promote projects developed by UERJ, and which are able to provide benefits to society (Public Management, Industrial Sector, Civil Society, etc.)."