Organising South African industry-university partnership programmes for viability

Abstract

South Africa experiences a great need for science, engineering and technology skills. As a counter strategy to the growing skills need local government, industries and universities have entered Industry-University Partnership Programme (IUPP) agreements following the example of international counterparts. Currently a few such programmes exist in the South African context. The organisation of these programmes has however proven to be a difficult and challenging task. This article purposes to propose a model for organising industry-university partnership programmes for viability. The proposed model draws on the work of Stafford Beer in his Viable System Model (Clemson 1984). The research paradigm stems from the fields of cybernetics and system thinking. The IUPP concept is in line with the societal shift of power (the ability to maintain control over use and allocation of crucial life-sustaining resources) from control over land and resources to knowledge, technological competence and human innovation (IFR 1998). South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.15(3) 2001: 24-31