Efficiency in university-industry collaboration: an analysis of Sri Lankan state Universities

Abstract

Advanced economies are at the vanguard of sustainable growth of university industry collaborations. Factually, Sri Lankan state universities have had a truncated level of research and innovation. As a result, Sri Lanka performs less well than some similar countries in the absorption of technologies. To address the gap, the authors conducted a study to identify a mechanism to enhance the efficiency of university-industry collaboration. The study reports empirical findings concluded from 13 state universities. The authors used questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews to collect data from the universities. A combination of qualitative and quantitative data analysis was practised to emphasize research findings. The study discusses the current status of university industry collaboration, barriers to collaboration, roles of university business linkages or tech transfer offices, and mechanisms to improve university-industry linkage. Furthermore, the study recommends a technique to enhance the university-industry collaboration by establishing a research and innovation ecosystem with the sustenance of stakeholder organizations. The recommendations of the study could be implemented to escalate the local university-industry collaboration and in similar realms.