yes it is very true, there should exist a healthy relation. as industry can use the research outcome of universities in their business and universities can in turn watch to find out how a research practically works in dynamic situations. This relationship also helps economy of country ticking fast.

There should be linkages between the university and the private sector and indeed the industry in general whether private or public.

The partnerships between the university and industry are more likely to foster universities mission of providing public goods. One key area is in development of curriculum. The industry provides input in the content of the university curriculum. It also provides internships/field attachment that are part and parcel of teaching in some of the academic disciplines/courses offered in the university such as Medicine, Finance, Computer and indeed all information sciences.

The private sector should shape the university research especially in areas of human capacity development and even the natural sciences among others.

I think that a tight link between universities and industry is necessary and useful, as well. Universities should focus on science, but applied research is necessary as well.

On one hand,  as researcher we qualify our nation by beeing published in international A journal, on the other, if we don't diffuse our knowledge within industry we miss one of our objectives : the upgrading of the general knowledge of our nation. At the same time, through the interaction with companies, we may learn as well and identify priorities.

In Italy we've even a couple of private Universities found by the industrial associations.

Personally, I'm convinced that - within universities - there are researches that are much more endowed for applied research. Universities should encourage them, balancing them with 'pure scientist'.

Thanks very much for your responses. Carolina Guerini, could you kindly share with me any examples of such universities founded by industry associations in Italy? Is there any published work on them? Any websites I could visit?

Joyce Mutinda, thanks too. Am conducting a study on commercialization of research from university/public research institutes in Kenya and Rwanda and would be happy to engage more. Do you have any specific examples of university-industry linkages in Kenya that have resulted in commercialized products?

Shibu, thanks very much. Do you have any examples/case studies of how this has worked? especially from your university? Much appreciated

I wholly agree with the views expressed by forum members thus far. One caveat would be this: how would universities protect against the political influence that businesses wield? For example, in America many highly influential big businesses have already shaped the curricula of some universities and colleges (and elementary and high schools, too!). They are re-writing and/or diluting history. While the benefit of aligning business needs with the curricula is logical, I am mindful of the saying "where there is good, evil lurks"... How will we guard against the potential threat of the political agendas that will inevitably be introduced into the system?

Ruth, I think you have a valid concern. One also wonders if the profit motive that drives private businesses may eventually divert the attention of the universities from providing public goods....

I would be interested to know if you have any examples/cases where the "political agendas of the business world" have pervaded the universities and where curricula changes have worked more to the negative than positive ends...any literature on this will be highly appreciated

Another strength of maintaining university-industry linkages is keeping an academic's practice current. An academic staff member is able to compare theory and practice, share emerging research trends and influence updates in practice, look at how practice has changes and reflect this in publications, and shape curricula (whether of the scope of entire programs, a few few courses, or even department research or graduate research agendas).

Interaction with industry may take the form of collaborative meetings, conference activities, research and/or publication partnerships to name a few that come to mind. In terms of the political influence of industry on academia, I think this is more likely when industry also funds programmes as some of the terms of reference for the partnership may be set out in a memorandum of understanding or other such document. Such terms may limit scope of works, eg. setting objectives that state what does not fall within the work to be covered by the industry-provided funds or what must be achieved to attract continued funding.

Sometimes industry partnerships could be established through industry associations rather that just with a single company. For example, a study about economic trends in the manufacturing industry could be funded by a chamber of commerce, a manufacturing association, or even a professional body.

@ Maurice: I have attached an article that expresses concerns about the political and corporate influence on public education. I'll have to do more research in order to see if any studies have been done. Who knows, it might be a topic worth exploring.

My concern arose from reports such as these:

1) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/03/28/the-koch-brothers-influence-on-college-campus-is-spreading/

2) http://www.aaup.org/article/when-billionaires-become-educational-experts#.U-UDJ2PQpM4

There are many such reports online, as a quick search on political influence and education will show. I cannot help but think of Bob Marley's song "every little action brings a reaction". Looking at it from an Economics perspective we can see that there is an opportunity cost to linking schools and the private sector...