Linking Universities and Research Centers to the Public and Private Sector for Commercialization of Prototype projects in KSA.

Name:
Instructor’s name:
Course:
Date:
“Linking Universities and Research Centers to the Public and Private Sector for Commercialization of Prototype projects in KSA”.
The role that both universities and R & D centers play in the advancement of scientific knowledge is well-known to most members of the public. However, these centers can also be of importance to many public and private institutions. In recognition of this fact, the then US President George Bush, in September 2001, put up a council to advise the state on science and technology. The board was meant to advise the President on the good and bad policies on science and technology and help the national council for science and technology to secure the involvement of the private sector in its activities.
The council put up by the president was known as the PCAST. Its role was to enable the President to get information from the academic community and the private sector on important issues to do with science and technology. In Saudi Arabia, Jazan University’s health and tropical medicine department play a similar role. It was the first university in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to embark on a mission to address both tropical medicine and public health issues in the kingdom. Through state of the art technology, the institution will have the ability to advance and improve the health of the local population hence enhance their overall quality of life.
Aims of Research
To determine the reason why it is important to link learning and research centers to the private and public sector.

To determine how possible it is to link the research centers with the public and private sector.
Objectives of Research
To review available literature to see if this practice has been successful in other nations.
To review the literature on what prototype projects are.
To discuss how commercialization of prototype projects might be of use to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
To find out how linking research centers and universities to the private and public sector might help in the commercialization of prototype projects in KSA.
Evaluating the Aims and Objectives of the Research
The discussion of the goals and objectives with other class members revealed some facts from the available literature. First, the transfer of technology from universities and research centers to the public and private sectors has proven to be helpful in many nations. Companies and industries in both the private and public sectors need to be innovative in the products and services they offer to maintain a lead in the market. Nations like the US have used reports from studies done by the universities and research centers to move from being one of the leading oil importers to one of the leading oil producers. Therefore, it is indeed important to link research centers and universities to the public and private sectors. Commercialization of prototype projects like new processes, products, or technologies can also lead to the development of SMEs and aid the existing ones to grow further. The easiest way through which this can be made possible is by creating a link between the research centers and the public and private sector.
Research Questions after Discussing the Aims and Objectives
Is it important for countries like KSA to link their universities and research centers to the Public and Private Sector?
Could this linkage help in the commercialization of prototype projects?
How might the connection of the research centers with the public and private sector for commercialization of prototype projects help KSA in the long-term?
Differences between the New Aims and Objectives after the Discussion
Before the discussion, the research aims were to determine whether it is feasible to link research centers and universities to public and private sectors and to establish why it is important to do so. After the discussion and review of pieces of literature that I had not initially looked at, it became apparent that it was possible to link the research centers to the public and private sector and that it was important to do so. The new aims of the research then became: 1) Determining how the research centers and universities can be linked to the public and private sector and 2) Why the linkage might be necessary to KSA. The objectives remained almost unchanged, only that the question if was changed to how and why in most of the objectives.