conference programme - icebe.net

30
Paper Abstracts—In Alphabetical Order of Presenters
DEVELOPING THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN CONTRIBUTING
TO POVERTY REDUCTION
BENNETT ALEXANDER, JANE CONLON*
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
*University of Coventry, Coventry, United Kingdom
ABSTRACT
Africa is unique as the only continent in which the proportion of the
population in poverty is growing. By 2015 the number of African
poor is expected to rise to over 400 million. Economic growth remains
a fundamental factor underpinning the alleviation of poverty in
Africa. In order to halve poverty by the year 2015, as set in the
United Nations Millennium Development Goals, economies will need
to grow by 7 per cent a year, nearly double the current rates.
Universities have a unique role in the development process. As part
of the formal education system they provide a principal institutional
mechanism for the development of human skills and knowledge.
Traditionally and uniquely, universities combine this role with the
creation of knowledge through activities including research, R&D,
knowledge transfer to business and consultancy. This combination
of intellectual capital and capacity building provides compelling reasons
for universities to be at the forefront of efforts to accelerate
economic growth in Africa.
Yet, economic growth alone does not automatically benefit the poor.
This paper describes and analyses the lessons learnt by a consortium
of higher education institutions who since 1994 have collaborated
to identify and implement strategies through which higher
education institutions can directly contribute to economic growth and
poverty reduction.
CLUSTERING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING STU-
DENTS’ USE OF ENTERPRISE 3.0
OLAF BASSUS, ANDREAS AHRENS, JEĻENA ZAŠČERINSKA*
Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences: Technology, Business
and Design, Wismar, Germany
*Centre for Education and Innovation Research, Riga, Latvia
ABSTRACT
Enterprise 3.0 which penetrates our society more thoroughly with
the availability of broadband services has already been widely integrated
into the contemporary processes and work environments.
The synergy between Enterprise 3.0 and clustering advances innovation-stimulating
environments in engineering education. The present
research proposes phases of clustering to enhance engineering
students’ use of Enterprise 3.0 in tertiary education. The aim of
the research is to analyze effectiveness of clustering for the development
of engineering students’ use of Enterprise 3.0 in tertiary
education.
The meaning of the key concepts of “Enterprise 3.0” and “clustering”
is studied. Moreover, the study demonstrates how the key concepts
are related to the idea of “engineering education”. The explorative
research has been used. The empirical study was conducted within
the Sixth Baltic Summer School Technical Informatics and Information
Technology at Kaunas Technical University, Lithuania, August
13-28, 2010. The sample involved 28 participants of the Sixth Baltic
Summer School. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation)
were used for primary data analysis. The empirical results
reveal that clustering with use of Enterprise 3.0 within the Sixth
Baltic Summer School Technical Informatics and Information Technology
is effective for the development of engineering students’ use
of Enterprise 3.0. Finally, directions for future research are proposed.