Towards An Integrated Model for Academia- Industry Interface in India

Academia-industry relationship is not like that of technology donator-acceptor, but is of interactive and collaborative nature, acknowledging and ensuring mutual respect for each other’s role and contributions with an eye to attaining the true purpose of such relationships, namely, bringing about research-outcome synergy. Indeed, academia-industry interactions are a system that requires active and collaborative participations of all the stakeholders. This paper examines various issues associated with academic institutions and industry collaboration with special attention to the nature of resources and potentialities of stakeholders in the context of knowledge management. This paper also explores the barriers of academia-industry interaction. It identifies potential areas where industry’s participation with academia would be most effective for synergism. Lastly, this paper proposes an integrated model of several new collaborative approaches that are possible, mainly in the Indian scenario to strengthen academia-industry interface. Keywords—academia-industry, interface, knowledge economy, technology transfer.