Strengthening University – Industry Collaboration in Palestine via Technology and KnowledgeTransfer

Collaboration between universities and industry is critical to create a win-win communications through research projects that provide the two parties with the necessary knowledge and technology for developing them and the whole socio-economic system by providing innovations that support and develop individuals, companies, higher education institutions, and have the impact on society, too. This thesis was conducted to understand the whole knowledge and technology transfer process by identifying the factors that affect the K&TT collaboration, determining the stakeholders of these collaborations and evaluating the current states of these factors according to each participant role in the K&TT collaborations. These factors were determined and evaluated through literature review, experts interviews, and data analysis procedures. This thesis will also provide the necessary information, identifying concepts that help universities and industry for better understanding of the K&TT collaborations, providing a framework that helps universities and industry collaborate smoothly and clearly. After determining the participants of the K&TT process , the factors that affect the K&TT process were determined, then designing tools for collecting data from the participants for studing the current status to apply these factors practically, and the participants were the universities, the industry sector, the government as well as the the students and the researchers associated to the universities. The companies were chosen from the industrial sector on which the researcher can do interviews with them concerning the K&TT related factors, according to recommendations of the industrial sub uonions, and the number of candidates companies was 85, those who responded in the interview were 64 which is equivalent to 54.1% from the companies, the questions of the interviews were designed according to the affecting factors in the process of K&TT and it’s determinants which were concluded from the literature review. These interviews were designed to be suitable for both of the main participants associated in the K&TT process, and they are the industrial sector and the universities, as for the government a special interview was made for studying the intellectual properties and the roles concerned. The students and the researchers inside the university are the main source producing knowledge and technology which can be transferred to the industrial sectors, the factors that motivates producing transferable research projects have been determined, and a questionnaire was conducted to determine their readinessto produce research and graduation projects that are suitable for transfer to the industrial sectors . The results of the questinniare and interviews have showen many Informations and results which help to promote the awareness, there understanding for such processes, and there benefits. the universities were pioneers and showed a good level in dealing with such programs, while the industrial sector was in a low level in dealing with K&TT programs for many resons, the most important one is the finacial view and the ignorance of social dimension and community responsibility. The results of the questionnaire showed that the students and researchers inside the aimed facultiesinside the universities were having a very good level for providing suitable transferable research projects, but they lack the stimulus and the confidence in universities and the industrial sectors in particular to support them in these projects