The United Kingdom (UK) and Singapore announced an academic alliance called the UK-Singapore Universities Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (UKSAEI) on 8th April 2021. The initiative brought together universities from both the countries to collaborate on knowledge sharing and facilitate corporation in commercialisation and innovation.
The aim of this agreement was to :
- act as a catalyst for commercialisation activities.
- develop cross-border licensing technologies and human capacity building.
- facilitate, share knowledge and cooperate within universities through engagement with government and industry to promote technology transfer and commercialisation.
- co-creation of an eco system with values that encourage research within institutes, industry and government.
The agreement was decided upon after a mutual understanding and realisation of the need to invest and advance Research and Development in specific areas to promote economic progress. The British High Commissioner to Singapore H.E. Kara Owen spoke about the relevance of the step to over come the post pandemic phase. The Singapore High Commissioner to UK H.E. Lim Thuan Kuan welcomed the alliance and called it a brilliant ground-up initiative. The two countries signed the first pact in 2014 and have been working together on different issues to promote research and generate employment opportunities in the two countries. There were many projects that were taken up like for the Rolls Royce focused on industry specific R&D. They are UK (Bath, Coventry, Cranfield, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, King’s College London, Newcastle, Nottingham, Manchester and Strathclyde) and Singapore (Nanyang Technological University Singapore, National University of Singapore, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore Management University, and Singapore University of Technology and Design).
Initiatives like these will help students in exposure that they have been missing out due to the pandemic restrictions. It will also give insight to students across the globe about the relevant topics and subjects with potential in the market. London and Singapore are one of the important economic hubs of the world. They both have popular universities and colleges that attract students for different courses. Thus, academic diplomacy will work towards preparing the youth as per the industry requirements and will guarantee jobs too. The nuances of this initiative are awaited and will be beneficial for youth in all senses. This alliance speaks volumes of the close futuristic relationship that the two countries share.
