An August gathering comprising of experts and an attentive packed
audience deliberated on the role that AIT could embark on during the
next 50 years of its existence as it turned 50 today.
“AIT has been a pioneering regional institute over the past 50 years
which has contributed towards uplifting the region through capacity and
institution building initiatives”, Prof Irandoust said. AIT is proud to
have played a supportive role in Asia’s success, but Asia’s success has
altered the issues of the day. As the world changes, and Asia changes,
AIT too has to change, the AIT President remarked while inviting
delegates to discuss the path that AIT should take in the coming
decades.
“Change is inevitable,” the AIT President said as he stressed that in
the long term, AIT should capitalize on its uniqueness while continuing
with its research, teaching, outreach and development activities. There
is tremendous opportunity for more Asian partner countries as AIT seeks
to launch multiple strategic initiatives. AIT already has a midterm
strategy document, but it now seeks a long term strategy, the AIT
President remarked.
Dr. Tej Bunnag, Chairman AIT Board of Trustees said that AIT had come
a long way from its origins as the SEATO Graduate School of Engineering
which saw 18 students enrolling in 1959. It has emerged as the leading
regional post graduate institute which has contributed greatly to
engineering, technology, development and management. We pursue our
traditional missions while anticipating future changes promoting
economic development, eradicating poverty in particular, Dr. Tej Bunnag
said.
As the world is changing, AIT is changing for the better with
innovative learning and creating more networks, he said. This is an
exciting time for AIT as it launches its new groundbreaking Yunus
Center at AIT and a Center for Sustainable Development in the Context
of Climate Change.
Moderated by Mr. Jean-Pierre Verbiest, Country Director, Thailand
Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank; and Vice-Chairperson, AIT
Board of Trustees; and Chairman, Executive Committee of the AIT Board
of Trustees, the workshop saw participation from Prof. Ricardo P. Pama,
President, Angeles University, Philippines; Dr. Subin Pinkayan,
Chairman, Southeast Asia Technology Co., Ltd (SEATEC), Bangkok; Mr. S.
Srinivasan, Sr. Executive President, Head – Pulp Operations, Grasim
Industries Ltd.; H.E. Mrs. Vijaya Latha Reddy, Ambassador, The Embassy
of India; Watanabe Masatake, Managing Director, Thai Nippon Steel
Engineering and Construction Corporation Ltd.; Dr. Ajva Taulananda,
Vice Chairman, Charoen Pokphand Group Co Ltd, Thailand; Mr. S. Roy,
CEO, Asean Affairs; Mr. Anders Granlund, Counsellor (Director of
Swedish Environmental Secretariat for Asia); Prof. Gajendra Singh,
Former AIT Vice President for Academic Affairs; Prof. Bernard C. Jiang,
Vice President, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan; and Mr. Chaovalit Ekabut,
PRO, AITAA Mother Chapter, President, SCG Paper PLC, Bangkok.
Prof. Martien Molenaar, Rector, ITC Netherlands while delivering a
talk on “Changing Role of Higher Education in Development Cooperation,”
remarked that development cooperation is no longer a North-South
activity since the world has changed. It is no longer an issue of
countries being rich or poor, but one of regions which are rich and
poor. Development cooperation needs to consider helping poor areas
participate in global delivery chains and networks, he remarked.
Prof. Molenaar said that the business model is changing as the ICT
architecture of organizations is altering rapidly. More and more tasks
are being outsourced by the governments and hence capacity building has
to consider the private sector as well. “The time horizon for
investments has changed and professionals are now unstable, changing
and disappearing,” Prof. Molenaar said. He added that learning is no
longer a onetime affair, but a life long process. Referring to joint
education programs, Prof. Molenaar said the delivery modes for
education are also changing from an institute-oriented approach to a
programme-oriented approach. E-delivery though educational networks
also throws up new challenges, he added.
Prof. Hubert Gijzen, Director UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia
and the Pacific while speaking on “New Content of AIT in the changing
context of Asia” complimented AIT for its strong corporate image and
recognition. Stressing the need for a Sustainable Development
Revolution, Prof. Gijzen remarked that the big problems of today are
the results of solutions of yesterday. He added that Science and
Technology needs to be mobilized to address issues like food security,
poverty, energy, pollution, mobility and new emerging diseases.
Challenges of higher education include a decline in university
enrolment in science and technology, harmonization of programmes,
degrees with quality assurance and accreditation, and exploitation of
new technologies, Prof. Gijzen remarked. He strongly advocated use of
I-learning rather than E-learning as he illustrated the example of
Indonesia Higher Education Network (INHERENT) where 200 universities
are connected to each other.
Ms. Carmen Tavera, Deputy Director, Division of Regional Cooperation,
UNEP lauded AIT for the role it has played in creating the next
generation of policy makers. She mentioned how the world had
experienced a series of crisis which began with the food crisis. The
food crisis was overshadowed by the financial crisis, and now the world
is also grappling with the crisis of climate change.
While stating that the next generation will have the reorient the
world, the UNEP Deputy Director said educational organizations have a
leading role to play in this respect. The new paradigm is that
environment is not an externality any longer. She mentioned the AIT
Strategy 2009-2013 stating that the issues prioritized by UNEP have
also been prioritized by UNEP. She mentioned the “Seal the deal”
campaign where all parties, governments and civil society is seeking
definitive equitable and effective action.
The Round Table Workshop at AIT was also accompanied by a “Seal the
Deal” campaign at the AIT Conference Center.
Dr. Bindu Lohani, Vice President (Finance and Administration), ADB
while talking on “Knowledge Economy in the 21st Century: Role of
Knowledge Management and Priority Research in Asia,” remarked that jobs
which will emerge in 2010 may not have existed in 2004. He added that
in knowledge economies, making money out of knowledge is difficult
since power no longer arises out of information. “While the developed
countries have used knowledge to make wealth, the Asian countries have
lagged far behind”, Dr. Lohani remarked.
The ADB Vice President said that education in Asia has become a
business and with proliferation of universities, quality is eroding.
Twenty five per cent of engineering graduates and 10 per cent of
humanities graduates in India cannot get jobs. He stressed the need to
become a knowledge organization, adding that “before turning an
organization into a knowledge organization, one has to be in the
learning mode.”
Dr. Lohani also suggested the need to have external knowledge networks
and creating knowledge hubs. The key issue for AIT would be to have
“Asian solutions to Asian problems while using global knowledge”, Dr.
Lohani said.
Mr. Guy Ellena, Director, Health and Education, IFC spoke on “Resource
mobilization – Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for AIT”. He
delved on the issue of PPP helping AIT grow and sustain as an
institution.
The IFC Director stressed the need for flexibility, reactivity and
adaptability while commenting that education is evolving all the time.
Association with the private sector could bring flexibility, reactivity
and adaptability to learning institutions, he said. While remarking
that there are very few cases of PPP in higher education, the IFC
Director assured support if AIT wishes to enter into a PPP.
The workshop concluded with comments from students and alumni. A
touching moment was when 11 alumni of the second batch of computer
sciences came from different countries and took the opportunity to say
“Thank You” to AIT.
Participants of the Roundtable Workshop on “AIT – the next 50
years”
