It is important for industry and academia to work together. However caution must be exercised. Such an interaction is the “icing on the cake”; it is important, but the cake is equally important. Industry professionals bring the much needed “relevance” and “context” to the knowledge that academics must continue to impart at the highest level without sacrificing the rigor.
It is important for the students to study the classic and legendary textbooks and papers; product specific information can be utilized to illustrate the concepts. What is undesirable is to jump the gun; teach “Oracle DBMS” without the basics of RDBMS. Institutions should NOT be reduced to training outfits of corporations.
Academics are “slow” but they are “steady” and they have their role to play. This important role is being appreciated much these days, thanks to reckless investment banks.
(Panel discussion at EMC sponsored Storage Conference at Nitte Institute of Technology during Dec 3-4, 2008)
Tags: education, industry academia interaction, role of academics, role of industry, training
